The LightBasin “activity cluster” has been active indeed against telecom infrastructure in what looks like an espionage campaign. The Magnitude exploit kit adds capabilities for hitting Chromium browsers. An exploit broker is interested in cloud-based VPNs. Victims continue to pay in ransomware attacks. A hacker gets seven years for conspiracy to defraud and identity theft. David Dufour from Webroot looks at the coming threat landscape. Our guest is Paul Shread from eSecurity Planet on backup tools for ransomware. And a Candy Corn shortage is averted. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/202

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Cyberespionage campaign looks a lot like SIGINT collection. Magnitude gets more capable. VPN exploits solicited. Ransomware trends. Seven years for UPMC hacker. Plenty of Candy Corn coming.

A look at TA505, familiar yet adaptable. A US joint cybersecurity advisory outlines the BlackMatter threat to critical infrastructure. CISA asks industry for technical information on endpoint detection and response capabilities. Is REvil trying to run on reputation? The Sinclair Broadcasting ransomware incident seems to provide a case study in rapid disclosure. Carole Theriault considers the fight for online anonymity. Joe Carrigan shares steps to protect the C-Suite. And there’s a decryptor out for BlackByte. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/201

TA505’s recent activity. Advice on defending organizations from BlackMatter. CISA RFI seeks EDR information. REvil’s halting attempts to return. Sinclair’s incident response.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group discloses that it sustained a ransomware attack over the weekend. Twitter kicks out two North Korean catphish deployed in a cyberespionage campaign. REvil goes offline, again, perhaps this time for good. Hacking back, at least insofar as you let the hoods know you can see them. Rick Howard previews the newest season of CSO Perspectives. Johannes Ullrich from SANS on Expired Domain Dumpster Diving. And an update on the Missouri disclosure and proposed hacking prosecution. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/200

A US broadcaster sustains a ransomware attack. North Korean catphis expelled from Twitter. REvil’s Tor sites are hijacked. Hacking back. Prosecution and responsible disclosure?

Linux and Security Advocate at Intezer Ell Marquez shares her journey from the family ranch to security. Needing a life change due to a bunch of circumstances that had occurred that left her almost homeless, Ell found out about a six week Linux boot camp that took her down the path toward technology. She fell in love security at at BSides Conference and hasn't looked back. Ell says she recently started a campaign called "it's okay to be new" noting that no matter how long you've been in the industry, you need to be new because technology changes so quickly. She concludes by offering one final piece of advice to everybody is just "be unapologetically yourself." We thank Ell for sharing her story with us.

Ell Marquez: It's okay to be new. [Linux] [Career Notes]

Guest Michael DeBolt, Chief Intelligence Officer from Intel471, joins Dave Bittner to discuss their work on "How Groove Gang is shaking up the Ransomware-as-a-Service market to empower affiliates." McAfee Enterprise ATR believes, with high confidence, that the Groove gang is associated with the Babuk gang, either as a former affiliate or subgroup. These cybercriminals are happy to put aside previous Ransomware-as-a-Service hierarchies to focus on the ill-gotten gains to be made from controlling victim’s networks, rather than the previous approach which prioritized control of the ransomware itself. The research can be found here: How Groove Gang is shaking up the Ransomware-as-a-Service market to empower affiliates

Groove Gang making a name for themselves. [Research Saturday]

A CISA-issued Joint Advisory warns of threats and vulnerabilities at water and wastewater treatment facilities. CISA issues twenty-two other industrial control system advisories. Andrea Little Limbago from Interos on trends in the human element of security. Our guest is Gidi Cohen from Skybox with Vulnerability and Threat Trends. And the Governor of Missouri intends to prosecute the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch to the fullest extent of whatever the law turns out to be. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/199

CISA and its partners warn of threats to water and wastewater treatment facilities. The curious case of Missouri teachers’ Social Security Numbers.

Data breach extortion seems to be an emerging criminal trend. Notes on a darknet market’s retirement. Verizon advises Visible users to look to their credentials. Windows users’ attention is drawn to seven potentially serious vulnerabilities (all patchable). The Necro botnet is installing Monero cryptojackers. Organizing an international response to ransomware. Carole Theriault shares thoughts on social engineering. Dinah Davis from Arctic Wolf on the supply chain attack framework. And a quick look at the state of cyber risk in higher education. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/198

Notes from the underground: data breach extortion and a criminal market shuts down. International cooperation against ransomware. Cyber risk and higher education.

A Chinese-speaking APT is distributing the MysterySnail RAT in what appears to be a cyberespionage campaign. Some users still haven’t patched vulnerable SolarWinds instances. Notes on yesterday’s Patch Tuesday. The US-convened international ransomware conference kicked off today, and Russia wasn’t invited. Former users of a criminal booter service get a stern warning letter from the Dutch police. Caleb Barlow reacts to a recent ransomware tragedy. Our guest is Rob Gurzeev of CyCognito on the security issues with subsidiaries. And a Florida woman is charged with altering aircraft records. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/197

Cyber Espionage, again. Patched SolarWinds yet? Patch Tuesday. The international conference on ransomware has begun. Booter customers get a warning. A disgruntled insider alters aircraft records.

Teheran is running password spraying attacks (especially on Thursdays and Sundays). More on the renewed popularity of DDoS attacks. NCSC warns British businesses against ransomware. Two journalists win the Nobel Peace Prize. Joe Carrigan shares his thoughts on GriftHorse. Our guest is Bindu Sundaresan from AT&T Cybersecurity football season and cyber risks. And watch out for small data cards in your peanut butter sandwiches, kids. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/196

Espionage by password spraying, and espionage via peanut butter sandwich. Ransomware and DDoS warnings. Two journalists get the Nobel Peace Prize

Our guest is author and journalist Steven Levy. He’s editor-at-large at Wired and his most recent book is "Facebook: The Inside Story. Steven offers his insights on Facebook’s internal research teams, Ben shares a newly-decided court case on whether Big Tech companies can be sued under the Anti-Terrorism statute, and Dave's got the story of some warrantless surveillance being declared unconstitutional in Colorado.  While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney.  Links to stories: Federal appeals court clears social media companies in Pulse shooting lawsuit Colorado Supreme Court Rules Three Months of Warrantless Video Surveillance Violates the Constitution Got a question you'd like us to answer on our show? You can send your audio file to caveat@thecyberwire.com or simply leave us a message at (410) 618-3720. Hope to hear from you. 

Extra: Let's talk about Facebook's research. [Caveat]

Lieutenant in the US Navy and Skillbridge Fellow at the CyberWire, Brandon Karpf, knew he wanted to join the military at a young age. He achieved that through the US Naval Academy where he was a member of the men's heavyweight rowing team. Commissioning into the cryptologic field as a naval cryptologic warfare officer, Brandon was sent to MIT for a graduate degree where he experienced the exact opposite end of the spectrum from USNA's structured life. Brandon's work with both NSA and US Cyber Command helped him gain experience and cyber operations skills. As he is transitions from active duty to civilian life, Brandon shares the difficulties that process brings about. Through Skillbridge Fellowship program, Brandon's transition has him sharing his skills with the CyberWire. We thank Brandon for sharing his skills and his story with us.

Brandon Karpf: A sailor of the 21st century. [Transitioning service member] [Career Notes]

Matt Stafford, Senior Threat Intelligence Researcher, from Prevailion joins Dave to talk about their work on "Diving Deep into UNC1151’s Infrastructure: Ghostwriter and beyond." Prevailion’s Adversarial Counterintelligence Team (PACT) used advanced infrastructure hunting techniques and Prevailion’s visibility into threat actor infrastructure creation to uncover previously unknown domains associated with UNC1151 and the “Ghostwriter” influence campaign. UNC1151 is likely a state-backed threat actor waging an ongoing and far-reaching influence campaign that has targeted numerous countries across Europe. Their operations typically display messaging in general alignment with the security interests of the Russian Federation; their hallmarks include anti-NATO messaging, intimate knowledge of regional culture and politics, and strategic influence operations (such as hack-and-leak operations used in conjunction with fabricated messaging and/or forged documents). PACT assesses with varying degrees of confidence that there are 81 additional, unreported domains clustered with the activity that FireEye and ThreatConnect detailed in their respective reports. PACT also assesses with High Confidence that UNC1151 has targeted additional European entities outside of the Baltics, Poland, Ukraine and Germany, for which no previous public reporting exists. The research can be found here: Diving Deep into UNC1151’s Infrastructure: Ghostwriter and beyond

Taking a closer look at UNC1151. [Research Saturday]

Google warns fourteen-thousand Gmail users that Fancy Bear has probably been after their passwords. FIN12, a fast-running ransomware group, is after hospitals’ and healthcare providers’ money. BlackMatter remains active against the agriculture sector. REvil is back and talking on the RAMP forum, but so far it’s getting a chilly reception. Twitch traces its vulnerability to a server misconfiguration. David Dufour from webroot wonders about cracking down on crypto. Our guest is Jeff Dileo of NCC on mastering container security. And Group-IB’s CEO is charged with treason. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/195

Fancy Bear’s snuffling at Gmail credentials. FIN12’s threat to healthcare, and BlackMatter’s threat to agriculture. REvil tries to reestablish itself in the underworld. Twitch update. Sachkov is charged.

Cyberespionage seems undeterred by stern warnings. DDoS hits the Philippine Senate. The US Department of Homeland Security intends to issue cybersecurity regulations for passenger rail and airlines. The US Department of Justice intends to use the False Claims Act to bring civil actions against government contractors who fail to follow “recognized cybersecurity standards.” An update on the Twitch breach. Josh Ray from Accenture looks at what’s going on with Fancy Lazarus. Our guest is Sam Ingalls from eSecurity Planet on the state of Blockchain applications in cybersecurity. And what would it take to get you kids into a nice non-fungible token? For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/194

Espionage, mostly cyber but also physical. DDoS in the Philippines. TSA regulations for rail and airline cybersecurity are coming. US DoJ promises civil action for cyber failures. Twitch update. And NFTs.

Twitch is breached. A newly discovered Iranian threat group is described. A Chinese cyberespionage campaign in India proceeds by phishing. SafeMoon alt-coin is trendy phishbait in criminal circles. As the US prepares to convene an anti-ransomware conference, Russian gangs show no signs of slacking off. Betsy Carmelite from BAH on AI/ ML in cyber defensive operations. Our guest is Adam Flatley of Redacted with recommendations from the Ransomware Task Force. And observations on what counts as compromising material. For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing: https://www.thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/10/193

Twitch is breached. MalKamak: a newly described Iranian threat actor. Chinese cyberespionage against India. SafeMoon phishbait. The ransomware threat. What counts as compromise.

More signal, less noise—we distill the day’s critical cyber security news into a concise daily briefing.

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