Weekly Security Sprint EP 80. The start of alphabet soup with Insider Threat, and National Preparedness, plus election security

In this week's Security Sprint, Dave and Andy covered the following topics:

National Insider Threat Awareness Month!

·       Insider Threat! Employee arrested for locking Windows admins out of 254 servers in extortion plot

·       Insider Threat: Pa. church member accused of stealing $225K from congregation

·       GRIP: Insider Threat Awareness -Don't Let Errors Cost You, 28 August 2024

·       Palo Alto: Deepfake report: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/dynamics-of-deepfake-scams/

 

National Preparedness Month!

• Ready.gov: National Preparedness Month, “Start a Conversation.”
• A Proclamation on National Preparedness Month, 2024
• September is National Preparedness Month; FEMA Releases the National Resilience Guidance + Other Upcoming Events & Climate Week NYC: Communicating Disaster Preparedness, Sep 23, 2024 02:30 PM. 
• Do you have an emergency and recovery plan? Get started or update it this National Preparedness Month

• Addressing OT cyber risk management threats and attacks with risk registers and tabletop exercises

 

Election Security:

·       Man Charged with Threatening Election Officials, State Judge, and Federal Law Enforcement Agents

Donald Trump Assassination Updates:

o   Opening Statement to Media on Updates to the Butler, Pennsylvania, Assassination Attempt Investigation

o   FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge's Remarks to Media on Updates to the Butler, Pennsylvania, Assassination Attempt Investigation

o   Would-be Trump assassin saw ex-president as 'target of opportunity.'  

o   FBI releases photos of the gun used in Trump assassination attempt

·       DOD Will Provide Homeland With Support During Presidential Campaigns

·       US voters targeted in phishing campaign

·       When Get-Out-The-Vote Efforts Look Like Phishing

·       Intel officials say they anticipate more hacking attempts as US election nears

·       Election Security Partners Host 7th Annual Tabletop the Vote Exercise for 2024

 

Quick Hits:

·       Two Foreign Nationals Charged in Swatting Conspiracy Targeting Lawmakers, Private Victims, Houses of Worship, and Businesses

·       European terror attacks alarm US intelligence, NYPD briefing shows

·       CIA official: Suspects in foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows aimed to kill ‘tens of thousands.’

·       Solingen Stabbing Ignites Fears of Resurgent Jihadism Targeting Germany

·       CISA - Iran-based Cyber Actors Enabling Ransomware Attacks on US Organizations

·       Halliburton cyberattack linked to RansomHub ransomware gang

o   FBI: RansomHub ransomware breached 210 victims since February

o   US agencies warn against ransomware group behind hundreds of attacks in recent months

·       KnowBe4 Report Reveals Critical Infrastructure Under Siege with Cyber Attacks Increasing 30 Percent in One Year

·       Chinese government hackers penetrate U.S. internet providers to spy

o   Lumen: Taking The Crossroads: The Versa Director Zero-Day Exploitation

o   Chinese government hackers targeted U.S. internet providers with zero-day exploit, researchers say

o   China’s Volt Typhoon Hackers Caught Exploiting Zero-Day in Servers Used by ISPs, MSPs

 

·       Microsoft: Peach Sandstorm deploys new custom Tickler malware in long-running intelligence gathering operations

·       Cybercrime and sabotage cost German firms $300 bln in past year

·       France formally charges Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, over organized crime on messaging app

·       Worldwide Trends in COVID-19-Related Attacks Against Healthcare: A Review of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition Database

·       Kasada’s Releases 2024 State of Bot Mitigation Report

·       CISA Launches New Portal to Improve Cyber Reporting

·       Hate Group’s Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Reflects Anti-LGBTQ+ Conspiracy Theories

·       Recorded Future: H1 2024 Check Fraud Report: Geographic Trends and Threat Actor Patterns