From The Blog
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ConnectWise Slash and Grab Flaw Once Again Shows the Value of Input Validation We talk to Huntress About its Impact
Written by Sean KalinichAlthough the news of the infamous ConnectWise flaw which allowed for the creation of admin accounts is a bit cold, it still is one that…Written on Tuesday, 19 March 2024 12:44 in Security Talk Read 606 times Read more...
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Social Manipulation as a Service – When the Bots on Twitter get their Check marks
Written by Sean KalinichWhen I started DecryptedTech it was to counter all the crap marketing I saw from component makers. I wanted to prove people with a clean…Written on Monday, 04 March 2024 16:17 in Editorials Read 1515 times Read more...
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To Release or not to Release a PoC or OST That is the Question
Written by Sean KalinichThere is (and always has been) a debate about the ethics and impact of the release of Proof-of-Concept Exploit for an identified vulnerability and Open-Source…Written on Monday, 26 February 2024 13:05 in Security Talk Read 1064 times Read more...
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There was an Important Lesson Learned in the LockBit Takedown and it was Not About Threat Groups
Written by Sean KalinichIn what could be called a fantastic move, global law enforcement agencies attacked and took down LockBit’s infrastructure. The day of the event was filled…Written on Thursday, 22 February 2024 12:20 in Security Talk Read 1013 times Read more...
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NetSPI’s Offensive Security Offering Leverages Subject Matter Experts to Enhance Pen Testing
Written by Sean KalinichBlack Hat 2023 Las Vegas. The term offensive security has always been an interesting one for me. On the surface is brings to mind reaching…Written on Tuesday, 12 September 2023 17:05 in Security Talk Read 2083 times Read more...
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Black Kite Looks to Offer a Better View of Risk in a Rapidly Changing Threat Landscape
Written by Sean KalinichBlack Hat 2023 – Las Vegas. Risk is an interesting subject and has many different meanings to many different people. For the most part Risk…Written on Tuesday, 12 September 2023 14:56 in Security Talk Read 1798 times Read more...
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Microsoft Finally Reveals how they Believe a Consumer Signing Key was Stollen
Written by Sean KalinichIn May of 2023 a few sensitive accounts reported to Microsoft that their environments appeared to be compromised. Due to the nature of these accounts,…Written on Thursday, 07 September 2023 14:40 in Security Talk Read 2073 times Read more...
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Mandiant Releases a Detailed Look at the Campaign Targeting Barracuda Email Security Gateways, I Take a Look at What this all Might Mean
Written by Sean KalinichThe recent attack that leveraged a 0-Day vulnerability to compromise a number of Barracuda Email Security Gateway appliances (physical and virtual, but not cloud) was…Written on Wednesday, 30 August 2023 16:09 in Security Talk Read 2055 times Read more...
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Threat Groups Return to Targeting Developers in Recent Software Supply Chain Attacks
Written by Sean KalinichThere is a topic of conversation that really needs to be talked about in the open. It is the danger of developer systems (personal and…Written on Wednesday, 30 August 2023 13:29 in Security Talk Read 1831 times Read more...
Recent Comments
- Sean, this is a fantastic review of a beautiful game. I do agree with you… Written by Jacob 2023-05-19 14:17:50 Jedi Survivor – The Quick, Dirty, and Limited Spoilers Review
- Great post. Very interesting read but is the reality we are currently facing. Written by JP 2023-05-03 02:33:53 The Dangers of AI; I Think I Have Seen this Movie Before
- I was wondering if you have tested the microphone audio frequency for the Asus HS-1000W? Written by Maciej 2020-12-18 14:09:33 Asus HS-1000W wireless headset impresses us in the lab
- Thanks for review. I appreciate hearing from a real pro as opposed to the blogger… Written by Keith 2019-06-18 04:22:36 The Red Hydrogen One, Possibly One of the Most “misunderstood” Phones Out
- Have yet to see the real impact but in the consumer segment, ryzen series are… Written by sushant 2018-12-23 10:12:12 AMD’s 11-year journey to relevance gets an epic finish.
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FTC Changes the Focus from Cloud to Xbox Vs PlayStation in Microsoft Activision Blizzard Deal (as it should be)
Written by Sean KalinichIn our coverage of the Microsoft Activision/Blizzard deal we have often wondered why so many of the groups that approved the deal, and one that opposed it, focused only on cloud gaming. We saw the UK say that the deal was bad for cloud gaming while others stated that a 10-year licensing deal for cloud gaming services that Microsoft agreed to made everything all better. As we looked over the approvals and oppositions this odd focus on what represents less than 1% of the gaming market seemed so out of place that started to feel that the opposition was just a token resistance and the deal (which is a bad thing) was just going to get rubber stamped.
Apple Patches Flaw that Allowed for Spyware Which Russia Blamed on the US
Written by Sean KalinichRemember the iMessage flaw that allowed for a zero click installation of malware? You know, the one that was discovered by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky which was allegedly targeting Russian Apple devices? The one that Russia said was a US cyber op? Yeah, that one. Well, it seems that Apple has rolled out a patch for this flaw which was part of an operation dubbed Triangulation with the backdoor actually being called TriangleBD.
Flaw in MS Azure AD OAuth Could Allow for Complete Account Take Over
Written by Sean KalinichMicrosoft’s Azure AD, the cloud-based flavor of the on-premises service is an interesting construct. On the surface you think that it has some decent protections enabled by default. The sad truth of the matter is that this is not the case and many options for security are very lacking until you hit much higher security levels. If you add to this equation the likelihood of vulnerabilities and other flaws that can allow an attacker to bypass the security options that are already there it is a bit of a mess. This wonderful thought is what brings us to today’s flaw. According to security researchers, there is a flaw in how Microsoft Azure AD processes its implementation of OAuth (Open Authentication).
New Info Stealer Malware, Mystic Stealer, can Target an Impressive 40 Web Browsers
Written by Sean KalinichThere is nothing like hearing about a new information stealer on a Monday. In this case the malware in question goes by the name of Mystic Stealer and was first pushed onto the world in April of 2023. It boasts some pretty impressive features like being able to steal data from 40 different web browsers and over 70 browser extensions. This list of features is on top of targeting crypto wallets, Steam accounts, and Telegram Accounts.
Fragments of a New Sophisticated macOS Toolkit found in the Wild
Written by Sean KalinichAs I have often said, the idea that an operating system, or brand of computer is somehow immune to attack or malware is just a false one. We have seen time and time again where attackers are all too capable of compromising what was once considered “secure”. Now security researchers have found evidence of a sophisticated cross platform toolkit which could indicate an increased focus on macOS.
Microsoft Says June Azure Outages Caused by Coordinated DDoS Attack
Written by Sean KalinichAccording to a statement that Microsoft released on Friday, several outrages in their Azure environment were caused by a large-scale Distributed Denial of Service attack. The attack began in early June 2023 when “surges in traffic” began causing availability impacts. Microsoft began an investigation into the incident and are now tracking a potentially new threat group (Storm-1359). The new group is using a somewhat different attack vector although most of the moving parts behind the attack are common.
DNS over HTTPS Tunneling Found in New Linux Backdoor from ChamelGang
Written by Sean KalinichThere is a new threat in town from the ChamelGang. This new threat is a Linux backdoor that just been identified and shows that the threat group is expanding their capabilities. Identified by Stairwell and dubber ChamelDoH (for DNS over HTTPS), this new malware is written in C++, which is not all that unusual even if the method of communication is not completely normal. ChamelGang was first identified in 2021 and was associated with attacks on energy, fuel, and aviation industries in multiple countries including the US, Russia, Nepal, Japan, Taiwan, and India.
Russian National Magomedovich Astamirov Arrested in Arizona Suspected of being a LockBit Affiliate
Written by Sean KalinichA 20-year-old Russian National Magomedovich Astamirov was arrested in Arizona and had his initial appearance in court yesterday. The arrest and charges come after a lengthy investigation into the Ransomware as a Service Group, LockBit. This is the second arrest in six months related to the group’s activities with a third warrant/indictment issued for another individual, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, who is still at large. According to the DOJ press release Astamirov is suspected of conspiring with other LockBit members to attack multiple organizations in the US and around the globe. Astamirov is believed to have managed various IP and Email addresses used for ransomware deployment and communication with the victims of attacks.
The MOVEit Saga continues, More Flaws found and Cl0p Begins to Extort Victims
Written by Sean KalinichHere we are with another story about MOVEit and just how bad things have gotten for the Managed File Transfer application and their parent company Progress Software. The group behind the attack, Cl0p ransomware gang, has started to extort the companies that they stole data from. They have listed the names of companies on their data leak site, in the same manner they would for ransomware victims after failing to pay. We know that someone (Cl0p has taken credit) was able to finally exploit a zero-day in the software after about a year of tinkering with the flaw and months of access.
Microsoft Reveals new GRU Related Threat Group with Low Success Rate
Written by Sean KalinichOn Wednesday Microsoft’s threat group unveiled information about a new Russian Threat Group with ties to the GRU. As part of the announcement, they also noted that the group has a low success rate and poor operational security. The group, which Microsoft is now tracking under the name Cadet Blizzard seems to focus on service disruption, destructive campaigns and information gathering. Microsoft noted that they appear to be a combination of technically skilled, but lacking direction and sophistication.
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Hygiene Matters as Abandoned S3 Buckets Used in New Supply Chain Attack
Written by Sean KalinichIf there is one thing you can say about modern threat groups, it is that they are clever. The new tactics and techniques they identify, and implement are impressive. A recent technique identified is the use of abandoned S3 buckets. The attackers search for and locate S3 buckets that are no longer in use and claim them as their own. If the bucket happens to be part of an existing or previous deployment workflow, so much the better. Checkmarx recently identified a supply chain attack that involved this type of scenario. The attackers took claimed an abandoned S3 bucket for an NPM package called bignum.
Fortinet Pre-Authentication RCE flaw Found in SSL VPN Function
Written by Sean KalinichThe last couple of months have been rather busy with the identification of critical vulnerabilities. Multiple Zero-Days were found in different pieces of software including Remote Code Execution, data modification and theft, and complete compromise of other devices that require replacement rather than patching. So, with that it is not surprising that another critical flaw has been identified (and patched) in another major vendor’s devices. Fortinet has announced the release of patches for a vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-27997.
MOVIEit is having a Very Bad Week as more Flaw Found after Security Audit
Written by Sean KalinichMOVEit has been in the news quite a bit lately. First it was the disclosure of a Zero-Day that was actively being exploited since October 2022. Next up was the fact that the group exploiting the flaw was probably tinkering around the vulnerability since mice 2021. If that were not bad enough a new security audit performed on the MFT (managed file transfer) has found even more vulnerabilities in the service. The flaws are like the original zero-day flaws, in that they are SQL injection flaws that allow for theft of data from customer databases.
Just When you Thought it was Safe to go Back to the Bank, Microsoft Finds Banking Attacks Targeting Financial Institutions
Written by Sean KalinichAlthough Banking, Mortgage, and other financial institutions are always under attack, it is never a good thing to see a coordinated campaign targeting them. Microsoft has disclosed once such campaign using Attacker (Adversary, Man)-in -the-Middle tactics for phishing and BEC (Business Email Compromise) attacks. This style of attack is also not new and one that is often seen in the financial world. These campaigns typically start with one organization that gets popped.