Weekly Recap July 29, 2022
Table of Contents
- By Steven
- Published: Jul 28, 2022
- Last Updated: Sep 23, 2022
The end of the final week of July has arrived. The time has come to recap the week's top online breaches, hacks, and other digital offensives. As detailed below, the flurry of online attacks has not slowed as the summer has taken shape. The online infiltrations listed below are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the aggregate web-based attacks in the month's final week.
Cyber Mercenaries are En Vogue
The word "mercenary" now applies to those at the forefront of digital offenses as well as those engaging in a conventional battle. Recent trends show an increasing number of hacking collectives, and criminals are turning to hackers-for-hire to pull off online heists, data theft, etc. In particular, the Atlantis Cyber-Army has emerged as the most notable group of digital mercenaries. This group offers web-based attacks for hire, similar to the temporary service provided by traditional foot soldier mercenaries who engage in physical combat.
Though few know it, some cyber mercenaries are willing to levy a digital offensive for as little as $20. This trend should alarm business owners as well as everyday people. If you have not updated your digital safeguards in recent months, seize the opportunity to do so before your tech investment and potentially even more of your personal data are compromised by digital miscreants.
Cosmic Strand
A UEFI firmware rootkit called Cosmic Strand has been flagged as a legitimate threat on the digital security landscape. The question is whether the rootkit is tied to the federal government of China or private parties within China. The attack is centered on the exploitation of firmware images by way of infection vectors. The malware is implemented within Windows; a kernel loads when the operating system boots up, and a shellcode acts as a bridge to remote servers for payload transmission. At the moment, the offensive targets computers and networks in Asia and the Middle East, though it has the potential to spread quickly to the West.
Racoon Stealer Returns
Racoon Stealer, an older form of malware, is back. The malware previously stole information from web browsers. The malware plucks data, including highly sensitive information such as passwords, usernames, and cookies, creating the potential for device recognition without password entry. The new version of Racoon Stealer is even able to steal cryptocurrency. The malware also takes pictures of users' computers to steal login information, banking information, sensitive data, etc.
Roaming Mantis
Roaming Mantis is wreaking havoc on smartphone users. The malware has compromised a total of 70,000 Android phones. Roaming Mantis uses financial trojans and redirects targets to phony landing pages where sensitive, valuable information is stolen upon entry into data fields. The stolen information is then sold on the black market.
Neopets Site Affects 70 Million
Neopets has endured a massive data breach. Though around 70 million customer accounts were compromised, industry experts believe the virtual pet service will bounce back from the digital security setback without a significant loss of revenue. Some of the information stolen in the attack includes customer usernames, passwords, and IP addresses.
