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As for the APT groups favored and emulated by the MITRE Engenuity evaluators, each stands as an attractive locus for security staff to understand the composite risks posed by both mature external adversaries and their own organization’s security posture.
Microsoft Defender falsely detects Win32/Hive.ZY in Google Chrome, Electron apps
Additional updates to the story are below, including the version of security intelligence updates required to fix Win32/Hive.ZY false positive.
A bad Microsoft Defender signature update mistakenly detects Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Discord, and other Electron apps as 'Win32/Hive.ZY' each time the apps are opened in Windows.
The issue started Sunday morning when Microsoft pushed out Defender signature update 1.373.1508.0 to include two new threat detections, including Behavior:Win32/Hive.ZY.
"This generic detection for suspicious behaviors is designed to catch potentially malicious files.
If you downloaded a file or received it through email, ensure that it is from a reliable source before opening it," reads the Microsoft detection page for Win32/Hive.ZY.
According to BornCity, the false positive is widespread, with users reporting on BleepingComputer, Twitter, and Reddit that the detections appear each time they open their browser or an Electron app.
Microsoft Defender falsely detecting Win32/Hive.ZY
Microsoft Defender falsely detecting Win32/Hive.ZY
Source: Twitter
Even though Microsoft Defender will continuously display these detections when apps are opened, it is important to note that this is a false positive, and your device is mistakenly being detected as infected.
Microsoft has since released two new Microsoft Defender security intelligence updates, the latest being 1.373.1518.0.
While this signature update does not display Win32/Hive.ZY detections in BleepingComputer's tests, other users report that they continue to receive false positives.
To check for new security intelligence updates, Windows users can search for and open Windows Security from the Start Menu, click Virus & threat protection, and then click on Check for updates under Virus & threat protection updates.
Currently installed Microsoft Defender security intelligence versions
Currently installed Microsoft Defender security intelligence versions
Source: BleepingComputer
While it is usually not required, in this case, it may be helpful to reboot Windows after installing the new security intelligence update to see if it resolves the false positive.
As this issue is widespread and causing panic among Windows users worldwide, we will likely see a new update fixing the problem within a few hours, if not sooner.
At this time, there has been no formal confirmation of the issue from Microsoft.
Update 6:47 PM EST:
Microsoft has released Microsoft Defender security intelligence update version 1.373.1537.0, which from reports, appears to resolve the Win32/Hive.ZY false positive experienced by Windows users today.
You can follow the instructions at the end of this article to update to this version.
Update 9:25 PM EST:
Microsoft shared the following statement with BleepingComputer:
"We have released an update to address this issue and customers using automatic updates for Microsoft Defender do not need to take additional action."
- a Microsoft spokesperson.
In addition Microsoft shared that enterprise customers managing their updates should ensure they are using detection build 1.373.1537.0 or newer.
RS data leak exposes personal info of 120,000 taxpayers
The Internal Revenue Service has accidentally leaked confidential information for approximately 120,000 taxpayers who filed a form 990-T as part of their tax returns.
IRS Form 990T is used to report 'unrelated business income' paid to a tax-exempt entity, such as nonprofits (charities) or IRA and SEP retirement accounts.
This income is commonly derived from sales unrelated to a nonprofit's core purpose or real estate investments that pay income into an individual retirement account.
For regular taxpayers, these forms are meant to be confidential and seen only by the IRS.
However, for nonprofits, a Form 990-T must be available for public inspection for three years.
On Friday, the IRS disclosed that in addition to sharing Form 990-T data for charities, they also accidentally included data for taxpayers' IRAs that was not meant to be public.
"The IRS recently discovered that some machine-readable (XML) Form 990-T data made available for bulk download section on the Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) should not have been made public," the IRS disclosed on Friday.
"This section is primarily used by those with the ability to use machine-readable data; other more widely used sections of TEOS are unaffected."
The Wall Street Journal reports that the data leak exposed info for approximately 120,000 taxpayers and included names, contact information, and reported income for those IRAs.
However, the IRS states that the data did not include social security numbers, individual tax returns, or detailed account-holder information.
According to the Wall Street Journal, an IRS research employee discovered the data leak, which triggered a report to Congress on Friday.
The IRS states that the data has been removed and that they will send notifications to affected taxpayers in the coming weeks.
Google says former Conti ransomware members now attack Ukraine
Google says some former Conti cybercrime gang members, now part of a threat group tracked as UAC-0098, are targeting Ukrainian organizations and European non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
UAC-0098 is an initial access broker known for using the IcedID banking trojan to provide ransomware groups with access to compromised systems within enterprise networks.
The company's Threat Analysis Group (TAG), a dedicated team of security experts acting as a defense force for Google users from state-sponsored attacks, started tracking this threat group in April after detecting a phishing campaign that pushed the Conti-linked AnchorMail backdoor.
"In the initial encounter with UAC-0098, 'lackeyBuilder' was observed for the first time.
This is a previously undisclosed builder for AnchorMail, one of the private backdoors used by the Conti groups," Google TAG said.
"Since then, the actor consistently used tools and services traditionally employed by cybercrime actors for the purpose of acquiring initial access: IcedID trojan, EtterSilent malicious document builder, and the 'Stolen Image Evidence' social engineering malware distribution service."
This group's attacks were observed between mid-April to mid-June, with frequent changes in its tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), tooling, and lures, while targeting Ukrainian orgs (such as hotel chains) and impersonating the National Cyber Police of Ukraine or representatives of Elon Musk and StarLink.
In subsequent campaigns, UAC-0098 was seen delivering IcedID and Cobalt Strike malicious payloads in phishing attacks targeting Ukrainian organizations and European NGOs.
File sharing site delivering UAC-0098 malicious payloads
File sharing site delivering UAC-0098 malicious payloads (Google TAG)
Links to the Conti cybercrime group
Google TAG says its attribution is based on multiple overlaps between UAC-0098, Trickbot, and the Conti cybercrime group.
"Based on multiple indicators, TAG assesses some members of UAC-0098 are former members of the Conti cybercrime group repurposing their techniques to target Ukraine," Google TAG added.
"TAG assesses UAC-0098 acted as an initial access broker for various ransomware groups including Quantum and Conti, a Russian cybercrime gang known as FIN12 / WIZARD SPIDER.
"UAC-0098 activities are representative examples of blurring lines between financially motivated and government backed groups in Eastern Europe, illustrating a trend of threat actors changing their targeting to align with regional geopolitical interests."
The threat group's activities detected and revealed today by Google also align with previous reports from IBM Security X-Force and CERT-UA, who also linked attacks on Ukrainian organizations and government entities to the TrickBot and Conti cybercrime gangs.
Conti is still around
The Russian-based Conti gang launched a ransomware operation in 2020, taking the place of the Ryuk ransomware group.
Over time, the gang grew into a cybercrime syndicate, taking over the development of multiple malware operations, including TrickBot and BazarBackdoor.
A Ukrainian security researcher leaked over 170,000 internal chat conversations belonging to the gang, together with the source code for the Conti ransomware encryptor, after Conti sided with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
While the group has since shut down the 'Conti' brand, the cybercrime syndicate continues to operate after splitting into smaller cells and infiltrating or taking over other ransomware or cybercrime operations.
Some ransomware gangs infiltrated by Conti members include BlackCat, Hive, AvosLocker, Hello Kitty, and the recently revived Quantum operation.
Other Conti members are now running their own data extortion operations that do not encrypt data, such as BlackByte, Karakurt, and the Bazarcall collective.
Okta one-time MFA passcodes exposed in Twilio cyberattack
The threat actor behind the Twilio hack used their access to steal one-time passwords (OTPs) delivered over SMS from customers of Okta identity and access management company.
Okta provides its customers with multiple forms of authentication for services, including temporary codes delivered over SMS through Twilio.
With access to the Twilio console, the threat actor could see mobile phone numbers and OTPs belonging to Okta customers.
Using Twilio to search for OTPs
On August 4, cloud communications company Twilio discovered that an unauthorized party gained access to its systems and information belonging to its customers.
At the time, one of the services Okta used for customers opting for SMS as an authentication factor was provided by Twilio.
On August 8, Okta learned that the Twilio hack exposed “unspecified data relevant to Okta” and started to route SMS-based communication through a different provider.
Using internal system logs from Twilio’s security team, Okta was able to determine that the threat actor had access to phone numbers and OTP codes belonging to its customers.
“Using these logs, Okta’s Defensive Cyber Operations’ analysis established that two categories of Okta-relevant mobile phone numbers and one-time passwords were viewable during the time in which the attacker had access to the Twilio console” - Okta
The company notes that an OTP code remains valid for no more than five minutes.
When it comes to the threat actor’s activity in the Twilio console regarding its customers, Okta distinguishes between “targeted” and “incidental exposure” of phone numbers.
The company says that the intruder searched for 38 phone numbers, almost all of them associated with one organization, indicating interest in gaining access to that client’s network.
“We assess that the threat actor used credentials (usernames and passwords) previously stolen in phishing campaigns to trigger SMS-based MFA challenges, and used access to Twilio systems to search for One Time Passwords sent in those challenges” - Okta
The threat actor searched for the 38 Okta-related phone numbers using Twilio’s administrative portals, which showed the most recent 50 messages delivered through Okta’s Twilio account.
This means that hackers could see a larger number of phone numbers.
However, Okta’s investigation revealed that the intruder did not use these mobile phone numbers.
An update from Twilio earlier this week revealed that the hacker accessed Authy 2FA accounts and registered their devices to obtain the temporary tokens.
The larger picture
Over the past months, Okta observed the threat actor deploy multiple phishing campaigns to target multiple technology companies, and assigned it the name Scatter Swine.
Scatter Swine is the same adversary behind the 0ktapus phishing campaign reported by cybersecurity company Group-IB and named it so due to its goal to nab Okta identity credentials and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.
The actor has stolen close to 1,000 logins to get access to corporate networks by sending employees of targeted companies an SMS with a link to a phishing site impersonating an Okta authentication page for the victim organization.
Okta says that Scatter Swine/0ktapus likely uses commercial data aggregation services to collect mobile phone numbers belonging to employees of technology companies, telecommunications providers, and individuals linked to cryptocurrency.
A typical Oktapus attack starts with an SMS to a potential employee delivering a link to a phishing site asking for corporate credentials and then for the 2FA codes.
All the data is delivered to a Telegram account that led Group-IB on a trail to an individual that may be from North Carolina, the U.S., and also has a Twitter and a GitHub account.
In its report this week, Okta notes that apart from delivering SMS phishing in bulk (hundreds of messages), Scatter Swine also called targeted employees (and even their family members) to learn about the authentication process at their company, pretending to be from support.
“The accent of the threat actor appears to be North American, confident and clearly spoken” - Okta
Mitigating 0ktapus attacks
Defending against elaborate social engineering attacks targeting 2FA codes is not easy.
The general recommendation is to pay attention to indicators of suspicious emails and phishing sites.
Security experts also suggest using a FIDO-compliant security key (U2F).
Implementing authentication policies to restrict user access based on prerequisites tailored for the customer along with alerts when a user's sign-in process deviates from a previously recorded pattern could also indicate a malicious attempt.
Additionally, Okta advises the following:
Use Network Zones to deny or perform step-up authentication on requests from rarely-used networks and anonymizing proxies