LastPass Hit by Security Incident

Hackers, LastPass, Ophtek, password manager, Password Security, Security, strong passwords, , , , ,
07
Feb 2023

What exactly happened when LastPass, a password manager service, found itself at the center of a data breach? And what does this mean for your passwords?

Password managers provide a convenient service, one where complex passwords can be generated instantly and then, going forward, auto-fills when requested. LastPass is a successful example of what a password manager can do, but it’s a role which comes with great responsibility. Login credentials, after all, are often the difference between gaining access and being denied access to a user account. Therefore, password managers need to be sure the credentials they hold are highly secure.

However, as LastPass users are now finding out, password managers are highly tempting to threat actors, and far from 100% secure.

How LastPass was Hacked

Used by millions of users all over the world, LastPass has established itself as one of the leading password managers. Unfortunately, this credibility has been rocked by revelations that the service’s encrypted password vaults have been stolen by hackers. The attack – which took place in August 2022 – was ambitious, and its success even more so.

LastPass’ backup copies of their users’ password vaults were stored, apparently securely, on a third-party cloud storage platform. This, in itself, is nothing unusual; storing backup copies of secure data in remote locations is good practice. Nonetheless, once third parties become involved in storing your data, you relinquish control of this data’s security. And this is exactly where LastPass has fallen victim to threat actors.

While the mechanics of the breach remain under wraps, LastPass has had to admit that personal identifiers – including addresses, phone numbers, credit card details and IP addresses – are among the stolen data. The password vaults – which are encrypted – have also been stolen, so this means the threat actors are closer to knowing your password. And, given they now have access to your personal identifiers, it makes brute force attacks easier.

What to Do if You’re a LastPass User

LastPass has been keen to stress that, although stolen, the password vaults are secure due to the encryption protecting them. However, these encrypted passwords are now in the hands of an unauthorized party and means they are seriously compromised. Therefore, it’s crucial all LastPass users take the following decisive actions:

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

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VMware Exploit Allows Hackers to Deliver Malware Package

install updates, malware, Ophtek, Security, VMware Exploit, Workspace ONE, , , , ,
07
Nov 2022

The importance of installing updates has been highlighted by VMware Users who have failed to update and found themselves at the mercy of malware attacks.

VMware is a tech company which specializes in providing both cloud computing services and virtualization technology (such as remote desktop software). Founded nearly 25 years ago, VMware has proved to be highly popular with businesses of all sizes. However, this experience doesn’t mean their software is perfect. In fact, no tech company – not even the biggest ones – can claim to create products which are 100% resistant to threat actors.

And that’s why VMware’s Workspace ONE Access service, an application which allows digital apps in an organization to be accessed on any device, has been compromised. The attack has been declared a significant one, so we’re going to take you through it.

Workspace ONE Compromised

The attack, which was discovered by security experts at Fortiguard Labs, centers around a vulnerability patched by VMware back in April 2022. However, this attack is still targeting this exploit, an indicator that the uptake of VMware’s patch has been poor. As a result, the CVE-2022-22954 vulnerability has the potential to open your PC up to all manner of malware.

If the vulnerability is still present, threat actors have the opportunity to launch remote code execution attacks against an infected PC. With the help of this foothold, the hackers have been able to download a wide range of malware to PCs and their associated networks. Examples involved in this attack have included:

  • Cryptoware
  • Ransomware
  • Software which removes other cryptomining apps
  • Malware used to spread the attack even further
  • Botnets

All of these campaigns are installed and operated separately, indicating that this is a well-organized attack by the unknown threat actors. Activity for the overall campaign peaked in August 2022, but it remains active as it seeks further users of Workspace ONE who have failed to patch their software.

Protecting Yourself Against Software Exploits

The impact of falling victim to the Workspace ONE vulnerability is huge as it attacks its victims on numerous fronts. Not only is there the financial risk of ransomware, but the activity of cryptoware and ransomware is going to seriously eat into the resources of your IT infrastructure. Therefore, you need to make sure you carry out the following:

  • Install all updates: if you are a Workspace ONE user then you need to ensure it’s fully patched and up to date. And, once this is complete, it’s crucial you make sure all your software is patched.

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

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Stealer Malware Hidden in Fake Zoom Sites

Cyber Security, Data Security, malware, Ophtek, stealer malware, zoom, , , , , ,
11
Oct 2022

Six malicious websites have been discovered which claim to offer downloads of Zoom, but contain nothing but the Vidar stealer malware.

The popularity of Zoom – a video meeting application – has exploded in the post-Covid landscape we find ourselves living in. No longer do people need to travel for face-to-face meetings, they can now be conveniently arranged and carried out over video. Accordingly, the demand for Zoom is huge, with around 485 million downloads completed since 2020. Due to this popularity, a gang of cybercriminals have decided to use Zoom as the bait for downloading the Vidar stealer.

As your employees are likely to consider a Zoom install safe, it’s important that we delve a little deeper and demonstrate why it may be far from safe.

Beware of Fake Zoom Sites

Vidar has been an active threat for some time now, but this latest attack is a new campaign and carries a number of unique threats. The six sites, discovered by Cyble Research, use a variety of URLs such as ‘zoom-download’ and ‘zoomus’ to appear legitimate. And, if you visit one of these sites, the visual aesthetics are remarkably similar to the official Zoom website, but this is where all similarities end.

Attempting to download the Zoom application from these malicious sites will, instead, redirect you to a GitHub file depository. From here, two files will be downloaded to your temporary folder:

  • ZOOMIN~1.exe: this is a genuine Zoom installer which is included to create a front that nothing untoward is taking place.
  • Decoder.exe: this is the malicious file which injects Vidar’s ability to steal into the Microsoft Build Engine. With this infection in place, Vidar is then able to contact remote Command and Control servers and begin transmitting data from the infected PC.

Like most stealer malware, Vidar concentrates on extracting confidential data such as login credentials, network details and whether any further vulnerabilities are present in the IT infrastructure. If vulnerabilities are detected, then it’s highly likely these will be logged and sold by criminal gangs. Protecting yourself against Vidar, therefore, is crucial.

How to Avoid Having Your Data Stolen

The mechanics of the Vidar Zoom threat are relatively common in the world of malware, so it’s likely you will run into a similar threat at some point. The best way to protect your PCs is by following these practices:

  • Always Verify Websites: Vidar’s latest attack relies on poor judgement from its intended victims, the main error coming when they assume that the malicious website is genuine. Many antivirus suites contain tools which allow search results to be rated as to their level of safety, and there is also the option for these tools to present warning screens before accessing sites deemed unsafe. If these are unavailable, and you need to download some software, reach out to your IT team instead.
  • Install Updates: Vidar is keen on logging any vulnerabilities contained within your PC, so it makes sense to limit these vulnerabilities. The best way to achieve this is by always installing updates as soon as they are available.
  • Segment Your Network: to protect your data, it makes sense to adopt network segmentation. This procedure divides your network into different segments and allows you to keep them separate. Therefore, if one segment is breached, the others will remain protected, and this allows you to limit the spread of the malware.

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

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New Malware Lets Hackers Log in to Windows as Anyone

ADFS secure, APT29, MagicWeb, Network, Ophtek, Security, The Cloud, , , , , ,
07
Sep 2022

Microsoft has announced that Windows login credentials can now be bypassed by a new strain of malware, one which is being used by Russian hackers APT29.

Logging onto Windows is the first thing we do after turning a PC on, and we do this by entering a combination of username/password credentials to gain access. This first step in security is crucial for protecting the integrity of your PC. If your credentials are highly secure, and known to no one else, it’s going to be difficult for anyone else to log on to your PC. And you certainly don’t want anyone gaining unauthorized access to your desktop. Accordingly, this has made login credentials a major target for threat actors.

This latest piece of malware, known as MagicWeb, doesn’t, however, steal your username/password combination. Instead, it’s much cleverer.

MagicWeb’s Deceptive Power

Windows passwords are hashed, and this means that although they are stored on your PC and associated servers, they are encrypted and translated into a series of unintelligible characters. So, for example, your password of PASSWORD (please don’t ever use this!) may be hashed into %fG1a:: – and these hashed passwords are completely useless. However, by entering PASSWORD into a login system, it will be translated into a hash and then matched against the stored hash to determine if it’s the correct password.

As it’s incredibly difficult to decrypt hashed passwords, threat actors must find different methods to bypass login credentials. MagicWeb does this by obtaining unauthorized access to login credentials for Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) servers. It’s within these ADFS servers that access to systems within an organization can be processed. This access is validated by a token generated within ADFS. MagicWeb compromises this token by manipulating the claims process used to authorize any logon requests. Therefore, it can validate any Windows logon request.

Protecting Your PCs from MagicWeb

Once MagicWeb has a foothold within your ADFS servers, it can allow anyone to log on to your network with ease. Both identifying and preventing this is important for you IT infrastructure’s security. As such, you need to make sure you do the following:

  • Make ADFS secure: one of the most effective ways to protect your ADFS is by designing it to be secure. This is far from straightforward, but it will pay dividends down the road when it comes face-to-face with threats such as MagicWeb. Luckily, Microsoft have provided advice on the best practices for achieving this.
  • Isolate admin access: malware threats such as MagicWeb have the opportunity to gain unauthorized admin access, and this gives them free rein to make major changes to your IT network. It makes sense, therefore, to isolate any admin infrastructures and restrict access to as few people as possible. Also, make sure your admin infrastructure is regularly monitored for any changes, as this may indicate an attack is taking place.

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

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SessionManager Malware Targets Microsoft Exchange Servers

IIS, malware, Ophtek, security, SessionManager, Windows vulnerability, , , , ,
12
Jul 2022

A new piece of malware has been found to be targeting Microsoft Exchange servers operated by both military and government organizations all over the world.

Discovered by security giants Kaspersky, who also gave the malware its name, SessionManager appears to have been at large since March 2021, but its existence has only just been confirmed. It’s believed that SessionManager was created by Gelsemium, a relatively new hacking group who have already conducted a number of serious cyber-attacks.

Naturally, you would expect military and government organizations to have some of the strongest cybersecurity measures in place. And they do. However, there’s not a single IT infrastructure which can be described as 100% secure. And, as SessionManager has proved, where there are vulnerabilities, there’s a way in.

How Does SessionManager Operate?

At the start of 2021, Kaspersky revealed details of ProxyLogon, a series of vulnerabilities discovered in Microsoft Exchange. As a result of these vulnerabilities, threat actors were presented with an opportunity to install malicious modules into web server software for Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS). And this is exactly how the SessionManager module came to be embedded within numerous organization’s servers.

Once installed, the threat actors were able to use SessionManager to carry out the following tasks:

  • Carry out remote command execution on affected devices
  • Gain quick and easy access to email accounts within the organization
  • Install further malware to maximize the way in which servers were compromised
  • Using infected servers to manipulate traffic moving across the network

As SessionManager has managed to operate without detection for over a year, it has been able to harvest signification amounts of sensitive data and take control of high-level networks. Even after SessionManager’s discovery, security experts have been slow to move, with Kaspersky commenting that a popular file scanning service was still failing to detect SessionManager. Accordingly, SessionManager remains active in the digital wild and maintains its threat.

What If You’re Infected with SessionManager?

Even if you do discover that your network has been infected by the SessionManager module, deleting it is not enough to fully rid yourself of it. Instead, you will need to go through the following:

  • The most important step to take first is to disable your IIS environment
  • Use the IIS manager to identify all references to the SessionManager module and ensure that these are fully removed
  • Update your IIS server to eliminate any known vulnerabilities and leave it fully patched
  • Restart your IIS environment and run a final check for any traces of SessionManager

If, of course, you want to prevent vulnerability threats such as SessionManager being enabled in the first place, then you need a conscientious approach to updates. The sooner you can install a firmware upgrade or a security patch, the sooner you can plug security holes in your IT infrastructure.

Sure, we live in a fast-paced world and it’s easy to forget minor tasks such as installing upgrades, but with automate installs a viable option, there’s not really an excuse. Therefore, keep your organization’s network safe by automating updates and enjoying the peace of mind this brings.

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

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