Friday news digest #2

Friday is a great day to wrap up some of the biggest news in the cybersecurity world. Top 5 most interesting news and research from the past week.

APT Hackers Exploit Autodesk 3ds Max Software for Industrial Espionage

APT Groups starts to infiltrate the company using a tainted and specially crafted plugin for Autodesk 3ds Max. It’s a new technique that previously wasn’t used for initial access. This could be an indication of new attack methods that will be used to deliver malware. Hackers are looking for new opportunities for profit, so we need to be on the alert and be confident in the reliability of the security system.

Link here

Russian Arrested After Offering $1 Million to U.S. Company Employee for Planting Malware

On Wednesday, information was published that the FBI had arrested a Russian citizen. This person asked to install malware to extract data from the company’s network, allowing attackers to threaten it later to make the information public unless the company doesn’t pay the ransom. And today information was published that the target organization was Tesla Motors, Elon Musk approved this in his tweet. This is the second news this week that hackers are starting to use new, more sophisticated ways to gain access to the infrastructure of the target organization. Maybe we are witnessing the modern era of cyberwar and cybercrime.

Link here

New Zealand Stock Trading Halted For the Third Day After Cyber Attacks

New Zealand’s stock exchange under attack, the fourth day they try to restore their information system after a ransomware attack. The government’s cybersecurity agency CERT NZ said in November it had received reports of extortion emails targeting the financial sector. Cybersecurity experts appear baffled by the attacks, saying New Zealand isn’t typically a target and that it’s unclear whether the hackers are criminals or state-based actors.

Link here

U.S. Moves to Seize Cryptocurrency Accounts Linked to North Korean Heists

U.S. authorities on Thursday blocked and arrested 280 cryptocurrency accounts that belong to the North Korea cyber army and used to attack organizations over the world to claim redemption after ransomware attacks. North Korea is the first country which fills its budget with the ransomware attacks, it’s so funny.

Link here

Cybersecurity: Pay Now or Pay (More) Later

Fascinating article on budgeting for cybersecurity of companies that do not invest in their cyber security. Every attack on the organization does more damage than buying an “expensive” protection solution, performing penetration testing, or running bug bounty. But companies top-managers won’t hear about cybersecurity during no incidents. When the incident happens, they spend much more, it’s not strategic thinking, and it can kill your business.

Link here