A Little Sunshine

IndependentKrebs

The Original APT: Advanced Persistent Teenagers

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2022 17:55:38 +0000

Many organizations are already struggling to combat cybersecurity threats from ransomware purveyors and state-sponsored hacking groups, both of which tend to take days or weeks to pivot from an opportunistic malware infection to a full blown data breach. But few organizations have a playbook for responding to the kinds of virtual “smash and grab” attacks we’ve seen recently from LAPSUS$, a juvenile data extortion group whose short-lived, low-tech and remarkably effective tactics are putting some of the world’s biggest corporations on edge.

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IndependentKrebs

Fake Emergency Search Warrants Draw Scrutiny from Capitol Hill

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2022 22:54:45 +0000

On Tuesday, KrebsOnSecurity warned that hackers increasingly are using compromised government and police department email accounts to obtain sensitive customer data from mobile providers, ISPs and social media companies. Today, one of the U.S. Senate’s most tech-savvy lawmakers said he was troubled by the report and is now asking technology companies and federal agencies for information about the frequency of such schemes.

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IndependentKrebs

A Closer Look at the LAPSUS$ Data Extortion Group

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2022 22:00:43 +0000

Microsoft and identity management platform Okta both disclosed this week breaches involving LAPSUS$, a relatively new cybercrime group that specializes in stealing data from big companies and threatening to publish the information unless a ransom demand is paid. Here’s a closer look at LAPSUS$, and some of the low-tech but high-impact methods the group uses to gain access to targeted organizations.

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IndependentKrebs

Conti Ransomware Group Diaries, Part IV: Cryptocrime

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2022 01:38:36 +0000

Three stories here last week pored over several years’ worth of internal chat records stolen from the Conti ransomware group, the most profitable ransomware gang in operation today. The candid messages revealed how Conti evaded law enforcement and intelligence agencies, what it was like on a typical day at the Conti office, and how Conti secured the digital weaponry used in their attacks. This final post on the Conti conversations explores different schemes that Conti pursued to invest in and steal cryptocurrencies.

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IndependentKrebs

Conti Ransomware Group Diaries, Part III: Weaponry

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2022 20:20:29 +0000

Part I of this series examined newly-leaked internal chats from the Conti ransomware group, and how the crime gang dealt with its own internal breaches. Part II explored what it’s like to be an employee of Conti’s sprawling organization. Today’s Part III looks at how Conti abused a panoply of popular commercial security services to undermine the security of their targets, as well as how the team’s leaders strategized for the upper hand in ransom negotiations with victims.

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IndependentKrebs

Conti Ransomware Group Diaries, Part II: The Office

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2022 17:49:52 +0000

Earlier this week, a Ukrainian security researcher leaked almost two years’ worth of internal chat logs from Conti, one of the more rapacious and ruthless ransomware gangs in operation today. Tuesday’s story examined how Conti dealt with its own internal breaches and attacks from private security firms and governments. In Part II of this series we’ll explore what it’s like to work for Conti, as described by the Conti employees themselves.

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