@RISK: The Consensus Security Vulnerability Alert
February 20, 2020 – Vol. 20, Num. 08
CONTENTS:
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NOTABLE RECENT SECURITY ISSUES
INTERESTING NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECURITY COMMUNITY
VULNERABILITIES FOR WHICH EXPLOITS ARE AVAILABLE
MOST PREVALENT MALWARE FILES February 13 – 20, 2020
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TOP VULNERABILITY THIS WEEK: Snake ransomware zeroes in on industrial industries
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NOTABLE RECENT SECURITY ISSUES
SELECTED BY THE TALOS SECURITY INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH GROUP
Title: Snake/Ekans malware adds new functionality to go after ICS
Description: The Snake ransomware (otherwise known as “Ekans”) has added new capabilities aimed at going after industrial industries. Ekans first emerged in December, but now has a relationship with the MEGACORTEX ransomware that could allow it to spread quickly on ICS systems and even force some services to revert to manual operations. The malware’s code now includes direct references to HMI processes and historian clients that are commonly linked to ICS.
Reference: https://dragos.com/blog/industry-news/ekans-ransomware-and-ics-operations/
Snort SIDs: 53106, 53107
Title: Carrotbat malware, Syscon backdoor team up to target federal government
Description: An American federal agency was targeted in late January with a series of phishing emails utilizing a variant of the Carrotbat malware and the Syscon backdoor. Attackers used six unique email attachments in the campaign, all relating to the ongoing strained relationship between the U.S. and North Korea. Security researchers say these attackers are still active, despite the majority of their activity taking places over the summer.
Reference: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/the-fractured-statue-campaign-u-s-government-targeted-in-spear-phishing-attacks/
Snort SIDs: 53129 – 53145
INTERESTING NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECURITY COMMUNITY
A vulnerability in a mobile app used by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the data of all 6.5 million voters in the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/world/middleeast/israeli-voters-leak.html
Several federal agencies teamed up last week to expose a massive hacking campaign by a state-sponsored North Korean actor.
https://www.cyberscoop.com/hidden-cobra-malware-north-korea-fbi-dhs-dod-virus-total/
Republicans in the Senate blocked three bills related to election security from being introduced to the full chamber.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/senate-gop-rejects-election-security-measures-yes-again-n1135221
Local government agencies in England had to resort to pen-and-paper operations after a ransomware attack.
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2020/02/18/council-returns-to-using-pen-and-paper-after-cyberattack/
U.S. officials continue to trade barbs with Chinese tech company Huawei, as American leadership teased that it would end intelligence-sharing relationships with any countries that use Huawei’s 5G technology.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/china-accuses-us-of-hypocrisy-over-huawei-says-it-spied-on-merkel.html
A popular WordPress plugin contains a vulnerability that could allow attackers to completely wipe more than 200,000 websites.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/bug-in-wordpress-plugin-can-let-hackers-wipe-up-to-200000-sites/
Security researchers are warning of a new espionage campaign by Iranian state-sponsored actors that’s targeted global companies.
https://www.clearskysec.com/fox-kitten/
Amazon’s Ring security service is considering changing its privacy settings after several negative stories around the company have emerged, as well as talks that Ring may share data with Facebook.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ring-facebook-google-personal-information-privacy-settings-change/
An unsigned piece of malware is targeting Linux system to eventually move onto WiFi adapters, USB hubs and laptop cameras.
https://eclypsium.com/2020/2/18/unsigned-peripheral-firmware/
MOST PREVALENT MALWARE FILES February 13 – 20, 2020
COMPILED BY TALOS SECURITY INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH GROUP
SHA 256: 1460fd00cb6addf9806a341fee9c5ab0a793762d1d97dca05fa17467c8705af7
MD5: 88cbadec77cf90357f46a3629b6737e6
VirusTotal: scan analysis
Typical Filename: FlashHelperServices.exe
Claimed Product: Flash Helper Services
Detection Name: PUA.Win.File.2144flashplayer::tpd
SHA 256: 85b936960fbe5100c170b777e1647ce9f0f01e3ab9742dfc23f37cb0825b30b5
MD5: 8c80dd97c37525927c1e549cb59bcbf3
VirusTotal: scan analysis
Typical Filename: eternalblue-2.2.0.exe
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: W32.85B936960F.5A5226262.auto.Talos
SHA 256: 97d8ea6cee63296eaf0fa5d97a14898d7cec6fa49fee1bf77c015ca7117a2ba7
MD5: be52a2a3074a014b163096055df127a0
VirusTotal: scan analysis
Typical Filename: xme64-553.exe
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: Win.Trojan.Coinminer::tpd
SHA 256: 9e9d85d9e29d6a39f58f4db3617526b92a5200225d41d0ab679a90c0167321b4
MD5: d45699f36a79b9d4ef91f5db1980d27b
VirusTotal: scan analysis
Typical Filename: profile-6.exe
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: Win.Dropper.Zbot::222561.in02
SHA 256: 15716598f456637a3be3d6c5ac91266142266a9910f6f3f85cfd193ec1d6ed8b
MD5: 799b30f47060ca05d80ece53866e01cc
VirusTotal: scan analysis
Typical Filename: mf2016341595.exe
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: W32.Generic:Gen.22fz.1201