DEFENSESTORM
Thought leadership and customer testimonials are some of the many ways we build a community of trust. These cyber security resources highlight our recent research and success stories.
Insights
SIM Swapping is nothing new and if you stay up to date with cybersecurity news and events, you are likely bombarded with technical analysis of the latest in ransomware, malware, dropper, trojan, or vulnerability that was exploited by bypassing controls and using “living off the land” techniques.
While these tactics, techniques, and analyses are incredibly important and useful, we can often forget that it’s sometimes the simple, age-old ways of getting your information and property that can also harm us.
Fraud Squad
With the holiday season just around the corner, it’s a time for celebrations, travel, and shopping, but it’s also prime time for fraudsters to prey on unsuspecting consumers. Amidst the hustle and bustle of planning and festivities, people become easy targets for scammers.
Threat Alerts
A recent vulnerability has been discovered for Confluence Server and Data Center and is being tracked as CVE-2023-22518. At this time of this writing, this vulnerability is NOT known to have been exploited; however, Atlassian is recommending that those impacted take immediate action. The below information was taken directly from the Atlassian FAQ page for CVE-2023-22518, and the page was last updated on November 1, 2023.
Insights
As fraud prevention in banking continues to be crucial in today’s digital landscape, it’s imperative for fraud investigators to utilize efficient tools that empower and support their investigative work. The current Trigger and Alert views have been strategically modified to enhance the service provided to fraud investigators where they can now see relevant information that is intuitive to their role.
Insights
In our final entry into our series, The Impact of AI on Cybersecurity, we will explore how DefenseStorm utilizes AI in our own built-for-banking technology.
Fraud Squad
In our latest article in Fraud Squad series, we cover a deepfake scam that started with a call, a familiar voice, and a frantic plea for help. One couple is scammed out of nearly $10,000 when they received a call from whom they believed to be their incarcerated son requesting money for bail.
Datasheets
DefenseStorm Cyber Threat Surveillance Operations (CTS Ops) team is an extension of your cybersecurity team to bolster your cyber defenses and ensure your FI is threat ready. Our team’s professional expertise and certifications make them your ally in the fight against cybercrime, diligently working to stop threats from becoming costly and destructive attacks.
Insights
Innovations in technology and security are top of mind for banks and credit unions, and when it comes to firewall security, it is critical to strengthen the weakest link in your cybersecurity efforts. As cyber risks evolve, institutions of all asset sizes must prioritize and invest in strengthening cybersecurity efforts.
Threat Alerts
Xenomorph, an Android banking trojan, has resurfaced in a more advanced form. Originally discovered in early 2022, this malicious software was initially targeted at European banks using screen overlay phishing techniques and was distributed through Google Play. However, the latest iteration of Xenomorph has expanded its scope to include over 35 financial institutions in the United States and various cryptocurrency applications.
Insights
In Part 2 of our series – the Impact of AI on Cybersecrity – we will take a look at the the role of AI in financial services. The industry has been pushed to be more dynamic to meet the demands of customers, regulatory requirements, and security threats, and remain competitive while safeguarding customer data and assets.
Threat Alerts
If you haven’t already, you will likely begin to see cyber news headlines about a massive data exposure related to Microsoft. While the exposure is bad and nothing to overlook, the report coming from Microsoft is that “ No customer data was exposed, and no other internal services were put at risk because of this issue. No customer action is required in response to this issue.” This was taken directly from Microsoft’s Security Research and Defense page.
Insights
Business email compromise (BEC) is a type of cyberattack that usually occurs through some type of social engineering campaign where the criminals assume the identity of a trusted person or organization and attempt to influence their victims into providing money through transfers or other digital payments, divulging personal information, making phony purchases, providing credentials to accounts, etc
Fraud Squad
As peer-to-peer (P2P) digital payment platforms like Venmo and Paypal rapidly grew in popularity for their ability to provide easy, convenient money transfers, several major banks collaborated to create Zelle. The new transfer application promised to be “the next big thing” in banking, yielding near-instantaneous transfers directly between banks. Unfortunately, with new digital technology comes increased risk.
Threat Alerts
With the recent natural disasters that have occurred, it’s important to be aware that bad actors will attempt to leverage those devasting incidents for gain. CISA has released a warning urging users to be aware of malicious activity when these types of incidents occur. Please read the below alert from CISA.
Insights
In the final installment of our Redefining Cybersecurity series, we explore what it means to be Cyber Risk Aware. While the deployment of new technology is critical to ensuring cyber risk readiness, a lack of training and awareness is a significant liability to any institution.
Insights
The role of AI on cybersecurity is tremendous. AI is transforming daily business practices and enhancing the customer experience for most industries, but it is imperative to effectively balance technological advancement with close oversight while these technologies are rolled out.
Fraud Squad
A small business owner recently fell victim to a sophisticated bank scam that drained her life savings, where scammers exploited two-factor authentication to gain access and withdraw money from her account. This cautionary story serves as a warning about the increasing prevalence of fraud and emphasizes the significance of using effective fraud detection systems.
Insights
NCUA Cyber Incident Notifications Requirement goes into effect September 1, 2023. The final rule requires that covered institutions notify the NCUA as soon as possible, and no later than 72 hours, after the credit union reasonably believes it has experienced a reportable cyber incident or received a notification from a third party regarding a reportable cyber incident.
Threat Alerts
While nothing official has been published by LinkedIn at the time of this post, accounts on the platform appear to be coming under attack in some type of hacking campaign of unknown origin. Users are reporting on multiple other outlets that their accounts have been taken over, locked out of their accounts, and having difficulty resetting accounts to regain access
Insights
Part 4 of our Redefining Cyber Security series explores the power of a buyer’s guide, a vendor-neutral tool created by DefenseStorm to help FIs efficiently shop for new cyber security risk management solutions.
Threat Alerts
Internal communication applications, IE: Slack, MS Teams, etc. Criminals are establishing domains that appear to be from legitimate technical support entities and then attempting to reach out to individuals to gain access to target users’ devices. The below article was authored by Microsoft Threat Intelligence and taken from Microsoft directly and provides additional detail and threat actor attribution for these types of attacks.
Webinars & Videos
As the financial sector continues to embrace digital transformation, threat actors remain poised to exploit every vulnerability exposed. The ever-evolving threat landscape elicits a proactive cyber risk management solution that can pivot to address emerging threats as they materialize, and credit unions are faced with mounting pressure to prove their ability to prevent, detect, and mitigate those threats. Despite the many unique challenges and requirements in cyber risk management, credit unions can succeed in cybersecurity by establishing effective governance and utilizing risk assessments.
Insights
An effective cyber risk management strategy requires everyone within the FI to work together with a unified goal for budget allocation and solution implementation.
Insights
Military, law enforcement, and first responders train constantly to be prepared for anything that they may face during their careers, so when those particular situations arise, they are confident, efficient, and knowledgeable about how to deal with and resolve the incident. Cyber incident response is no different.
Insights
With a deeper understanding of this shift in ideology from reactive to proactive solutions, the question arises about your financial institution’s (FI’s) level of cyber security risk readiness.
Threat Alerts
Earlier in June DefenseStorm became aware of a vulnerability disclosure involving MOVEit and posted an article. The casualty list for this vulnerability is growing by the day largely due to exploitation by the Clop Ransomware gang of unpatched instances.
This is an update and reminder to please stay updated on patching and patch for the MOVEit vulnerabilities as soon as possible.
Insights
In this 5 part series, Redefining Cybersecurity, we will walk your FI through the process of evaluating your current state of cybersecurity and risk management so you can employ more efficient solutions to stay threat ready and compliant.
Threat Alerts
Since March of 2023 a new mobile malware has been pushing the Android banking trojan “Anatsa” to online banking customers located in the United States, United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. It has since become one of the most prolific banking malware, targeting over 400 financial institutions across the world.
eBooks & Reports
DefenseStorm’s Security Intel Bulletin keeps you up-to-date with the latest and most important cyber risk news for financial institutions. Our experts work hard to find vital industry news published by the most reputable sources, so you can stay informed and threat ready.
eBooks & Reports