Interesting research: “Teams of LLM Agents can Exploit Zero-Day Vulnerabilities.”

Abstract: LLM agents have become increasingly sophisticated, especially in the realm of cybersecurity. Researchers have shown that LLM agents can exploit real-world vulnerabilities when given a description of the vulnerability and toy capture-the-flag problems. However, these agents still perform poorly on real-world vulnerabilities that are unknown to the agent ahead of time (zero-day vulnerabilities).

In this work, we show that teams of LLM agents can exploit real-world, zero-day vulnerabilities. Prior agents struggle with exploring many different vulnerabilities and long-range planning when used alone. To resolve this, we introduce HPTSA, a system of agents with a planning agent that can launch subagents. The planning agent explores the system and determines which subagents to call, resolving long-term planning issues when trying different vulnerabilities. We construct a benchmark of 15 real-world vulnerabilities and show that our team of agents improve over prior work by up to 4.5×...

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Keytronic confirms that personal information was compromised after a ransomware group leaked allegedly stolen data.

The post Keytronic Says Personal Information Stolen in Ransomware Attack appeared first on SecurityWeek.

US insurance company Globe Life is investigating a data breach involving unauthorized access to consumer and policyholder information. 

The post Insurance Company Globe Life Investigating Data Breach appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The LA County’s Department of Public Health says the personal information of 200,000 was compromised in a data breach.

The post 200,000 Impacted by Data Breach at Los Angeles County Public Health Agency appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Cyber insurance and cybersecurity, when combined, can provide a powerful combination of protection and risk management.

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A 22-year-old man from the United Kingdom arrested this week in Spain is allegedly the ringleader of Scattered Spider, a cybercrime group suspected of hacking into Twilio, LastPass, DoorDash, Mailchimp, and nearly 130 other organizations over the past two years.

The Spanish daily Murcia Today reports the suspect was wanted by the FBI and arrested in Palma de Mallorca as he tried to board a flight to Italy.

A still frame from a video released by the Spanish national police shows Tylerb in custody at the airport.

“He stands accused of hacking into corporate accounts and stealing critical information, which allegedly enabled the group to access multi-million-dollar funds,” Murcia Today wrote. “According to Palma police, at one point he controlled Bitcoins worth $27 million.”

The cybercrime-focused Twitter/X account vx-underground said the U.K. man arrested was a SIM-swapper who went by the alias “Tyler.” In a SIM-swapping attack, crooks transfer the target’s phone number to a device they control and intercept any text messages or phone calls sent to the victim — including one-time passcodes for authentication, or password reset links sent via SMS.

“He is a known SIM-swapper and is allegedly involved with the infamous Scattered Spider group,” vx-underground wrote on June 15, referring to a prolific gang implicated in costly data ransom attacks at MGM and Caesars casinos in Las Vegas last year.

Sources familiar with the investigation told KrebsOnSecurity the accused is a 22-year-old from Dundee, Scotland named Tyler Buchanan, also allegedly known as “tylerb” on Telegram chat channels centered around SIM-swapping.

In January 2024, U.S. authorities arrested another alleged Scattered Spider member — 19-year-old Noah Michael Urban of Palm Coast, Fla. — and charged him with stealing at least $800,000 from five victims between August 2022 and March 2023. Urban allegedly went by the nicknames “Sosa” and “King Bob,” and is believed to be part of the same crew that hacked Twilio and a slew of other companies in 2022.

Investigators say Scattered Spider members are part of a more diffuse cybercriminal community online known as “The Com,” wherein hackers from different cliques boast loudly about high-profile cyber thefts that almost invariably begin with social engineering — tricking people over the phone, email or SMS into giving away credentials that allow remote access to corporate internal networks.

One of the more popular SIM-swapping channels on Telegram maintains a frequently updated leaderboard of the most accomplished SIM-swappers, indexed by their supposed conquests in stealing cryptocurrency. That leaderboard currently lists Sosa as #24 (out of 100), and Tylerb at #65.

0KTAPUS

In August 2022, KrebsOnSecurity wrote about peering inside the data harvested in a months-long cybercrime campaign by Scattered Spider involving countless SMS-based phishing attacks against employees at major corporations. The security firm Group-IB called the gang by a different name — 0ktapus, a nod to how the criminal group phished employees for credentials.

The missives asked users to click a link and log in at a phishing page that mimicked their employer’s Okta authentication page. Those who submitted credentials were then prompted to provide the one-time password needed for multi-factor authentication.

These phishing attacks used newly-registered domains that often included the name of the targeted company, and sent text messages urging employees to click on links to these domains to view information about a pending change in their work schedule. The phishing sites also featured a hidden Telegram instant message bot to forward any submitted credentials in real-time, allowing the attackers to use the phished username, password and one-time code to log in as that employee at the real employer website.

One of Scattered Spider’s first big victims in its 2022 SMS phishing spree was Twilio, a company that provides services for making and receiving text messages and phone calls. The group then pivoted, using their access to Twilio to attack at least 163 of its customers.

A Scattered Spider phishing lure sent to Twilio employees.

Among those was the encrypted messaging app Signal, which said the breach could have let attackers re-register the phone number on another device for about 1,900 users.

Also in August 2022, several employees at email delivery firm Mailchimp provided their remote access credentials to this phishing group. According to Mailchimp, the attackers used their access to Mailchimp employee accounts to steal data from 214 customers involved in cryptocurrency and finance.

On August 25, 2022, the password manager service LastPass disclosed a breach in which attackers stole some source code and proprietary LastPass technical information, and weeks later LastPass said an investigation revealed no customer data or password vaults were accessed.

However, on November 30, 2022 LastPass disclosed a far more serious breach that the company said leveraged data stolen in the August breach. LastPass said criminal hackers had stolen encrypted copies of some password vaults, as well as other personal information.

In February 2023, LastPass disclosed that the intrusion involved a highly complex, targeted attack against an engineer who was one of only four LastPass employees with access to the corporate vault. In that incident, the attackers exploited a security vulnerability in a Plex media server that the employee was running on his home network, and succeeded in installing malicious software that stole passwords and other authentication credentials. The vulnerability exploited by the intruders was patched back in 2020, but the employee never updated his Plex software.

Plex announced its own data breach one day before LastPass disclosed its initial August intrusion. On August 24, 2022, Plex’s security team urged users to reset their passwords, saying an intruder had accessed customer emails, usernames and encrypted passwords.

TURF WARS

Sosa and Tylerb were both subjected to physical attacks from rival SIM-swapping gangs. These communities have been known to settle scores by turning to so-called “violence-as-a-service” offerings on cybercrime channels, wherein people can be hired to perform a variety geographically-specific “in real life” jobs, such as bricking windows, slashing car tires, or even home invasions.

In 2022, a video surfaced on a popular cybercrime channel purporting to show attackers hurling a brick through a window at an address that matches the spacious and upscale home of Urban’s parents in Sanford, Fl.

January’s story on Sosa noted that a junior member of his crew named “Foreshadow” was kidnapped, beaten and held for ransom in September 2022. Foreshadow’s captors held guns to his bloodied head while forcing him to record a video message pleading with his crew to fork over a $200,000 ransom in exchange for his life (Foreshadow escaped further harm in that incident).

According to several SIM-swapping channels on Telegram where Tylerb was known to frequent, rival SIM-swappers hired thugs to invade his home in February 2023. Those accounts state that the intruders assaulted Tylerb’s mother in the home invasion, and that they threatened to burn him with a blowtorch if he didn’t give up the keys to his cryptocurrency wallets. Tylerb was reputed to have fled the United Kingdom after that assault.

KrebsOnSecurity sought comment from Mr. Buchanan, and will update this story in the event he responds.

Microsoft president says the company accepts full responsibility for every cybersecurity issue raised in a recent Cyber Safety Review Board report created by multiple officials from several U.S. government agencies

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Copilot Plus? More like Copilot Minus: Redmond realizes Recall requires radical rethink.

The post Recall ‘Delayed Indefinitely’ — Microsoft Privacy Disaster is Cut from Copilot+ PCs appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Ascension says patient information was stolen in an early-May ransomware attack that involved an employee downloading malware.

The post Ascension Says Personal, Health Information Stolen in Ransomware Attack appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The rise in U.S.-politics-themed scams indicates that adversarial nation states understand the significance of election years.

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PTaaS involves outsourcing penetration testing activities to a trusted third-party service provider, saving busy internal teams valuable time and offering an objective outsider’s perspective of their systems.

The post Penetration-Testing-as-a-Service: An Essential Component of the Cybersecurity Toolkit appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Whether it be purely text-based social engineering, or advanced, image-based attacks, one thing's for certain — generative AI is fueling a whole new age of advanced phishing.

The post The “Spammification” of Business Email Compromise Spells Trouble for Businesses Around the Globe appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Life360 says hackers attempted to extort it after stealing personal information from a Tile customer support platform.

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The MGM Resorts breach is just one example demonstrating the crippling financial, legal and operational consequences of ransomware incidents.

The post A Deep Dive Into the Economics and Tactics of Modern Ransomware Threat Actors appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Try the Enzoic + ThreatQ Integration Free on the ThreatQ Marketplace Exciting news for cybersecurity teams: Enzoic and ThreatQuotient have partnered to offer a powerful integration that combines Dark Web monitoring with advanced threat intelligence. And now, you can now try this integration for free on the ThreatQ marketplace, giving your organization a unique opportunity […]

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Location tracking service leaks PII, because—incompetence? Seems almost TOO easy.

The post Tile/Life360 Breach: ‘Millions’ of Users’ Data at Risk appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The first quarter of 2024 painted a concerning picture of security threats for enterprise organizations: information leaks and breaches exposed sensitive data across major corporations.

The post Q1 2024: A Wake-up Call for Insider Threats appeared first on Security Boulevard.

It’s no secret that hospitals and other health care organizations are among the top targets for cybercriminals. The ransomware attacks this year on UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare subsidiary, nonprofit organization Ascension, and most recently the National Health Service in England illustrate not only the damage to these organizations’ infrastructure and the personal health data that’s..

The post Connecticut Has Highest Rate of Health Care Data Breaches: Study appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The best-case scenario for mitigating cloud security risks is when CSPs and customers are transparent and aligned on their responsibilities from the beginning.

The post The Team Sport of Cloud Security: Breaking Down the Rules of the Game appeared first on Security Boulevard.

If your organization hasn’t taken these steps to prevent a ransomware attack, it’s time to act now to protect your company, its data, employees and most importantly, customers.

The post 5 Ways to Thwart Ransomware With an Identity-First Zero Trust Model appeared first on Security Boulevard.

IT systems – and this year networking equipment in particular – continue to pose the most security risk for organizations, but it is the vulnerable Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are quickly moving up the ladder, according to researchers with Forescout’s Verdere Labs researchers. In this year’s Riskiest Connected Devices report released this week,..

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Microsoft and Google will provide free or low-cost cybersecurity tools and services to rural hospitals in the United States at a time when health care facilities are coming under increasing attack by ransomware gangs and other threat groups. For independent rural and critical access hospitals, Microsoft will provide grants and as much as 75% discounts..

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Not our fault, says CISO: “UNC5537” breached at least 165 Snowflake instances, including Ticketmaster, LendingTree and, allegedly, Advance Auto Parts.

The post Ticketmaster is Tip of Iceberg: 165+ Snowflake Customers Hacked appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Data Leak? Immediate Actions to Take

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

As many as 165 customers of cloud storage provider Snowflake have been compromised by a group that obtained login credentials through information-stealing malware, researchers said Monday.

On Friday, Lending Tree subsidiary QuoteWizard confirmed it was among the customers notified by Snowflake that it was affected in the incident. Lending Tree spokesperson Megan Greuling said the company is in the process of determining whether data stored on Snowflake has been stolen.

“That investigation is ongoing,” she wrote in an email. “As of this time, it does not appear that consumer financial account information was impacted, nor information of the parent entity, Lending Tree.”

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Mandiant says a financially motivated threat actor has compromised hundreds of Snowflake instances using customer credentials stolen via infostealer malware that infected non-Snowflake owned systems.

The post Snowflake Attacks: Mandiant Links Data Breaches to Infostealer Infections appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The New York Times has issued a statement after someone leaked source code allegedly belonging to the news giant. 

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Auction house Christie's says the data breach caused by the recent ransomware attack impacts the information of 45,000 individuals.

The post Christie’s Says Ransomware Attack Impacts 45,000 People appeared first on SecurityWeek.

In episode 333 of the Shared Security Podcast, Tom and Scott discuss a recent massive data breach at Ticketmaster involving the data of 560 million customers, the blame game between Ticketmaster and third-party provider Snowflake, and the implications for both companies. Additionally, they discuss Live Nation’s ongoing monopoly investigation. In the ‘Aware Much’ segment, the […]

The post Ticketmaster Data Breach and Rising Work from Home Scams appeared first on Shared Security Podcast.

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U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, who late last month asked federal agencies to investigate flaws in UnitedHealth Group’s cybersecurity measures that led to the massive ransomware attack that disrupted hundreds of hospital and pharmacy operations, now is pushing the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department to require such large health care organizations to immediately implement protections...

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The Federal Communications Commission is considering requiring broadband providers to improve the cybersecurity of the networks that route traffic around the internet, an issue the FCC and other government agencies have been working on for more than a year. The proposal would require ISPs to generate confidential reports that would outline what they have done..

The post FCC Pushes Ahead with Internet Routing Security Requirements appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Spy warez: Assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division Bryan Vorndran (pictured) might have the key to unscramble your files.

The post LockBit Victim? Ask FBI for Your Ransomware Key appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Stress? What stress? 43% of IT professionals report that their organization had experienced a security breach that caused downtime and cost $1-10 million.

The post CDW Survey Surfaces Cybersecurity Tool Sprawl Challenges appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Frontier Communications is notifying over 750,000 individuals that their personal information was stolen in a recent data breach.

The post 750k Impacted by Frontier Communications Data Breach appeared first on SecurityWeek.

It remembers everything you do on your PC. Security experts are raging at Redmond to recall Recall.

The post Microsoft Recall is a Privacy Disaster appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Automated patch management is one important way to reduce the barrage of cyberattacks and guard against vulnerabilities.

The post Automation Takes Off: A New Dawn for Enterprises to Guard Against the Cyberattack Barrage appeared first on Security Boulevard.

RansomHub, which has become among the most prolific ransomware groups over the past few months, likely got its start with the source code from the Knight malware and a boost from a one-time BlackCat affiliate.

The post RansomHub Rides High on Knight Ransomware Source Code appeared first on Security Boulevard.

The BianLian ransomware gang has leaked data allegedly stolen from Australian mining company Northern Minerals.

The post Ransomware Gang Leaks Data From Australian Mining Company appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The newly-released Apple cybersecurity threat study reveals interesting data points and demonstrates how the threat landscape is evolving.

The post 8 Takeaways from Apple 2023 Threat Research appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Snowflake, Inc. says NO, threatening legal action against those who say it was. But reports are coming in of several more massive leaks from other Snowflake customers.

The post Was the Ticketmaster Leak Snowflake’s Fault? appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Security experts have been frustrated because no one was managing the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures security reports. Good news: The NIST has hired a company to manage the backlog. Bad news: The company has no experience with this kind of security work.

The post The NIST Finally Hires a Contractor to Manage CVEs appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Cloud storage provider Snowflake said that accounts belonging to multiple customers have been hacked after threat actors obtained credentials through info-stealing malware or by purchasing them on online crime forums.

Ticketmaster parent Live Nation—which disclosed Friday that hackers gained access to data it stored through an unnamed third-party provider—told TechCrunch the provider was Snowflake. The live-event ticket broker said it identified the hack on May 20, and a week later, a “criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web.”

Ticketmaster is one of six Snowflake customers to be hit in the hacking campaign, said independent security researcher Kevin Beaumont, citing conversations with people inside the affected companies. Australia’s Signal Directorate said Saturday it knew of “successful compromises of several companies utilizing Snowflake environments.” Researchers with security firm Hudson Rock said in a now-deleted post that Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, was also hacked in the campaign. The researchers cited online text conversations with the threat actor. Last month, Santander disclosed a data breach affecting customers in Chile, Spain, and Uruguay.

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Three-quarters of SMBs fear that a cyberattack could put them out of business. For good reason: 96% of them have already been the victims of a cyberattack.

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We warned you. As of June 3, Google is following through on its threat to kill ad blockers. Privacy-focused Chrome extensions are living on borrowed time; developers must upgrade to the less capable “Manifest V3” API.

The post Google Hates Ad Blockers: Manifest V3 Push Starts Today appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Security teams often grapple with the uncertainty of data exposure in their SaaS supply chain, especially with third-party SaaS vendors. A proactive approach helps safeguard organizations against SaaS threats. It begins with a comprehensive evaluation of third-party vendor cybersecurity practices to pinpoint potential vulnerabilities and risks within the supply chain.

The post Shining the Light on Shadow IT: Top Five SaaS Security Tips for Third-Party Risk Management appeared first on Security Boulevard.

Ticketmaster and other organizations have been affected by a data breach at cloud AI data platform Snowflake.

The post Snowflake Data Breach Impacts Ticketmaster, Other Organizations appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Has your data ever felt…exposed? We’ve all heard about data breaches, but have you ever stopped to wonder what the real impact is? At WeSecureApp, we track cyber threats closely, and this month, we’re here to shed light on what […]

The post Data Breaches in May 2024 – Infographic appeared first on WeSecureApp :: Securing Offensively.

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The AI Revolution in META Banks 

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence-led Banking in the META Region

Implementing Artificial Intelligence in META Banks 

Challenges and Risks of AI in META Banks 

Conclusion

As DDoS attackers become more sophisticated and the attack surface grows exponentially, businesses must expand beyond an ideology of prevention to include a focus on early detection and response.

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