The Danger of Supply Chain Attacks

Hackers, Hacking, Ophtek, Shylock, SolarWInds, Supply Chain, , , , ,
16
Feb 2021

The supply chain is a crucial element in the business world and, accordingly, this makes it the perfect target for hackers to attack.

When a finished product ends up with a consumer it’s the culmination of a lengthy business process. The supply chain is the succession of activities which are involved in sourcing materials, processing materials and delivering products. Naturally, this process can involve numerous different processes and the involvement of many different organizations. Therefore, the number of opportunities to discover a backdoor or a vulnerability are attractive to a hacker. By infiltrating just one stage of a supply chain, a hacker is granted the chance to attack a large number of individuals.

Supply chain attacks have received a number of headlines over the last few years, so it’s important to arm yourself against them with knowledge.

How Does a Supply Chain Attack Work?

Hackers tend to focus on specific supply chains and carry our research on which part of the process is weakest. This gives the hacker the best opportunity of exploiting the entire supply chain. Typically, these attacks concentrate on smaller firms but, as we will see later, larger firms are also susceptible. The attack will generally be focused upon a target company and hackers will seek to disrupt their operations by infiltrating a third-party supplier e.g. a company which supplies bespoke parts to a manufacturer. The main strategy for a supply chain attack involves disabling IT systems with malware.

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Examples of Supply Chain Attacks

There has been an increase in supply chain attacks in the last few years and some of the most notable ones are:

  • SolarWinds: In late 2020 it was discovered that IT infranstructure company SolarWinds had been the victim of a supply chain attack. Having gained access to SolarWinds’ network, hackers were able to insert malware into SolarWinds’ software. Due to the stealth employed, SolarWinds were unaware that they were distributing this malware. The malware involved allowed hackers to disable system services, transfer files and reboot infected PCs.
  • Shylock: A banking trojan which emerged in 2014, Shylock targeted websites based in the creative and digital industries. The authors of the Shylock trojan used a redirect script that sent victims to a malicious website. However, the team behind Shylock did not directly target these victims. Instead, they infiltrated a creative agency that designed website templates. This allowed the hackers to conceal their malicious script within legitimate website templates.

How to Protect Against Supply Chain Attacks

Defending against a supply chain attack is difficult due to the number of third parties involved. Each one that your organization works with has the potential to create a supply chain breach. However, by implementing the following measures you should enhance your protection:

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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How to Protect Yourself against Social Engineering

Hacking, Ophtek, Phishing, Phishing Email, Security Threats, social engineering, , , ,
04
Aug 2020

 

Hackers thrive upon deception and the result of this endeavor is social engineering. It’s a powerful tactic and one you need to protect yourself from.

Social engineering has been used to deploy attacks such as the Coronavirus malware and the recent attack on high profile Twitter accounts. The method is intriguing due to its sophistication and its human element. Rather than relying on complex coding techniques to outwit computer systems, social engineering takes advantage of human naivety. More importantly, however, is the sheer destruction that it can cause.

The world is a perilous place at the best times, but now more than ever we need to make sure we protect ourselves and our businesses. One of the best ways to get started is by reinforcing the barricades against social engineering.

What is Social Engineering?

Manipulation is, in a word, exactly what social engineering is. But you’re going to need a little more information than that, so let’s take a closer look.
Social engineering is a process in which one party seeks to deceive individuals into revealing sensitive information. When it comes to the world of IT this sensitive data tends to relate to login credentials, but can also involve transferring sensitive documents such as employee records. These attacks are commonly executed through the use of phishing emails, but this is not the only technique. It’s possible for hackers to carry out social engineering attacks over the telephone and even face to face.

The Best Ways to Protect Yourself

Protecting yourself against social engineering takes a concerted effort. You can’t rely on software alone to protect you. Luckily, you can strengthen your personal defenses by practicing the following:

• Take Your Time: Social engineering relies on a lack of caution on the victim’s part. Therefore, it’s crucial that you always take your time when it comes to any form of communication. A social engineer will do their best to force you into making a quick decision e.g. clicking a link or disclosing your password. To counter this, evaluate all requests and press for answers if you feel even slightly suspicious.

• Use Email Filters: There have been great advances made in email filters over the course of the last 20 years. Where these junk filters once had relatively little use they are now highly intelligent. Enabling your email filters will enhance your security and prevent the majority of phishing emails making their way into your inbox. This reduces your risk and stops you from engaging with a social engineer.

• Too Good to Be True: As with all areas of life, if something sounds too good to be true then it makes sense to be suspicious. After all, it’s unlikely that a representative for an African prince wants to deposit millions of dollars into your bank account. And, if they did, why would they require your social security number? And your workplace login credentials? As a rule of thumb, if it sounds like a scam then it probably is and should be deleted.

• Is the Source Genuine: If an email says that it’s from your bank then this doesn’t mean it’s from your bank. Likewise, a phone call from your HR team isn’t necessarily genuine. Hackers specialize in trickery and deception, so they won’t shy away from such blatant and direct approaches. Always check every request for details such genuine URL details (by hovering over a link) and only transmitting sensitive data to internal email addresses.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Trickbot Malware Shows that Hackers are Getting Cleverer

Hackers, malware, Ophtek, Spam, , , ,
21
Jul 2020

Malware is a thorn which we find in our sides on a regular basis. But what happens when this thorn becomes even harder to tackle? The answer is Trickbot.

First released in 2016, Trickbot has made its name by using a variety of attack methods. The malware has been shown to steal Bitcoin, target banks and harvest login credentials. Naturally, this makes it a very dangerous piece of malware. But as with a virus that attacks humans, this malware is constantly changing its DNA. New features have regularly been added to Trickbot which not only makes it harder to detect, but also makes it more dangerous.

Trickbot has the potential to cause significant damage to your IT setup, so it’s important to know what you’re up against.

The Lowdown on Trickbot

The most common infection method used by Trickbot is through the use of malicious spam campaigns. Emails that pretend to be from financial institutions are used to distribute infected attachments and URLs that the victims are urged to action. And, once the payload has been activated, it’s unlikely that the victim will be aware. Trickbot will communicate with a remote command and control centre almost silently and, at the same time, infect other PCs on the same network.

Trickbot’s Latest Trick

As we mentioned earlier, the hackers behind Trickbot thrive upon their ability to evolve the malware. And their latest upgrade to Trickbot is both innovative and deceptive. This is most keenly demonstrated by its ‘anti-virtual machine’ strategy. One of the safest ways for security professionals to analyze malware is within a virtual machine environment. Therefore, in order to hide its operations, Trickbot will stop working when it detects a virtual machine.

And, believe it or not, one of the simplest ways to do this is to analyze the PCs current screen resolution. Any screen resolution that is set to 1024×768 and below will cause Trickbot to terminate its operations. This means that security researchers using a virtual machine to will draw a blank. This is a very clever technique and is one that allows Trickbot to reactivate once the PC is restarted into a higher resolution.

How Do You Stop Trickbot?

Anti-malware software such as Malwarebytes is capable of detecting and removing most strains of Trickbot, but there will always be a slight delay when it comes to new strains. And, of course, you should never rely on removing infections as the best strategy for defense. Instead you should make every effort to prevent infection in the first place. This can be achieved in the following ways:

  • Evaluate All Incoming Emails: It’s essential that your staff is aware of the dangers of phishing emails. Thankfully, the tell-tale signs are easy to detect and, with this knowledge to hand, it should become much harder to fall victim to Trickbot. 
  • Avoid Malicious Websites: Given their deceptive nature, it’s easier said than done to avoid malicious websites. However, it’s crucial that you have the ability to identify malicious websites. This will severely limit the chances of downloading malware such as Trickbot. 

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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What is Hacking?

Hackers, Hacking, Hijacks, Ophtek, Security, Viruses, , , , , ,
02
Jul 2019

We all know that hacking goes on. And it certainly goes on in business. But how much do we know about it? The truth is we don’t know as much as we should.

The general consensus is that most people know what a hacker is and how they go about their business. This is why there are so many anti-hacking products available. However, using these products on their own isn’t enough to guarantee safety. In fact there is no guarantee. But you can enhance your protection significantly with an understanding of the basics of hacking. It’s important to know what a hacker is attempting to do. With this in mind you have a much better chance of preventing or resolving the hack.

What is Hacking?

Hacking causes chaos. Lots of chaos. And that’s not an understatement. But what exactly is it? It can be many things, but the basic core of hacking is to compromise devices. These can include PCs, networks and smart devices. Regardless of the device a hacker wants to gain unauthorized access to it. Sometimes this access can be used to steal data and sometimes it can be to cause sabotage. There are a wide range of techniques involved and we’ll take a look at them later.

Who are the Hackers?

The traditional image of a hacker that most people have in their minds isn’t entirely accurate. The pimply nosed, teenage hacker of cartoons may well exist in one form or another, but they’re not the only hacker out there. Due to the financial gain on offer from hacking, a number of criminal gangs are now developing sophisticated hacking methods to earn a nice income. And then there are the political gains that can be provided by hacking. There are a wide range of hackers out there, but identifying them is very difficult as they’re notoriously good at covering their tracks.

What Type of Hacks Are There?

The complexities of IT software and hardware mean that there is the potential for a variety of hacking techniques. Some of the most common methods are:

  • Ransomware: This is every organization’s worst nightmare. A relatively new form of malware, ransomware is spread through malicious emails that encourage recipients to click a link. If these links are clicked then a series of processes are executed that leave the victim’s hard drive encrypted. And the only way to decrypt the files is by paying a cryptocurrency ransom. 

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Infected Websites Are Mining Cryptocurrency

bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Hacking, Security, Security Threats, , ,
06
Apr 2018

Hackers are now infecting websites in order to take control of your PC’s processor and help power the resource heavy activity of cryptocurrency mining.

Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have been generating countless headlines in the last year due to the huge values being attributed to them in the financial world. Now, despite cryptocurrencies being purely digital, they still need to be mined to help produce new coins. Naturally, this isn’t a simple task or, otherwise, everyone would be doing it and making millions. Instead, you need plenty of time and even more computing power to carry out the mining process.

For a hacker, of course, harnessing such huge amounts of computing power isn’t exactly rocket science, so it’s no surprise that this is their latest enterprise. And, to make this task a little easier, they’ve started infecting websites to help steal your processing power and power their cryptocurrency mining.

Mining for Cryptocurrency

While leaching off the CPU of innocent users to facilitate cryptocurrency mining is nothing new, the use of websites to help capture this valuable resource is a new one on security experts. And the manner in which it’s being done is ridiculously simple.

Hackers are setting up malicious adverts on websites that run a JavaScript file directly in the browser whenever that site is opened. There’s no need for the hacker to have direct access to the victim’s PC, everything takes place in the victim’s browser. And, if the victim has JavaScript enabled, then the malicious code will automate and hand over a significant amount of their processor power to the hacker’s mining activities.

There are certainly more sensitive hacks – such as those which exploit or encrypt your data – but the real bugbear of having your CPU taken advantage of is the impact it has on your computer’s performance. Mining cryptocurrency requires significant processing power to power through the labor intensive tasks involved, so this drain on resources is going to cause your system to grind to a halt.

Is a Website Hacking Your Processor?

Organizations, in particular, do not want to see their productivity affected by a slowdown in performance, so it’s crucial that you understand the warning signs of these infected sites. If the internet is in use and your system starts slowing down then you should check the performance of your CPU by:

  • Right clicking the taskbar on your PC and selecting Task Manager. This will allow you to access the Performance tab where you can see which resources are taking up your processor’s usage.

If opening a webpage is causing your PC’s performance to rocket, then there’s a chance that this could be down to an infected webpage. The simplest way to deduce this is by closing individual webpages and monitoring the effect within your Performance tab in Task Manager.

Final Thoughts

These infected websites are not going to cause major damage to your organization, but they are going to put a drain on your resources. Understanding that any potential reductions in processor speed could be caused by this new method of hacking is vital to stay on top of your digital security.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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