Half of the Largest Companies: Threat Vulnerable
October 24, 2016
Compromised Credentials, a research report by Digital Shadows reveals that around 1,000 companies comprising of Forbes Global 2000 are at risk as credentials of their employees are leaked or compromised.
As reported by Channel EMEA in Digital Shadows Global Study Reveals UAE Tops List in Middle East for…
The report found that 97 percent of those 1000 of the Forbes Global 2000 companies, spanning all businesses sectors and geographical regions, had leaked credentials publicly available online, many of them from third-party breaches.
Owing to large-scale data breaches in recent times, credentials of 5.5 million employees are available in public domain for anyone to see. Social networks like LinkedIN, MySpace and Tumblr were the affliction points of these breaches, the report states.
Analyzed geographically, companies in Middle-East seem to be the most affected:
The report revealed that the most affected country in the Middle East – with over 15,000 leaked credentials was the UAE. Saudi Arabia (3360), Kuwait (203) followed by Qatar (99) made up the rest of the list. This figure is relatively small as compared to the global figure due to the lower percentage of organizations that reside in the Middle East.
Affected organizations may not be able to contain the damages by simply resetting the passwords of the employees. It also needs to be seen if the information available is contemporary, not reposted and is unique. Moreover, mere password resetting can cause lot of friction within the IT departments of the organizations.
Without proper analysis, it will be difficult for the affected companies to gauge the extent of the damage. But considering the PR nightmare it leads to, will these companies come forward and acknowledge the breaches?
Vishal Ingole, October 24, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Busted Black Marketplace Pops Back Up
October 5, 2016
In June, a vendor of access to hacked servers, xDedic, was taken down. Now, reports intelligence firm Digital Shadows, it has resurrected itself as a Tor domain. Why am I suddenly reminded of the mythical hydra? We learn of the resurgence from SecurityWeek’s article, “Hacked Server Marketplace Returns as a Tor Domain.” The article tells us:
After Kaspersky Lab researchers revealed in mid-June that they counted over 70,000 hacked servers made available for purchase on xDedic, some for as low as just $6, the marketplace operators closed the virtual shop on June 16. However, with roughly 30,000 users a month, the storefront was too popular to disappear for good, and intelligence firm Digital Shadows saw it re-emerge only a week later, but as a Tor domain now.
In an incident report shared with SecurityWeek, Digital Shadows reveals that a user named xDedic posted on 24 Jun 2016 a link to the new site on the criminal forum exploit[.]in. The user, who ‘had an established reputation on the forum and has been previously identified as associated with the site,’ posted the link on a Russian language forum thread titled ‘xDedic ???????’ (xDedic burned).
We’re told that, though the new site looks just like the old site, the user accounts did not tag along. The now-shuttered site was attracting about 30,000 users monthly, so it should not take long to re-build their client list. Researchers are not able to assess the sites traffic, since it is now a Tor domain, but both Digital Shadows and Kaspersky Lab, another security firm, are “monitoring the situation.” We can rest assured they will inform law enforcement when they have more information.
Cynthia Murrell, October 5, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
How Hackers Hire
May 7, 2016
Ever wonder how hackers fill job openings, search-related or otherwise? A discussion at the forum tehPARADOX.COM considers, “How Hackers Recruit New Talent.” Poster MorningLightMountain cites a recent study by cybersecurity firm Digital Shadows, which reportedly examined around 100 million websites, both on the surface web and on the dark web, for recruiting practices. We learn:
“The researchers found that the process hackers use to recruit new hires mirrors the one most job-seekers are used to. (The interview, for example, isn’t gone—it just might involve some anonymizing technology.) Just like in any other industry, hackers looking for fresh talent start by exploring their network, says Rick Holland, the vice president of strategy at Digital Shadows. ‘Reputation is really, really key,’ Holland says, so a candidate who comes highly recommended from a trusted peer is off to a great start. When hiring criminals, reputation isn’t just about who gets the job done best: There’s an omnipresent danger that the particularly eager candidate on the other end of the line is actually an undercover FBI agent. A few well-placed references can help allay those fears.”
Recruiters, we’re told, frequently advertise on hacker forums. These groups reach many potential recruits and are often password-protected. However, it is pretty easy to trace anyone who logs into one without bothering to anonymize their traffic. Another option is to advertise on the dark web— researchers say they even found a “sort of Monster.com for cybercrime” there.
The post goes on to discuss job requirements, interviews, and probationary periods. We’re reminded that, no matter how many advanced cybersecurity tools get pushed to market, most attack are pretty basic; they involve approaches like denial-of-service and SQL injection. So, MorningLightMountain advises, any job-seeking hackers should be good to go if they just keep up those skills.
Cynthia Murrell, May 7, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
The Force of the Dark Web May Not Need Sides
April 14, 2016
The name “Dark Web” has sensational language written all over it. Such a label calls for myth-busting articles to be published, such as the recent one from Infosecurity Magazine, The Dark Web — Is It All Bad?. This piece highlights the opinions of James Chappell, CTO and Co-founder of Digital Shadows, who argues the way the Dark Web is portrayed in the media pigeonholes sites accessible by Tor as for criminal purposes. Chappell is quoted,
“Looking at some of the press coverage you could be forgiven for thinking that the Dark Web is solely about criminality,” he told Infosecurity. “In reality, this is not the case and there are many legitimate uses alongside the criminal content that can be found on these services. Significantly – criminality is an internet-wide problem, rather than exclusively a problem limited to just the technologies that are labelled with the Dark Web.”
The author’s allusion to Star Wars’ divided force, between supposed “good” and “bad” seems an appropriate analogy to the two sides of the internet. However, with a slightly more nuanced perspective, could it not be argued that Jedi practices, like those of the Sith, are also questionable? Binaries may be our preferred cultural tropes, as well as the building blocks of computer software programming, but let’s not forget the elements of variability: humans and time.
Megan Feil, April 14, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Venture Dollars Point to Growing Demand for Cyber Security
April 4, 2016
A UK cyber security startup has caught our attention — along with that of venture capitalists. The article Digital Shadows Gets $14M To Keep Growing Its Digital Risk Scanning Service from Tech Crunch reports Digital Shadows received $14 million in Series B funding. This Software as a service (SaaS) is geared toward enterprises with more than 1,000 employees with a concern for monitoring risk and vulnerabilities by monitoring online activity related to the enterprise. The article describes Digital Shadows’ SearchLight which was initially launched in May 2014,
“Digital Shadows’ flagship product, SearchLight, is a continuous real-time scan of more than 100 million data sources online and on the deep and dark web — cross-referencing customer specific data with the monitored sources to flag up instances where data might have inadvertently been posted online, for instance, or where a data breach or other unwanted disclosure might be occurring. The service also monitors any threat-related chatter about the company, such as potential hackers discussing specific attack vectors. It calls the service it offers “cyber situational awareness”.”
Think oversight in regards to employees breaching sensitive data on the Dark Web, for example, a bank employee selling client data through Tor. How will this startup fare? Time will tell, but we will be watching them, along with other vendors offering similar services.
Megan Feil, April 4, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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