Pending new SEC rules reinforce how integral cybersecurity is to modern business operations, and will help close the gap between security teams and those making policy decisions.

Cybersecurity is no longer a fringe issue for businesses. What was once a siloed function, there out of necessity more than anything, is now woven into the fabric of any successful business. Any business still treating its cybersecurity initiatives as a side project is setting itself up to fail.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has laid to rest any doubts about the importance of cybersecurity with new regulations around how boards of directors should approach it. The regulations, which are in the process of being finalized, will require companies to openly report any serious cybersecurity attack and explain who on their board is responsible for dealing with it. The regulations also will require businesses to include board of directors' cybersecurity experience and credentials as part of any public disclosure. This is yet another indication of how integral cybersecurity is becoming to modern business operations.

**Growing Downtime Costs**

In 2021, more than two-thirds (66%) of businesses were hit by a ransomware attack, according to a survey by Sophos. That's a 78% increase from the previous year, with damages incurred totaling costs of around $20 billion. These costs aren't just down to ransom payments, but also include the downtime and disruption targeted businesses endure. In the Information Technology Industry Council's Hourly Cost of Downtime Survey, more than 40% of companies reported that hourly downtime costs ranged from $1 million to $5 million USD, not including any legal fees, fines, or penalties — which publicly traded companies who fall short of cybersecurity standards can be subject to.

The evolving threat landscape — combined with new regulatory frameworks like that put forward by the SEC — means that cybersecurity cannot be an afterthought or a bolt-on. It must be core to business operations, and that means it needs a seat at the boardroom table. However, according to a recent analysis of data by the CAP Group, 90% of boards are _not_ ready for the new SEC cyber regulations.

**Failure to Prepare Is Preparing to Fail**

The cybersecurity ecosystem has progressed in leaps and bounds in recent years. Once a siloed function of business, using reactionary tactics to chase down and isolate threats, it now has a proactive, networkwide presence that often leverages threat intelligence, penetration testing, and AI to bolster cyber resilience. However, most cybersecurity teams are still heavily focused on addressing technical-level threats, which are then used to inform security policy and mitigate risk. This leaves a gap of understanding between security teams and those authoring policies and making decisions higher up the chain.

This gap is a vulnerability. Most cybersecurity teams lack the tools or functionality needed to contextualize threats in a way that can be acted upon by other business, operational, and financial personnel. If this "disconnect" between business objectives and cyber resiliency continues, businesses will leave themselves exposed regardless of how thorough their cybersecurity initiatives are. 

**Closing the Communication Gap**

It's the responsibility of chief information and security officers to evaluate threats and understand to what extent they might threaten their organization, so that action can be taken in line with new security regulations. This means that threats need to be contextualized and communicated as part of an overall enterprise risk management strategy involving finance, compliance, operational, and management teams, as well as board members. 

To achieve this, CISOs will need to step out of their technical jargon comfort zone and communicate threats and their potential impact to other C-suite executives in a way that can be easily interpreted and understood.

This will mean evolving security initiatives into broader risk-mitigation initiatives. Machine learning-powered risk mitigation can play a significant role in helping businesses contextualize cyber threats. By analyzing large volumes of data and detecting patterns that may not be immediately visible to human analysts, machine learning algorithms can identify potential security threats so that businesses can take proactive measures to deal with them.

For example, machine learning algorithms can analyze user behavior data to identify patterns that deviate from normal usage patterns, such as repeated failed login attempts or access attempts from unusual locations or devices. By identifying these anomalies, businesses can take proactive measures to identify a potential attack, such as locking user accounts or implementing additional authentication measures. 

Another area where machine learning can be useful in the context of cyber-threat mitigation is in predicting the likelihood of future attacks. By analyzing historical attack data and identifying common characteristics of successful attacks, algorithms can identify potential attack vectors and help businesses prioritize their security efforts accordingly. This might involve analyzing patterns in the frequency and severity of attacks, as well as the methods and techniques used by attackers. This information can then be used to develop predictive models that can help businesses anticipate future threats and take measures to not only mitigate them, but identify and communicate about them with those at the top.

It's vital that publicly traded companies have a firm understanding of their risk posture and vulnerability. With directors now being held responsible for their company's cybersecurity infrastructure, it's even more vital that director-level teams can quickly and easily understand this vulnerability and any potential breaches. This can be achieved through a combination of new, machine learning-powered solutions, advisory hires that can "translate" and parse the potential fallout of threats, and CISOs taking a more consultative and advisory approach in how they deal with cyber threat resilience.

Cybersecurity is no longer a fringe issue — it has a seat at the boardroom table, and if businesses can't fill that seat, they need to make sure the person sitting there is as well-informed as possible.

Talking Security Strategy: Cybersecurity Has a Seat at the Boardroom Table

Cobalt's fifth edition of "The State of Penetration Testing Report" taps into data from 3,100 pen tests and more than 1,000 responses from security practitioners.

We live in a digital world, so there’s no shortage of threats facing organizations today. Cobalt recently released its fifth annual "State of Penetration Testing 2023" report, which provides valuable insights into the vulnerabilities and threats companies are encountering. As new technologies emerge, the risks associated with data breaches and cyberattacks continue to grow. This data underscores what many security practitioners know to be true: The importance of staying up to date with the latest security trends and implementing proactive measures to protect against these threats is critical.

One of the key takeaways from the report is the prevalence of Web application vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities, which include things such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting, are a major source of risk for many organizations. In fact, Cobalt found that Web application vulnerabilities accounted for over 40% of all vulnerabilities discovered in 2022. This is a significant increase from the previous year, and highlights the need for organizations to prioritize their Web application security efforts.

Another major vulnerability we’re seeing is the use of insecure protocols. The report found that many organizations continue to use outdated, insecure protocols like FTP and Telnet, despite the known risks associated with these protocols. This is concerning, as these protocols are easily exploited by attackers and can result in significant data breaches. The known solutions exist, yet the prevalence of the issues remain.

Additionally, the threat posed by social engineering attacks ranks highly as a pitfall across companies of all sizes. Social engineering attacks, which include things such as phishing and spear-phishing, are an ever-growing concern for organizations. These attacks rely on psychological manipulation to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that could compromise security. We found that social engineering attacks accounted for 20% of all reported security incidents in 2022, making them a significant threat to organizations regardless of size.

**What Can Organizations Do to Protect Against These Vulnerabilities and Threats?**

One of the most important things companies can do is focus on proactive security measures. This includes things like regular vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, as well as the implementation of robust security protocols and procedures like consistent employee cyber training. You are only as strong as your weakest link.

Regular vulnerability scanning and penetration testing are essential for identifying potential vulnerabilities in an organization's network and applications. By regularly scanning for vulnerabilities, organizations can proactively identify and remediate security risks before they can be exploited by attackers. Additionally, penetration testing can help organizations to better understand their overall security posture, and identify potential weaknesses before they can be exploited by malicious actors.

In addition to regular scanning and testing, organizations should also prioritize the implementation of robust security protocols and procedures. This includes things like the use of strong passwords and two-factor authentication, as well as secure protocols like SSH and HTTPS. Moreover, organizations should develop and implement a comprehensive security policy that outlines the steps that employees should take to protect sensitive data and systems.

Finally, it is important for organizations to remain vigilant when it comes to social engineering attacks. This means providing regular training to employees on how to identify and avoid these types of attacks, as well as implementing robust security protocols to protect against phishing and other social engineering tactics before they reach employees.

Overall, the new "State of Penetration Testing 2023" report highlights the need for organizations to remain vigilant when it comes to the risks associated with data breaches and cyberattacks. By implementing proactive security measures and staying up to date with the latest security trends, organizations can protect themselves against these threats and ensure the safety of their sensitive data and systems. With the continued evolution of technology and the increasing sophistication of attackers, it's more important than ever for organizations to prioritize their security efforts and take a proactive approach to protecting against vulnerabilities and threats.

**About the Author**

    

Andrew Obadiaru is the chief information security officer at Cobalt, which provides a pentest-as-a-service (PtaaS) platform that is modernizing the traditional, static pentesting model. Andrew is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Cobalt's systems and data. Andrew has 20+ years in the security and technology space, with a history of managing and mitigating risk across changing technologies, software, and diverse platforms.

How to Protect Your Organization From Vulnerabilities

It's still unclear when systems for Pennsylvania's largest media outlet will be fully restored, as employees were told to stay at home through Tuesday.

The city of Philadelphia's largest newspaper couldn't publish its Sunday edition last week due to a weekend cyberattack that caused the largest disruption to its production in 27 years. It's still affecting daily operations, with no end in sight.

Staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer also were told to stay at home through at least May 16 due to ongoing disruptions, as the media company and third-party cybersecurity experts continue to work to restore systems after the attack, according to a report that the newspaper published on its website that detailed the incident.

The Inquirer continues to publish and update stories to Inquirer.com, "though sometimes slower than normal," the article by the Inquirer's Jonathan Lai said. Moreover, management still isn't sure when the paper's systems will be fully restored, said Inquirer publisher Lisa Hughes, who answered Dark Reading's emails through a spokesperson.

The largest disruption occurred within print production, which left readers without a physical copy of their Sunday paper, and management and employees were unsure if they could publish on May 15. They did eventually manage the latter, but Monday's print edition was without its classified and obituary sections, which will only reappear in the paper again on May 17, according to the article.

The incident — in which threat actors exploited a undisclosed vulnerability present on the paper's system — so far has been the greatest publication disruption to the Inquirer since the blizzard of Jan. 7-8, 1996. It also came at an inopportune time for the news organization, just days before a key election that occurred yesterday in the city's mayoral race.

The halt in production harks back to a major 2019 cybersecurity incident against Tribune Publishing, which owns several major US newspapers — including the Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, as well as the Los Angeles Times — and affected production and delivery of those papers.

"We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work to fully restore systems and complete this investigation as soon as possible," Hughes said, according to the article. "We will keep our employees and readers informed as we learn more."

**Attack Timeline**

Inquirer management and staff still are not clear about when the attack began, though the first alert to suspicious activity occurred on Thursday, May 11, when Cynet, a vendor that manages the Inquirer's network security, noticed something was amiss.

The paper operated normally through May 11-12, but on the morning of Sunday, May 14 employees could not access the paper's content-management systems and had to put in place workarounds to post to Inquirer.com over the weekend, according to the article.

Though specifically what type of attack occurred or who is behind it has not been divulged by the paper, it's clear by the extent of the disruption that it blindsided the media company, part of a sector that's becoming an increasingly attractive target for cyber criminals, noted one security expert.

Indeed, the disruption in the wake of the attack is a stark reminder of the potential consequences of cyber threats and the urgent need for all organizations to have "robust cybersecurity measures," noted Justin Rapacz, senior vice president of managed services at Netrix, a global provider of cybersecurity, cloud, and IT services.

"Comprehensive cybersecurity measures are no longer optional; they're a necessity — this includes firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and antivirus software, complemented by regular updates and patches to eliminate potential vulnerabilities," he says in an email to Dark Reading.

**Stronger Cybersecurity Measures Needed**

The attack on The Inquirer is not the first time the media outlet has been targeted by cybercriminals. Employees also have been targeted by spear-phishing campaigns that impersonated Hughes and other management, she said in her responses for Lai's article.

And while one of the most basic cornerstones of security that an organization can take these days is multi-factor authentication (MFA), the Inquirer's Hughes acknowledged that the paper has not so far required MFA across its key systems. That said, the effectiveness of MFA is diminishing as cybercriminals become more sophisticated, Netrix's Rapacz notes.

"Having MFA is no longer enough," he says. "The rise of hardware tokens represents the next step in MFA. These devices significantly reduce the risk of interception and duplication, providing an added layer of security and making them a more effective and secure form of MFA in the face of evolving cyber threats."

Organizations also should practice regular penetration tests and an effective vulnerability management process to identify and address security weaknesses before they can be exploited by cybercriminals, Rapacz says.

"Proactive cybersecurity measures, such as continuous monitoring and regular security audits, can go a long way in preventing cyberattacks," he says.

While Hughes said that The Inquirer has invested significantly in digital security in recent years — including monitoring and regular security audits from Cynet — the vulnerability that was exploited in the attack had not previously been flagged for investigation.

The incident also serves as a reminder of how important it is for organizations in general to develop "solid incident response and business-continuity plans," Rapacz adds, as they "can help minimize downtime and maintain operations in the event of a cyberattack."

Sunday Paper Debacle: Philadelphia Inquirer Scrambles to Respond to Cyberattack

Three pieces of advice to startups serious about winning funding and support for their nascent companies: Articulate your key message clearly, have the founder speak, and don't use a canned demo.

It was a great honor to serve as one of five judges for this year's RSAC Innovation Sandbox competition — the premier place to pitch your early-stage cybersecurity startup. Congratulations to the top two contenders, with Hidden Layer winning the award and Pangea Cyber taking the No. 2 spot. Keep an eye on these companies — and all this year's top 10 finalists.

Over the 17 years it's been running, the RSAC contest's 170 top 10 finalists have been involved in 75 acquisitions and received nearly $12.5 billion in investments. Last year, Talon Cyber Security and its Secure Enterprise Browser won the top honor, propelling the startup into new markets and catching the attention of many CISOs in the Fortune Global 2000. In earlier years, Phantom Cyber won the contest when its founder and CEO, Oliver Friedrichs, gave an unforgettable pitch — and just two years later, the company was acquired by Splunk. (Friedrichs is now founder and CEO of Pangea.)

As a venture capitalist, serving as a judge has reminded me of the incredible people in our industry and the remarkable innovations that will not only create new categories but also put a real dent in the cybersecurity challenges that enterprises face today.

As a new judge, I didn't exactly know what to expect, but it was a rewarding experience. I was impressed with the other judges and the varied and interesting perspectives they each brought to the table. My co-judges were Christopher Young, executive VP of business development, strategy, and ventures at Microsoft; Niloofar Razi Howe, senior operating partner at Energy Impact Partners; Shlomo Kramer, co-founder and CEO of Cato Networks; and Paul Kocher, an independent security researcher and founder of Cryptography Research.

Together we spent untold hours watching the pitch videos that contestants sent in. (I'd love to say how many, but I'm not at liberty to do so. I can tell you it was a _lot_ of them.) This was time consuming, but truly inspiring to see what people are working on and building toward in this industry.

**Giving a Voice to Future Trends**

I'm a true believer in the mission of the RSAC Innovation Sandbox, which is a stage to highlight the brightest startups every year. With 45,000 peers now attending the annual RSA Conference, the contest provides an important forum for early-stage companies to talk about how they're shaping our industry. For companies that typically have very little visibility, this type of opportunity — at such a critical time — can also really accelerate their fundraising and future.

One thing that struck me from listening to all those pitches is how important it is to be able to articulate your key messages in just three minutes. As a VC, I'm used to listening to pitches that run anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. The RSAC Innovation Sandbox contestants must give their spiel and convince the judges why they should win in the time it would take to compose a short email. The pitches we saw ran the gamut from fast-talking and fact-filled to entertaining and fun. But my three pieces of advice to future contestants that are serious about winning would be:

*   **Cover the basics — and land them.** State the problem you're solving; explain what makes your solution unique; discuss the size of the addressable market; and talk about your early market traction. These are the key things judges want to hear to show you have a shot at success.

*   **Have your founder be your leader — always.** Judges want to know how the company got started and the founder or founders' vision for their company. A few of the pitches were delivered by salespeople, engineers, or just someone other than the founder. But founders are the soul of the company, and the best people to tell the story.

*   **Don't use a canned demo.** This is possibly your one opportunity to tell your story in front of a panel of carefully selected experts, and you want to make it worth their while. I would say one out of every five of the pitches were canned demos. This isn't a webinar. Don't treat it like one.

**Innovation Trends**

Now, back to the topic of innovation. Two big trends stood out to me this year.

*   **AppSec is back and better than ever.** We're seeing a big shift right now in how software engineers view application security. Developers are becoming more security-aware and are organically adopting tools that help them shift-left and address security at the beginning of the development process. There were a number of Sandbox finalists providing developer solutions for identifying security vulnerabilities faster and more accurately. The industry has been talking about building security into the fabric of software forever and now it's finally happening.

*   **The future is now.** Web3 is emerging as a new technology architecture for decentralized blockchain technologies and token-based systems such as crypto. One finalist offers a security operations center that protects Web3 digital assets. And, of course, we had plenty of representation from companies focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning in response to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

After serving as a judge in this year's RSAC Innovation Sandbox, one thing is clear: The future is bright — and secure.

For more information on the Top 10 RSA Innovation Sandbox finalists, Dark Reading published a comprehensive overview.

I Was an RSAC Innovation Sandbox Judge — Here's What I Learned

In part three of this three-part series, Microsoft dissects these twinned threats and what organizations can do to reduce or eliminate their risk.

Every year, Microsoft releases the "Microsoft Digital Defense Report" as a way to illuminate the evolving digital threat landscape and help the cyber community understand today's most pressing threats. Backed by intelligence from trillions of daily security signals, this year's report focuses on five key topics: cybercrime, nation-state threats, devices and infrastructure, cyber-influence operations, and cyber resiliency.

In this article, we break down part three of the report on nation-state threats and the rise of cyber mercenaries. Read on to learn how you can better protect your organization from this growing trend.

**3 Core Nation-State Trends**

Nation-state threats took center stage in 2022 with the launch of Russia's cyber war on Ukraine. This behavior has continued into 2023. We're also seeing nation-state actors elsewhere increase activity and leverage advancements in automation, cloud infrastructure, and remote access technologies to attack a wider set of targets. More specifically, here are three core nation-state threat trends that emerged in 2022.

**Increased Focus on IT Supply Chains**

In 2022, we saw nation-state cyber threat groups move from exploiting the software supply chain to exploiting the IT services supply chain. These actors often targeted cloud solutions and managed services providers to reach downstream customers in government, policy, and critical infrastructure sectors, such as what we saw in the Nobelium attacks. Over half (53%) of nation-state attacks targeted the IT sector, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, and the education sector.

**Emergence of Zero-Day Exploits**

As organizations work to collectively strengthen their cybersecurity posture, nation-state actors are pursuing new and unique tactics to deliver attacks and evade detection. One prime example is the identification and exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities. Zero-day vulnerabilities are a security weakness that, for whatever reason, have gone undiscovered. While these attacks start by targeting a limited set of organizations, they are often quickly adopted into the larger threat actor ecosystem. It takes only 14 days, on average, for an exploit to be available in the wild after a vulnerability is publicly disclosed.

**Cyber Mercenaries On the Rise**

Private-sector offensive actors are growing increasingly common. Also known as cyber mercenaries, these entities develop and sell tools, techniques, and services to clients — often governments — to break into networks and Internet-connected devices. While often an asset for nation-state actors, cyber mercenaries endanger dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, civil society advocates, and other private citizens by providing advanced surveillance-as-a-service capabilities. Rather than being developed for defense and intelligence agencies, these capabilities are offered as commercial products for companies and individuals.

**Responding To Nation-State Threats**

The sophistication and agility of nation-state attacks is only going to continue to grow and evolve. It's up to organizations to stay informed of these trends and evolve their defenses in parallel.

*   **Know your risks and react accordingly:** Nation-state groups' cyber targeting spanned the globe in 2022, with a particularly heavy focus on US and British enterprises. It's important to stay up to date on the latest attack vectors and target areas of key nation-state groups so that you can identify and protect potential high-value data targets, at-risk technologies, information, and business operations that might align with their strategic priorities.
    

*   **Protect your downstream clients:** The IT supply chain can act as a gateway to the digital ecosystem. That's why organizations must understand and harden the borders and entry points of their digital estates, and IT service providers must rigorously monitor their own cybersecurity health. Start by reviewing and auditing upstream and downstream service provider relationships and delegated privilege access to minimize unnecessary permissions. Remove access for any partner relationships that look unfamiliar or have not yet been audited. From there, you can implement multifactor authentication and conditional access policies that make it harder for malicious actors to capture privileged accounts or spread throughout a network.
    

*   **Prioritize patching of zero-day vulnerabilities:** Even organizations that are not a target of nation-state attacks have a limited window to patch zero-day vulnerabilities, so don't wait for the patch management cycle to deploy. Once discovered, organizations have, on average, 120 days before a vulnerability is available in automated vulnerability scanning and exploitation tools. We also recommend documenting and cataloging all enterprise hardware and software assets to determine risk and decide when to act on patches.
    

_**Read more:**_ _**Key Cybercrime Trends (Part 1)**_ _**and**_ _**Trends In Device and Infrastructure Attacks (Part 2)**_

Microsoft Digital Defense Report: Nation-State Threats and Cyber Mercenaries

Cyberattckers can easily exploit a command-injection bug in the popular device, but Belkin has no plans to address the security vulnerability.

The Wemo Mini Smart Plug V2, which allows users to remotely control anything plugged into it via a mobile app, has a security vulnerability that allows cyberattackers to throw the switch on a variety of bad outcomes. Those include remotely turning electronics on and off, and the potential for moving deeper into an internal network, or hop-scotching to additional devices.

Used by consumers and businesses alike, the Smart Plug plugs into an existing outlet, and connects to an internal Wi-Fi network and to the broader Internet using Universal Plug-n-Play (UPNP) ports. Users can then control the device via a mobile app, essentially offering a way to make old-school lamps, fans, and other utility items "smart." The app integrates with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Home Kit, while offering additional features like scheduling for convenience. 

The flaw (CVE-2023-27217) is a buffer-overflow vulnerability that affects model F7C063 of the device and allows remote command injection, according to researchers at Sternum who discovered it. Unfortunately, when they tapped the device maker, Belkin, for a fix, they were told that no firmware update would be forthcoming since the device is end-of-life.

"Meanwhile, it's safe to assume that many of these devices are still deployed in the wild," they explained in an analysis on May 16, citing the 17,000 reviews and the four-star rating the Smart Plug has on Amazon. "The total sales on Amazon alone should be in the hundreds of thousands."

Igal Zeifman, vice president of marketing for Sternum, tells Dark Reading that's a low estimate for the attack surface. "That's us being very conservative," he notes. "We had three in our lab alone when the research started. Those are now unplugged."

    

The Wemo Smart Plug turns regular lamps and such into "smart" devices.

He adds, "If businesses are using this version of the Wemo Plugin inside their network, they should stop or (at the very least) make sure that the Universal Plug-n-Play (UPNP) ports are not exposed to remote access. If that device plays a critical role or is connected to a critical network or asset, you are not in great shape."  

**CVE-2023-27217: What's in a Name?**

The bug exists in the way the firmware handles the naming of the Smart Plug. While "Wemo mini 6E9" is the default name of the device out of the box, users can rename it as they wish using what's designated in the firmware as the "FriendlyName" variable — changing it to "kitchen outlet" for example or similar.

"This option for user input already had our Spidey senses tingling, especially when we saw that changing the name in the app came with some guardrails, \[specifically a 30-character limit\]," Sternum researchers noted. "For us, this immediately raised two questions: 'Says who?' and 'What happens if we manage to make it more than 30 characters?'"

When the mobile app didn't allow them to create a name longer than 30 characters, they decided to connect directly to the device via pyWeMo, an open-source Python module for the discovery and control of WeMo devices. They found that circumventing the app allowed them to get around the guardrail, in order to successfully input a longer name.

"The restriction was only enforced by the app itself and not by the firmware code," they noted. "Input validation like this should not be managed just on the 'surface' level."

Observing how the overstuffed 'FriendlyName' variable was handled by the memory structure, the researchers saw that the metadata of the heap was being corrupted by any name longer than 80 characters. Those corrupted values were then being used in subsequent heap operations, thus leading to short crashes. This resulted in a buffer overflow and the ability to control the resulting memory re-allocation, according to the analysis.

"It's a good wake-up call about the risk of using connected devices without any on-device security, which is 99.9% of devices today," Zeifman says.

**Watch Out for Easy Exploitation**

While Sternum isn't releasing a proof-of-concept exploit or enumerating what a real-world attack flow would look like in practice, Zeifman says the vulnerability isn't difficult to exploit. An attacker would need either network access, or remote Universal Plug-n-Play access if the device is open to the Internet.

"Outside of that, it's a trivial buffer overflow on a device with an executable heap," he explains. "Harder bastions have fallen."

He noted that it's likely that attacks could be carried out via Wemo's cloud infrastructure option as well.

"Wemo products also implement a cloud protocol (basically a STUN tunnel) that was meant to circumvent network address traversal (NAT) and allow the mobile app to operate the outlet through the Internet," Zeifman says. "While we didn't look too deeply into Wemo's cloud protocol, we wouldn't be surprised if this attack could be implemented that way as well."

In the absence of a patch, device users do have some mitigations they can take; for instance, as long as the Smart Plug is not exposed to the Internet, the attacker would have to obtain access to the same network, which makes exploitation more complicated.

Sternum detailed the following common-sense recommendations:

*   Avoid exposing the Wemo Smart Plug V2 UPNP ports to the Internet, either directly or via port forwarding.
*   If you are using the Smart Plug V2 in a sensitive network, you should ensure that it is properly segmented, and that device cannot communicate with other sensitive devices on the same subnet.

**IoT Security Continues to Lag**

As far as broader takeaways from the research, the findings showcase the fact that Internet of Things (IoT) vendors are still struggling with security by design — which organizations should take into account when installing any smart device.

"I think this is the key point of this story: This is what happens when devices are shipped without any on-device protection," Zeifman notes. "If you only rely on responsive security patching, as most device manufacturers do today, two things are certain. One, you will always be one step behind the attacker; and two, one day those patches will stop coming."

IoT devices should be equipped with "the same level of endpoint security that we expect other assets to have, our desktops, laptops, servers, etc.," he says. "If your heart monitor is less secure than the gaming laptop, something has gone horribly wrong – and it has."

Unpatched Wemo Smart Plug Bug Opens Countless Networks to Cyberattacks

Threat actors seen using Go-language implementation of the red-teaming tool on Intel and Apple silicon-based macOS systems.

Heads up: threat actors are now deploying a Go-language implementation of Cobalt Strike called Geacon that first surfaced on GitHub four years ago and had remained largely under the radar.

They are using the red-teaming and attack-simulation tool to target macOS systems in much the same way they have used Cobalt Strike for post-exploit activity on Windows platforms the past few years.

Security researchers at SentinelOne reported the activity this week after spotting several Geacon payloads appearing on VirusTotal in recent months. SentinelOne's analysis of the samples showed some were likely related to legitimate enterprise red-team exercises, while others appeared to be artifacts of malicious activity.

One malicious sample submitted to VirusTotal on April 5 is an AppleScript applet titled "Xu Yiqing's Resume\_20230320.app" that downloads an unsigned Geacon payload from a malicious server with a China-based IP address.

SentinelOne found the application is compiled for macOS systems running on either Apple or Intel silicon. The applet contains logic that helps it determine the architecture of a particular macOS system so it can download the specific Geacon payload for that device. The compiled Geacon binary itself contains an embedded PDF that first displays a resume for an individual named Xu Yiqing before beaconing out to its command and control (C2) server.

"The compiled Geacon binary has a multitude of functions for tasks such as network communications, encryption, decryption, downloading further payloads, and exfiltrating data," SentinelOne said.

In another instance, SentinelOne discovered a Geacon payload embedded in a fake version of the SecureLink enterprise remote-support application. The payload appeared in VirusTotal on April 11 and targeted only Intel-based macOS systems. Unlike the previous Geacon sample, SentinelOne found the second one to be a bare-bones, unsigned application likely built with an automated tool. The app required the user to grant access to the device camera, microphone, administrator privileges, and other settings typically protected under macOS's Transparency, Consent, and Control framework. In this instance, the Geacon payload communicated with a known Cobalt Strike C2 server with an IP address based in Japan.

"This is not the first time we have seen a Trojan masquerading as SecureLink with an embedded open-source attack framework," SentinelOne said. The security vendor pointed to its discovery last September of an open-source attack framework for macOS called Sliver embedded with a fake SecureLink as another example. "\[Its\] a reminder to all that enterprise Macs are now being widely targeted by a variety of threat actors," SentinelOne said.

**Sudden Interest**

Attackers have long used Cobalt Strike for a variety of malicious post-exploit activities on Windows systems including for establishing command-and-control, lateral movement, payload generation, and exploit delivery. There have been instances where attackers have occasionally used Cobalt Strike to target macOS as well. One example is a typosquatting attack last year where a threat actor attempted to deploy Cobalt Strike on Windows, Linux, and macOS systems by uploading a malicious package dubbed "pymafka" to the PyPI register.

In other instances, attackers have also used a macOS focused red-teaming tool called Mythic as part of their attack chains.

The activity involving Geacon itself started shortly after an anonymous Chinese researcher using the handle "z3ratu1" released two Geacon forks last October — one private and likely for sale called "geacon\_pro" and the other public, called geacon-plus. The pro version includes some additional features like anti-virus bypassing and anti-kill capabilities, says Tom Hegel, senior threat researcher at SentinelOne.

He ascribes the sudden attacker interest in Geacon to a blog that z3ratu1 posted describing the two forks and his attempts to market his work. The original Geacon project itself was largely for protocol analysis and reverse engineering purposes, he says.

**Mac Attacks**

The growing malicious use of Geacon fits in with a broader pattern of growing attacker interest in macOS systems.

Earlier this year, researchers at Uptycs reported on a novel new Mac malware sample dubbed "MacStealer" that, in keeping with its name, stole documents, iCloud keychain data, browser cookies, and other data from Apple users. In April, the operators of "Lockbit " became the first major ransomware actor to develop a Mac version of their malware, setting the stage for others to follow. And last year, North Korea's notorious Lazarus Group become among the first known state-backed groups to begin targeting Apple Macs.

SentinelOne has released a set of indicators to help organizations identify malicious Geacon payloads.

Attackers Target macOS With 'Geacon' Cobalt Strike Tool

Partnership will provide SAP customers with comprehensive exposure management capabilities and in-depth visibility of attack surfaces.

**HERZLIYA,** **Israel****,** **May 16, 2023** **/PRNewswire/ --** XM Cyber, the leader in hybrid cloud security, today announced its strategic partnership with SAP. Leveraging the capabilities of XM Cyber's Exposure Management Platform and its attack-path technology, this partnership will help organizations utilizing SAP solutions, such as RISE with SAP and SAP eCommerce Cloud, to transition their data and processes to the cloud with less risk and without compromise. SAP customers can now use the company's exposure management technology to gain visibility into their entire attack surface, both on-premise and in the cloud, to detect and migrate malicious activity before it can occur.

According to XM Cyber's recent research, 71 percent of organizations have exposures in their on-prem networks that put their critical assets in the cloud at risk, highlighting the need for stronger hybrid security controls. In addition to offering the XM Cyber platform to customers, SAP is also utilizing XM Cyber to secure its own hybrid cloud and IT infrastructure. The platform provides SAP with continuous attack identification, remediation, monitoring, and validation capabilities.

"Many organizations continue to struggle with the security complexities associated with managing diverse on-premise and cloud environments," said Tim McKnight, EVP and Chief Security Officer at SAP. "An important part of our ecosystem is ensuring that our customers can securely scale and adapt their infrastructure as required. Partners like XM Cyber, with its attack-path modeling technology, are uniquely positioned to help us and our customers reduce risks within hybrid environments, enhancing resilience against attacks and increasing overall security posture."

XM Cyber's platform is now available for purchase in the SAP® Store, the online marketplace for solutions from SAP and its trusted partners. SAP Store provides customers with real-time access to over 2,300 innovative solutions to become intelligent enterprises and help digitally transform their business. SAP Partners can also benefit from this offer and add their own managed service offering. The offer extends to XM Cyber's continuous control monitoring capabilities which ensures existing security controls are well configured and helps enterprises automate compliance against standards such as ISO, NIST, SWIFT and GDPR.

"Through this strategic partnership, we are harnessing the combined expertise of SAP with our proven technology to help streamline the reduction of risk and the remediation of exposures within organizations," said Noem Erez, CEO and co-founder of XM Cyber. "Our goal is to provide security teams with the data and intelligence needed to quickly remediate the risks which matter most by offering an attacker's perspective with holistic attack path modeling."

During SAP Sapphire, taking place between May 16-17, XM Cyber will be showcasing their exposure management technology and demonstrating how organizations can protect themselves from cyber attacks targeting critical applications.

To learn more, please visit: https://store.sap.com/dcp/en/product/display-0000061477\_live\_v1

**About XM Cyber** 

XM Cyber is a leading hybrid cloud security company that's changing the way organizations approach cyber risk. XM Cyber transforms exposure management by demonstrating how attackers leverage and combine misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, identity exposures, and more, across AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-prem environments to compromise critical assets. With XM Cyber, you can see all the ways attackers might advance, and all the best ways to stop them, pinpointing where to remediate exposures with a fraction of the effort. Founded by top executives from the Israeli cyber intelligence community, XM Cyber has offices in North America, Europe, and Israel.

**About SAP**

SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

XM Cyber Announces Partnership With SAP to Deliver Robust Security for Hybrid Environments

LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware used by Russian to target critical US organizations, DOJ says.

Russian national Mikahail Pavlovich Matveev has been charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for launching ransomware attacks on critical organizations including law enforcement agencies, healthcare operations, and more.

Matveev is estimated by the DoJ to have demanded as much as $400 million in ransom payments from his victims over his years as a ransomware operator, and to have actually collected as much as $200 million in extortion money.

The DoJ alleges that Matveev used three ransomware variants in his cybercrimes. In June 2020, he was accused by the DoJ of conspiring to deploy LockBit against New Jersey law enforcement. In addition, Matveev used Hive against a nonprofit healthcare organization in New Jersey in May 2022, and used Babuk ransomware to shake down the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, the DoJ added.

"From his home base in Russia, Matveev allegedly used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure around the world, including hospitals, government agencies, and victims in other sectors," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division in a statement about the newly unsealed charges against the alleged ransomware operator. "These international crimes demand a coordinated response. We will not relent in imposing consequences on the most egregious actors in the cybercrime ecosystem."

If convicted, Matveev faces up to 20 years in prison; however, he resides in Russia, making the carrying out of any sentence highly unlikely.

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Russian Ransomware Perp Charged After High-Profile Hive, Babuk & LockBit Hits

Researchers infiltrate a ransomware operation and discover slick services behind Qilin's Rust-based malware variant.

Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation Qilin has been arming its affiliates with malware and supporting services to target education, healthcare, and other critical sectors of the worldwide economy, paying out an industry-leading 80% to 85% of takings to the partners.

Researchers from Group-IB were able to infiltrate the Qilin operation in March, and what they found was a one-stop shop for aspiring cybercriminals to get their hands on advanced, customizable ransomware, a defined payment structure, and encryption services to support double-extortion operations (i.e., demanding money to decrypt the data, as well as an additional fee not to release the data on a Wark Web leak site).

Ransomware attacks backed by Qilin operators typically begin with a phishing email, the Group-IB team observed. The Qilin ransomware variant itself has evolved from its July 2022 roots, initially written in Go programming language (Golang) while its current iteration is written in Rust. That makes it difficult to detect and simple to customize for each campaign, Group-IB said in its report on the RaaS operation.

"Having infiltrated Qilin, Group-IB Threat Intelligence researchers were able to analyze the inner workings of the affiliate program and all sections of Qilin's admin panel," the Group-IB report said.

The Qilin RaaS team provides information on everything from intelligence on targets, customizable buildable malware, and even ransomware note templates, the Group-IB team found.

The researchers warn that RaaS operator Qilin is actively recruiting new affiliates and improving its tools and operations, making it an important emerging ransomware threat to keep an eye on.

"Although Qilin ransomware gained notoriety for targeting critical sector companies, they are a threat to organizations across all verticals," the Group-IB report warned. "Moreover, the ransomware operator’s affiliate program is not only adding new members to its network, but it is weaponizing them with upgraded tools, techniques, and even service delivery."

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