A developing threat activity cluster has been found using Google Ads in one of its campaigns to distribute various post-compromise payloads, including the recently discovered Royal ransomware. Microsoft, which spotted the updated malware delivery method in late October 2022, is tracking the group under the name DEV-0569. "Observed DEV-0569 attacks show a pattern of continuous … [Read more...] about Microsoft Warns of Hackers Using Google Ads to Distribute Royal Ransomware
microsoft
Microsoft Blames Russian Hackers for Prestige Ransomware Attacks on Ukraine and Poland
Microsoft on Thursday attributed the recent spate of ransomware incidents targeting transportation and logistics sectors in Ukraine and Poland to a threat cluster that shares overlaps with the Russian state-sponsored Sandworm group. The attacks, which were disclosed by the tech giant last month, involved a strain of previously undocumented malware called Prestige and is said to … [Read more...] about Microsoft Blames Russian Hackers for Prestige Ransomware Attacks on Ukraine and Poland
Microsoft Warns of Uptick in Hackers Leveraging Publicly-Disclosed 0-Day Vulnerabilities
Microsoft is warning of an uptick in the nation-state and criminal actors increasingly leveraging publicly-disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities for breaching target environments. The tech giant, in its 114-page Digital Defense Report, said it has "observed a reduction in the time between the announcement of a vulnerability and the commoditization of that vulnerability," making it … [Read more...] about Microsoft Warns of Uptick in Hackers Leveraging Publicly-Disclosed 0-Day Vulnerabilities
Microsoft Issues Improved Mitigations for Unpatched Exchange Server Vulnerabilities
Microsoft on Friday disclosed it has made more improvements to the mitigation method offered as a means to prevent exploitation attempts against the newly disclosed unpatched security flaws in Exchange Server. To that end, the tech giant has revised the blocking rule in IIS Manager from ".*autodiscover\.json.*Powershell.*" to "(?=.*autodiscover\.json)(?=.*powershell)." The … [Read more...] about Microsoft Issues Improved Mitigations for Unpatched Exchange Server Vulnerabilities
Microsoft patches 64 vulnerabilities, one being exploited
Microsoft’s vulnerability hunters have presented a fresh catch: 64 vulnerabilities in its various products and services — five of which are critical. Two vulnerabilities were publicly disclosed before the patch was released (which technically makes them zero-days), and one is being actively exploited by attackers. As usual, we recommend installing updates with no delay. In the … [Read more...] about Microsoft patches 64 vulnerabilities, one being exploited
Scale security on the fly in Microsoft Azure Cloud with Cisco Secure Firewall
The release of Microsoft Azure Gateway Load Balancer is great news for customers, empowering them to simply and easily add Cisco Secure Firewall capabilities to their Azure cloud infrastructure. By combining Azure Gateway Load Balancer with Cisco Secure Firewall, organizations can quickly scale their firewall presence across their Azure cloud environment, providing protection … [Read more...] about Scale security on the fly in Microsoft Azure Cloud with Cisco Secure Firewall
Researchers Uncover UEFI Secure Boot Bypass in 3 Microsoft Signed Boot Loaders
A security feature bypass vulnerability has been uncovered in three signed third-party Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot loaders that allow bypass of the UEFI Secure Boot feature. "These vulnerabilities can be exploited by mounting the EFI System Partition and replacing the existing bootloader with the vulnerable one, or modifying a UEFI variable to load the … [Read more...] about Researchers Uncover UEFI Secure Boot Bypass in 3 Microsoft Signed Boot Loaders
Microsoft Links Raspberry Robin USB Worm to Russian Evil Corp Hackers
Microsoft on Friday disclosed a potential connection between the Raspberry Robin USB-based worm and an infamous Russian cybercrime group tracked as Evil Corp. The tech giant said it observed the FakeUpdates (aka SocGholish) malware being delivered via existing Raspberry Robin infections on July 26, 2022. Raspberry Robin, also called QNAP Worm, is known to spread from a … [Read more...] about Microsoft Links Raspberry Robin USB Worm to Russian Evil Corp Hackers
Hackers Opting New Attack Methods After Microsoft Blocked Macros by Default
With Microsoft taking steps to block Excel 4.0 (XLM or XL4) and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros by default across Office apps, malicious actors are responding by refining their new tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). "The use of VBA and XL4 Macros decreased approximately 66% from October 2021 through June 2022," Proofpoint said in a report shared with The … [Read more...] about Hackers Opting New Attack Methods After Microsoft Blocked Macros by Default
Microsoft Warns of Large-Scale AiTM Phishing Attacks Against Over 10,000 Organizations
Microsoft on Tuesday disclosed that a large-scale phishing campaign targeted over 10,000 organizations since September 2021 by hijacking Office 365's authentication process even on accounts secured with multi-factor authentication (MFA). "The attackers then used the stolen credentials and session cookies to access affected users' mailboxes and perform follow-on business email … [Read more...] about Microsoft Warns of Large-Scale AiTM Phishing Attacks Against Over 10,000 Organizations