Nation-state cyberattacks become more brazen as authoritarian leaders ramp up aggression
On February 23, 2022, the cybersecurity world entered a new age, the age of the hybrid war, as Russia launched both physical and digital attacks against Ukraine. This year’s Microsoft Digital Defense Report provides new detail on these attacks and on increasing cyber aggression coming from authoritarian leaders around the world.
Raspberry Robin worm part of larger ecosystem facilitating pre-ransomware activity
Microsoft has discovered recent activity indicating that the Raspberry Robin worm is part of a complex and interconnected malware ecosystem, with links to other malware families and alternate infection methods beyond its original USB drive spread.
Exploited Windows zero-day lets JavaScript files bypass security warnings
A new Windows zero-day allows threat actors to use malicious JavaScript files to bypass Mark-of-the-Web security warnings. Threat actors are already seen using the zero-day bug in ransomware attacks.
New “Prestige” ransomware impacts organizations in Ukraine and Poland
The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has identified evidence of a novel ransomware campaign targeting organizations in the logistics and transportation industry in Ukraine and Poland utilizing a previously unidentified ransomware payload.
In recent months, Microsoft detected weaponization of legitimate open-source software by an actor the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) tracks as ZINC, targeting employees at media, defense and aerospace, and IT service provider organizations in the US, UK, India, and Russia.
Microsoft Issues Out-of-Band Patch for Flaw Allowing Lateral Movement, Ransomware Attacks
Microsoft this week released an out-of-band security update for its Endpoint Configuration Manager solution to patch a vulnerability that could be useful to malicious actors for moving around in a targeted organization’s network. The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2022-37972 and it has been described by Microsoft as a medium-severity spoofing issue. The tech giant has credited Brandon Colley of Trimarc Security for reporting the flaw.
Malicious OAuth applications abuse cloud email services to spread spam
Microsoft discovered an attack where attackers installed a malicious OAuth application in compromised tenants and used their Exchange Online service to launch spam runs.
Undermining Microsoft Teams Security by Mining Tokens
In August 2022, the Vectra Protect team identified an attack path that enables malicious actors with file system access to steal credentials for any Microsoft Teams user who is signed in.
Microsoft investigates Iranian attacks against the Albanian government
Shortly after the destructive cyberattacks on the Albanian government in mid-July, the Microsoft Detection and Response Team (DART) was engaged to lead an investigation into the attacks.
Peut-on encore, en Suisse, recourir à des services cloud offerts par Microsoft ?
Dans une prise de position publiée le 13 juin 2022, le Préposé fédéral à la protection des données et à la transparence a estimé que le recours aux services cloud M365 de Microsoft serait susceptible de violer la Loi fédérale sur la protection des données, quand bien même le projet de la Caisse nationale suisse d'assurance en cas d'accidents (SUVA) envisage que les données soient hébergées en Suisse et que le cocontractant du responsable du traitement soit une entité européenne du Groupe Microsoft.
MagicWeb: NOBELIUM’s post-compromise trick to authenticate as anyone
Microsoft security researchers have discovered a post-compromise capability we’re calling MagicWeb, which is used by a threat actor we track as NOBELIUM to maintain persistent access to compromised environments.
The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) has observed and taken actions to disrupt campaigns launched by SEABORGIUM in campaigns involve persistent phishing and credential theft campaigns leading to intrusions and data theft.
911 Proxy Service Implodes After Disclosing Breach
911[.]re, a proxy service that since 2015 has sold access to hundreds of thousands of Microsoft Windows computers daily, announced this week that it is shutting down in the wake of a data breach that destroyed key components of its…
Untangling KNOTWEED: European private-sector offensive actor using 0-day exploits
MSTIC and MSRC disclose technical details of a private-sector offensive actor (PSOA) tracked as KNOTWEED using multiple Windows and Adobe 0-day exploits, including one for the recently patched CVE-2022-22047, in limited and targeted attacks against European and Central American customers.
North Korean threat actor targets small and midsize businesses with H0lyGh0st ransomware
A group of actors originating from North Korea that MSTIC tracks as DEV-0530 has been developing and using ransomware in attacks since June 2021. This group, which calls itself H0lyGh0st, utilizes a ransomware payload with the same name.
From cookie theft to BEC: Attackers use AiTM phishing sites as entry point to further financial fraud
A large-scale phishing campaign that attempted to target over 10,000 organizations since September 2021 used adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) phishing sites to steal passwords, hijack a user’s sign-in session, and skip the authentication process, even if the user had enabled multifactor authentication (MFA).
Uncovering a macOS App Sandbox escape vulnerability: A deep dive into CVE-2022-26706 - Microsoft Security Blog
Microsoft uncovered a vulnerability in macOS that could allow specially crafted codes to escape the App Sandbox and run unrestricted on the system. We shared these findings with Apple, and fix for this vulnerability, now identified as CVE-2022-26706, was included in the security updates on May 16, 2022.
The SessionManager IIS backdoor: a possibly overlooked GELSEMIUM artefact
In early 2022, we investigated an IIS backdoor called SessionManager. It has been used against NGOs, government, military and industrial organizations in Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
NSA, Partners Recommend Properly Configuring, Monitoring PowerShell in New Report
The National Security Agency (NSA) and partner cybersecurity authorities released a Cybersecurity Information Sheet today recommending that Microsoft Windows® operators and administrators properly
7-zip now supports Windows ‘Mark-of-the-Web’ security feature
7-zip has finally added support for the long-requested 'Mark-of-the-Web' Windows security feature, providing better protection from malicious downloaded files.
Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War
This report represents research conducted by Microsoft’s threat intelligence and data science teams with the goal of sharpening our understanding of the threat landscape in the ongoing war in Ukraine. The report also offers a series of lessons and conclusions resulting from the data gathered and analyzed. Notably, the report reveals new information about Russian efforts including an increase in network penetration and espionage activities amongst allied governments, non-profits and other organizations outside Ukraine. This report also unveils detail about sophisticated and widespread Russian foreign influence operations being used among other things, to undermine Western unity and bolster their war efforts. We are seeing these foreign influence operations enacted in force in a coordinated fashion along with the full range of cyber destructive and espionage campaigns. Finally, the report calls for a coordinated and comprehensive strategy to strengthen collective defenses – a task that will require the private sector, public sector, nonprofits and civil society to come together. The foreword of this new report, written by Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith, offers additional detail below.
