CyberSecurity news
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David Jones@cybersecuritydive.com
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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a warning on April 17, 2025, regarding increased breach risks following a potential compromise of legacy Oracle Cloud servers. This alert comes in response to public reporting of alleged threat activity targeting Oracle customers, though the scope and impact of the activity are currently unconfirmed. CISA's guidance urges organizations and individuals to take immediate steps to secure their IT environments amid claims of a large trove of customer credentials being compromised. The agency is also asking organizations to come forward if they detect suspicious activity or other evidence of a compromise.
CISA is particularly concerned about situations where credential material may be exposed, reused across separate and unaffiliated systems, or embedded into applications and tools. Embedded credential material, which can be hardcoded into scripts, applications, infrastructure templates, or automation tools, is especially difficult to detect and can enable long-term unauthorized access if exposed. The compromise of credentials like usernames, emails, passwords, authentication tokens, and encryption keys can pose a significant risk to enterprise environments. To mitigate these risks, CISA recommends organizations reset passwords for known affected users, especially those not federated through enterprise identity solutions. Additionally, they should review source code, infrastructure as code templates, automation scripts, and configuration files for hardcoded credentials, replacing them with secure authentication methods supported by centralized secret management. Monitoring authentication logs for anomalous activity, particularly using privileged, service, or federated identity accounts, is also crucial. Finally, CISA advises enforcing phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication for all user and administrator accounts whenever possible. Recommended read:
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Dissent@DataBreaches.Net
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Oracle has confirmed a cloud data breach, issuing notifications to customers about a cybersecurity incident. The confirmation follows claims by a threat actor alleging possession of millions of data lines related to over 140,000 Oracle Cloud tenants, including sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII), along with corporate and financial data. The company states the breach involved what it described as "two obsolete servers," and maintains that its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) was not compromised, and no OCI customer data was viewed or stolen. However, this incident has brought into question Oracle's communication strategy and the accuracy of its disclosures.
The company's initial response has sparked debate and criticism, with cybersecurity experts and customers expressing concern over potential inconsistencies in Oracle's narrative. While Oracle claims the issue stemmed from "obsolete servers," independent analyses and customer confirmations suggest that customer data may have been compromised, contradicting the company's initial denial of an OCI breach. The discrepancy between Oracle's statements and the emerging evidence has raised questions about transparency and the potential use of carefully chosen terminology to minimize the perceived impact of the incident. The communication strategy has drawn specific criticism regarding Oracle's distinction between "Oracle Cloud" and "Oracle Cloud Classic." Experts, like Kevin Beaumont, have pointed out that this distinction allows Oracle to deny a breach of "Oracle Cloud" while acknowledging issues with "Oracle Classic," which is still part of Oracle's cloud services. This approach raises concerns about potential wordplay and its effects on customer trust and Oracle's reputation. The incident highlights the challenges companies face in maintaining transparency and trust during cybersecurity incidents, especially when sensitive customer data is at risk. Recommended read:
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Aman Mishra@gbhackers.com
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A cyber threat group known as JavaGhost has been exploiting misconfigured Amazon Web Services (AWS) Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions to conduct sophisticated phishing campaigns. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 is tracking this group, known as TGR-UNK-0011, which overlaps with JavaGhost. Since 2022, JavaGhost pivoted from website defacement to cloud-based phishing attacks, targeting unsuspecting targets for financial gain.
The group exploits leaked long-term AWS access keys to gain initial access, then misuses AWS services like Simple Email Service (SES) and WorkMail to send phishing emails, bypassing typical email protections. They create new SMTP credentials and IAM users, some for active attacks and others for long-term persistence, even leaving the same calling card in the middle of their activities. JavaGhost's tactics include generating temporary credentials and utilizing advanced evasion techniques to obfuscate their identities in CloudTrail logs, a tactic historically used by Scattered Spider. The attackers create IAM roles with trust policies, allowing access from attacker-controlled AWS accounts, and attempt to enable all AWS regions to potentially evade security controls. These activities leave detectable events in CloudTrail logs, providing opportunities for threat detection and response for vigilant organizations. Recommended read:
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@www.networkworld.com
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Versa Networks has launched its Sovereign SASE platform, presenting a new option for enterprises and service providers seeking greater control over their network security. This solution allows organizations to deploy a SASE platform within their own on-premises or private cloud environments, moving away from the traditional cloud-only security model. Versa's Sovereign SASE is designed to run entirely on customer-controlled infrastructure, offering a "do-it-yourself" model for customized networking and security services.
Increased privacy and control, reduced risk of service disruption, and eased regulatory compliance are key benefits. The platform enables organizations to build and manage their SASE environment on their own infrastructure, ensuring greater autonomy and data protection. By eliminating reliance on third-party SaaS platforms, Versa Sovereign SASE reduces operational risks and costs tied to unplanned outages, strengthening business continuity. The "air-gapped" infrastructure also simplifies meeting strict requirements for regulatory compliance, data residency, and security. Recommended read:
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@csoonline.com
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Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new "whoAMI" attack that exploits name confusion in Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) to achieve remote code execution within Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts. The attack allows anyone publishing an AMI with a specific, crafted name to potentially gain access and execute malicious code. The vulnerability stems from misconfigured software that can be tricked into using a malicious AMI instead of a legitimate one when creating Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances.
Researchers found that the attack vector requires specific conditions to be met when retrieving AMI IDs through the API, including the use of the name filter and a failure to specify the owner. An attacker can create a malicious AMI with a matching name, leading to the creation of an EC2 instance using the attacker's doppelgänger AMI. Amazon addressed the issue following a responsible disclosure in September 2024, introducing new security controls and HashiCorp Terraform implemented warnings to prevent misuse of the API. Recommended read:
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@www.helpnetsecurity.com
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Palo Alto Networks has unveiled Cortex Cloud, a unified platform integrating its cloud detection and response (CDR) and cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) capabilities. Cortex Cloud merges Prisma Cloud with Cortex CDR to deliver real-time cloud security, addressing the growing risks in cloud environments. The platform uses AI-driven insights to reduce risks and prevent threats, providing continuous protection from code to cloud to SOC.
Cortex Cloud aims to solve the disconnect between cloud and enterprise security teams, which often operate in silos. With Cortex Cloud, security teams gain a context-driven defense that delivers real-time cloud security. Palo Alto Networks will include CNAPP at no additional cost for every Cortex Cloud Runtime Security customer. Recommended read:
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Jessica Lyons@theregister.com
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Researchers at watchTowr Labs have uncovered a significant security flaw involving abandoned Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 buckets, potentially allowing attackers to compromise the software supply chain. The analysis revealed that nearly 150 S3 buckets previously used by various organizations, including cybersecurity firms, governments, Fortune 500 companies, and open source projects, could be re-registered. This re-registration could enable attackers to inject malicious code or executables into deployment processes and software update mechanisms.
Over a two-month period, these abandoned buckets received over eight million HTTPS requests for various files, including software updates and other binary artifacts. The requests originated from a wide range of sources, including government networks in multiple countries, military networks, Fortune 100 and 500 companies, and even cybersecurity companies. This vulnerability could allow threat actors to deliver malware or backdoors to these organizations, leading to widespread security breaches. AWS has since blocked the specific buckets identified by watchTowr to prevent their re-creation and potential misuse. Recommended read:
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@ciso2ciso.com
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Two ransomware groups, identified as STAC5143 and STAC5777, are actively targeting Microsoft Office 365 users by exploiting default settings and using their own Microsoft 365 tenants. These groups are leveraging the platform's features, like Teams, to initiate contact with internal users under the guise of tech support. This tactic is being used to gain access to victim systems. This concerning activity highlights a significant vulnerability in the default configuration of Microsoft 365 and the need for enhanced security measures.
Sophos researchers have detailed the tactics used by both groups. STAC5143 uses Teams’ remote control capabilities and deploys Java-based tools to exploit systems, extracting Python backdoors via SharePoint links. Meanwhile, STAC5777 uses Microsoft Quick Assist and manual configuration changes to install malware, steal credentials, and discover network resources. Both groups share techniques with other known threat actors, like Storm-1811 and FIN7. These attacks often start with spam email bombing, sometimes sending 3,000 emails in an hour, followed by Teams calls requesting screen control for malicious purposes, highlighting a multi-pronged social engineering approach. Recommended read:
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