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The round-up
“But has the horse has already bolted?” That’s the question senior US officials want companies who’ve applied patches for the highly publicised Microsoft Exchange security breach to ask themselves. The ugly Exchange Server compromise headlines our round-up, which also features an IoT breach that snared businesses across a range of industries, and the latest ransomware tactics.
Key articles
Thousands of Exchange servers breached prior to patching, CISA boss says
Summary: Four previously unidentified vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Exchange Server have been exploited by state-sponsored actors operating out of China, with some reports citing as many as 60,000 organisations affected.
Key risk takeaway: Being patched against these vulnerabilities might be giving system administrators a false sense of confidence. Having observed numerous concerted attempts to exploit the flaws, US officials are urging companies to take aggressive action to investigate and remediate compromises that may already have occurred (before patching). Accordingly, in addition to moving fast to release patches, Microsoft has published detailed guidance on its website on how to investigate and remediate the vulnerabilities, and even developed a “one-click mitigation tool” for organisations with smaller or less-resourced security teams. To learn more about how to develop a comprehensive vulnerability management program to drive timely remediation of dangerous security flaws (noting once again that patching alone may be insufficient in Exchange incident), check out our recent blog series here.
#vulnerabilitymanagement #statesponsoredattack
Directors must face cyber risks
Summary: Directors of public firms are expected to soon face greater accountability from cyber risks under the Government’s cyber strategy.
Key risk takeaway: Lack of preparation for cyber risks by boards may soon be punishable, as the Government seeks to make changes to directors’ duties in the second half of 2021. The Government is light on details but has cited preventing customer credentials from ending up on the dark web as a potential example of these new obligations. The introduction of these obligations follows the imposition of director duties on directors of financial institutions by APRA’s Prudential Standard 234. The moves are also part of a broader push for the Defence Department to take more forceful steps to “step in and protect” critical infrastructure companies, even if they are in the private sector.
#cyber #APRA #regulations
Summary: Hacktivists gained access to approximately 150,000 Verkada surveillance cameras around the world after finding the username and password for an administrator account publicly exposed on the internet.
Key risk takeaway: This incident is not only a concrete example of oft-described potential security risks of IOT (not to mention the implications of poor password management). It also highlights that risks and impacts from these devices may be felt differently across a variety of sectors. For example, uncomfortable regulatory conversations could arise for some of Verkada’s clients (which include childcare centres and aged-care facilities), given the cameras have built-in facial recognition technology and can be placed in sensitive locations. This incident also highlights ongoing challenges for organisations in achieving effective security assurance over their supply chains, especially cloud-based suppliers.
#cybersecurity #IOT #suppliersecurity
Universal Health Services reports $67 million in losses after apparent ransomware attack
Summary: Universal Health Services (UHS) has reported losing US$67 million from the September ransomware attack that affected a large range of systems.
Key risk summary: The serious financial implications of ransomware continue to be apparent, with UHS’ heavy losses comprising both lost revenue and increased labour costs. Meanwhile Finnish psychology service Vastaamo, whose ransomware challenges we described in October, has now filed for bankruptcy. In a mark of how lucrative ransomware has become, ransomware operators reportedly pulled in $370 million in profits last year. Still, techniques continue to evolve. Researchers recently observed attackers breaching ‘hypervisor servers’ (which organisations use to manage virtual machines). Doing this allows attackers to encrypt all virtual machines on a system, increasing pressure on victim organisations to pay a ransom. In the face of the continued evolution of ransomware, Australia’s Federal Labor Opposition has now called for a national ransomware strategy comprising a variety of measures including regulations, law enforcement, sanctions, diplomacy, and offensive cyber operations. Some of the thinking in the strategy – e.g. around enforcement and sanctions – also aligns with recent expert calls for a global effort to create a new international collaboration model to tackle ransomware.
#ransomware #cybersecurity #costofdatabreach
WhatsApp tries again to explain what data it shares with Facebook and why
Summary: WhatsApp deferred the introduction of new privacy terms in order to buy time to better explain the change.
Key risk takeaway: This is one of many recent examples that show us it is no longer sufficient for online services to have a “take it or leave it” attitude in their privacy terms. Having first taken such an approach with its revised privacy terms, WhatsApp had to scramble to explain the changes after “tens of millions of WhatsApp users started exploring alternatives, such as Signal and Telegram”. More broadly, a recent New York Times editorial also argued that current consent models and the default practice requiring consumers to opt-out of data collection practices undermines privacy and must change. In our recent blog post we explore in detail the adequacy of current approaches to consent, which is being examined under the current review of the Australian Privacy Act.
#privacy #consent
TikTok reaches $92 million settlement over nationwide privacy lawsuit
Summary: TikTok agreed to settle 21 combined class-action lawsuits over invasion of privacy for US $92million.
Key risk takeaway: Disregarding appropriate privacy measures will have financial consequences – whether that’s through regulatory fines, legal settlements (as is the case here) or the long-term erosion of user trust. Complaints from the lawsuits against TikTok alleged a range of issues, from using facial analysis to determine users’ ethnicity, gender, and age to illegal transmissions of private data. And just as TikTok said it didn’t want to take the time to litigate the complaints, it was also rated one of the least trusted digital platforms. Privacy responsiveness and social responsibility from digital platforms are fast becoming market differentiators, with 62% of Americans saying search and social media companies need more regulation.
#privacy #transparency #trust