Cyber Security

Cybercriminals’ Strangest Recent Tactics: From Trips to Mars to Piano Giveaways

Published

2 months ago

July 4, 2024

Written by Emile Abou Saleh, Regional Director, Middle East and Africa, Proofpoint

We all know that the internet can be a strange place at the best of times, so it should come as no surprise the world’s cybercriminals contribute their fair share of strangeness. Our researchers continue to encounter malicious campaigns that go way beyond the usual level of bizarre to achieve their social engineering aims.

Social engineering is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to gain access to a user’s passwords, account details, email accounts and even funds. It involves exploiting human behaviour to encourage people to open and respond to fraudulent emails. In the digital realm, threat actors use this psychological manipulation tactic to drive people to break normal security procedures. It is a con game that relies on human error rather than digital hacking.

Social Engineering in the UAE
In social engineering attacks, bad actors exploit psychological principles like trust, the fear of missing out, authority, and the desire to be helpful. Cybercriminals understand that people can be exploited, either through negligence or simply obliviousness. Social engineering is a part of many of the threats analysed by Proofpoint used to steal credentials, extract sensitive data, and fraudulently transfer funds.

Many users engage – either knowingly, or unknowingly – in actions which may heighten their risk of falling victim to these very social engineering attacks. Proofpoint’s 2024 State of the Phish report revealed a concerning trend: 86% of surveyed working adults in the UAE admitted to taking risky actions, such as reusing or sharing a password, clicking on links from unknown senders, or handing over their credentials to an untrustworthy source.

A vast majority (97%) of them did so knowing the inherent risks involved, meaning that 83% of employees in the UAE willingly undermined their organization’s security. The motivations behind risky actions are varied, with most employees citing convenience (32%), the desire to save time (46%), and a sense of urgency as their main reasons (31%).

As cybercriminals continue to refine their techniques, the lures they deploy are becoming increasingly outlandish and creative. This escalation in social engineering sophistication underscores the critical need for enhanced vigilance and education.

Tickets to Mars
Just a few years ago, space tourism was making big headlines. It seemed like the age of orbital jaunts was just around the corner and that NASA would be building moon bases before long. Sadly, there have been setbacks, and for now, space remains the preserve of astronauts, scientists, and the very rich. But following the “go big or go home” principle, a recent malicious email campaign didn’t just stop at sub-orbital spaceflight or visits to the moon, promising recipients the chance to win a trip to Mars.

With a subject line of “You win a trip to Mars,” the messages contained a PDF featuring an image of a recent Elon Musk biography and a spoofed update dialogue for Adobe Reader. The download button on the fake image linked to a tar.gz file containing an executable that ultimately downloaded Redline Stealer.

Occasionally threat actors come up with lures so improbable that it’s hard to imagine anyone falling for them. But there is a method in their madness. For some recipients, curiosity alone will be an effective lure. After all, social engineering is about getting your victim to do what you want—in this case, clicking a download link. And you don’t have to believe that you’re going to win a trip to Mars to be interested in finding out why you’re being offered one.

The Free Piano Scam
Equally unusual, another peculiar lure observed by Proofpoint involves a piano giveaway scam. In the campaigns, the threat actor purports to offer up a free piano, often due to alleged circumstances like a death in the family. When a target replies, the actor instructs them to contact a shipping company to arrange delivery.

When a victim responds, they are directed to arrange delivery with a fraudulent shipping company, also managed by the scammer, who demands payment for transportation costs upfront while also attempting to collect personal information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers. At least one Bitcoin wallet linked to these scams has seen transactions totalling over $900,000, indicating a substantial financial impact. Once the victim provides a small amount of money to the fraudster, however, they cut all contact and disappear.

These cases illustrate the odd yet effective nature of social engineering. Protecting against such threats requires constant vigilance, a deep understanding of the tactics employed, and robust security measures. Education and scepticism are crucial defences, as is the prudent use of technology. It’s essential to approach unsolicited offers with caution, particularly on social media, where these scams often find a ready audience.

Cyber Security

SANS Institute to Boost Cyber Resilience in Bahrain and Qatar

Published

4 days ago

September 4, 2024

Priyan Sampath

SANS Institute is set to bring world-class cybersecurity education to professionals across the Middle East with SANS Manama (7-12 September) at InterContinental Bahrain, followed by SANS Doha (14-19 September) at InterContinental Doha. The courses are designed to educate professionals on current and emerging cyber threats, ensuring that participants are confident in the latest industry trends, tools, and techniques.

SANS Manama September 2024 (7-12 September) offers the following courses:

FOR508: Advanced Incident Response, Threat Hunting, and Digital Forensics
LDR414: SANS Training Program for CISSP Certification

FOR508 is an in-depth course that equips incident responders and threat-hunting teams with advanced skills to detect, identify, counter, and recover from a wide range of threats within enterprise networks, including those posed by nation-state adversaries, organized crime syndicates, and ransomware operators. LDR414 is an accelerated review course specifically designed to prepare students for the CISSP exam. It focuses exclusively on the eight domains of knowledge defined by (ISC)², which are critical to passing the exam.

A highlight of SANS Manama will be the Community Night session on 9 September, titled “Justice Denied: How Bad Digital Forensics Threatens and Undermines Justice.” This session will delve into three real-world cases—one criminal and two civil—to demonstrate how digital forensic evidence, when presented by unqualified or biased practitioners, nearly destroyed lives in court. The session will also illustrate how a proper scientific approach to digital forensics can help achieve justice.

SANS Doha September 2024 (14-19 September) will feature:

SEC504: Hacker Tools, Techniques, and Incident Handling
SEC560: Enterprise Penetration Testing

SEC504 will teach students how to effectively respond to breaches across Windows, Linux, and cloud platforms, providing insight into the tools and techniques attackers use, the artefacts they leave behind, and how to build better defences based on this knowledge.
SEC560 is designed to strengthen the skillset of penetration testers while also training system administrators, defenders, and other security professionals to understand the mindset and methodologies of modern attackers.

Ned Baltagi, Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at SANS Institute, emphasized the importance of these events, by saying, “As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, professionals in the Middle East must stay ahead of the curve. These training sessions are not just about learning new skills—they are about building a stronger, more resilient cybersecurity community. We are committed to empowering individuals with the knowledge and tools they need to protect their organizations and, by extension, the region as a whole.”

Cyber Security

MENA Region Sees Surge in Managed Security Services Adoption, Says SearchInform

Published

5 days ago

September 3, 2024

Edward Frank

SearchInform, the leading information security and risk management solutions vendor, has conducted an extensive survey among organizations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to assess their approach to information security. The results show a significant shift towards outsourcing security functions, with nearly 70% of organizations either already using Managed Security Services (MSS) or planning to do so shortly.

This survey involved business executives, information technology and security (IT, IS) professionals, and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from both public and private sectors. The research aimed to evaluate the current state of corporate protection and identify priorities in ensuring information security amid the region’s unique challenges. Notably, 80% of respondents reported an increase in their information security budgets over the past year, reflecting a growing recognition of the need for robust security measures. Only 22% of respondents reported budgets haven’t changed, no one reported a decrease in budgets.

SearchInform’s findings indicate that while many organizations have implemented basic cybersecurity measures such as Antivirus, Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW), Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) and Endpoint Protection Systems (EPS); there is still a significant gap in the deployment of more advanced systems like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). These tools are critical for real-time monitoring and internal threat protection, yet only 29% of companies have implemented DLP, and a mere 5% have adopted SIEM systems.

Lev Matveev, Chairman of the Board of Directors at SearchInform, commented on the survey results, stating, “The increasing reliance on MSS highlights the ongoing shift in how organizations are approaching their cybersecurity needs. Outsourcing provides access to specialized expertise and technology, which is particularly vital in regions facing a shortage of skilled information security professionals.”

The research also revealed that internal threats are coming to the fore. More than half of respondents admitted experiencing one or more information security incidents, caused by insider actions. “To effectively combat internal threats, increasing the cybersecurity literacy of employees will reduce the risk of undesirable incidents. The second measure is the implementation of protective solutions that help prevent both accidental and deliberate incidents, such as data leaks, corporate fraud cases, theft, kickbacks and bribery, illicit access to confidential data, etc. In this regard, the integration of DLP and DCAP systems is necessary. DCAP-class systems that perform corporate file system analysis, classify data stored in the organization, handle the task of distributing access rights, and prevent the risk of data leakage and misuse at the initial stage. These are important components of the protective system, and the concept of DCAP systems is highly recommended by Gartner experts,” Matveev commented.

As the demand for MSS continues to grow, SearchInform’s local subsidiary in the UAE has seen strong interest from both businesses and governmental organizations, underscoring the importance of managed services in addressing the region’s complex security challenges. The global MSS market size is expected to grow from USD 30.6 billion in 2023 to USD 52.9 billion by 2028, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.5%.

Cyber Security

Positive Technologies: 16% of Darkweb Listings Involve Middle Eastern Organisations

Published

6 days ago

September 2, 2024

Prarthana Mary

In 2024, cyber criminals have shifted focus from personal data to stealing company credentials and trade secrets. One in six listings (16%) on the dark web featuring stolen government data involves organizations in the Middle East. This insight comes from Positive Technologies’ first study on data breaches in Russia, the Middle East, and globally. Their experts reviewed over 1,000 dark web listings and 700 public incident reports from the first half of 2024 worldwide.

Credential leaks from organisations hit a record high of 21% in the first half of 2024, up 9 percentage points from last year. The theft of commercial secrets and restricted information rose to 24% in the first half of 2024, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, personal data theft incidents returned to pre-peak levels: dropping to 2022 levels in Q1 2024 to 37%, and then falling to 25% in Q2 2024.

In the first half of 2024, the industrial sector (39%), government agencies (36%), and transportation companies (29%) continued to lead in the share of leaks of commercial secrets and other restricted information. Notable victims include Hyundai Motor Europe and Volkswagen, with the latter losing documents on electric vehicle technology. IT companies are also at risk, with breaches involving internal processes and products accounting for 29% of incidents. In 2024, hackers allegedly accessed the source code of some Apple and AMD software.

Stolen credentials are often used for further attacks on these companies’ clients, primarily government organizations. Credential compromise is typically a step before more severe actions, such as theft of funds or system disruption. Ransomware was used in nearly a third of successful breaches involving data leaks. Dark web listings for government data heavily feature Middle Eastern countries (16%), with Asia (33%) in the lead, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (18%). These regions are targeted by APT groups, mainly focusing on the public sector. Positive Technologies’ research on APT groups in the Middle East and Southeast Asia provides more details.

“Credentials are frequently sold on dark web forums, a key revenue source for cybercriminals. In March, access to a prominent UAE Bank’s website was listed for $10,000. The rise in these leaks is evident on the dark market—forums now offer access to dozens or hundreds of companies per post. In April, a listing was posted offering access to the infrastructure of 16 companies from various industries across Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, with prices ranging from $250 to $5,000. According to the listing’s authors, these firms’ revenues range from $4 million to $2.8 billion. For instance, a UAE-based consumer electronics company with $6.5 million in revenue had its data valued at $400. In June, another listing offered credentials for over 400 companies, including access via Jira, GitHub, and GitLab,” notes Anna Golushko, Senior Analyst at Positive Technologies.

The number of dark web ads offering free information is nearly double those selling it (64% vs. 33%). This is because not all attackers aim to sell data; many demand ransom not to disclose it, though not all victims pay. In the first half of 2024, government organizations were often targeted specifically to steal personal data. More than half of ads on the dark web are priced under $1,000. Every tenth ad belongs to the most expensive category at $10,000 or more.

The most expensive offers (over $50,000) involve major financial institutions, retail giants, and IT companies. In Q2 2024, EDR developer Cylance suffered a cyberattack, resulting in 34 million emails and an unspecified volume of customer and employee data being sold for $750,000. Positive Technologies analysts highlight that every second successful attack on organizations in H1 2024 resulted in the leakage of confidential data. The largest number of incidents occurred in government agencies (13%), IT companies (12%), and industrial companies (11%).

Preventing data leaks requires a comprehensive approach, including tools to protect user devices, corporate networks, and the data itself. As corporate data infrastructures evolve into complex systems that are constantly changing rapidly, a unified solution is essential to safeguard information, regardless of its complexity or location.