Welcome to the first 2023 edition of the Ironshare Cyber Round-up where we look back at the events of that last week and year to cover some of the news, posts, views, and highlights from the world of Security.
In this week’s round-up:
UK Newspaper, The Guardian, are expected to keep their offices closed for the next month. According to a statement from the GMG (Guardian Media Group) Chief Executive, the group is struggling with the fallout of the recent attack and needed an extended period to focus on recovery; GMG plan to spend the next 30 days applying important fixes while “reducing the strain on our networks”. The attack is understood to have occurred on the 20th of December, and the business is believed to be back to operations by the beginning of February.
By ComputerWeekly.com
It is far too common for organisations to leave their security in the hands of an IT team, believing that their users play no part in the security and integrity of their operations. A recent study showed that:
“approx. 30% of employees do not think they play a role in maintaining their company’s cyber security posture”.
This could not be more wrong. There is only so much that technology can do to protect your organisation; educating your users on the dangers of cyber and helping them understand how they can stay safe is essential to creating a strong,security-focused culture.
Key steps to creating a strong cyber culture can be found here.
By Forbes.com
NCSC has revealed the top government email impersonation scams have been taken down in 2022. The public have been encouraged to keep reporting all suspicious emails after 6.4 million reports were received in 2022. Cyber security experts have revealed today that they have removed the top six government impersonation scams in 2022. The public have been urged to stay alert for scammers using exploitative tactics as we head into 2023.
By NCSC.gov.uk
Twitter are in a data protection probe after 400 million user details up for sale. Twitter are being investigated after a hacker has claimed to have private details linked to more than 400 million accounts. Ryushi, the hacker is demanding £166,000 to hand over the data. It had been reported that some celebrities are included in the 400 million.
By BBC.co.uk
ALPHV has recently disclosed sensitive data on its website from a victim that failed to pay its ransom. When leaking the information ALPHV also created a cloned website impersonating that of the victim which was hosted on a similarly named domain. This cloned website held information to do with various documents, from memos to staff, payment forms, employee info, data on assets and expenses, financial data for partners, and passport scans. This unusual method is thought to publicise their breach, damage the company's reputation, and a warning to future victims if they do not pay the ransom.
By BleepingComputer.com
Just two days before Christmas Arnold Clark was forced to shut down its internal network as a precautionary measure from a suspected cyber-attack. The car dealership was warned by external cyber security consultants of suspicious traffic on its network on 23rd December. The action to shut down its network was a “purely protective measure” which resulted in telephone booking services and other technical systems becoming unavailable.Arnold Clark stated it was able to protect the data of customers, third-party providers, and its own systems. Security partners have been assisting the car dealership in reviewing its infrastructure and re-enabling its systems in a phased and secure manner.
By News.STV.tv
Five Guys was yet another victim of a cyber-attack after a“smash-and-grab” operation is thought to have taken place. "Unauthorized access to files" was discovered on 17th September, after a review of the files which were accessed was completed on 8th December Five Guys determined that the files contained information submitted during the employment process.There are concerns about the future implications of this data being leaked such as identity theft on the victims of this attack. Five Guys has stated that they are working with law enforcement and a cyber security firm however have been less than engaging with the public about the attack.
By DarkReading.com
And that’s it for the round-up for this year, please do check in for our new batch of security news and posts.
Happy New Year!
Stay Safe, Secure and Healthy!
Edition #218 – 6th January 2023
Stuart Hare is a Technologist with a passion for helping people in all aspects of IT & Cyber Security. Stuart is the Founder of Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing consultancy and managed services.
Samuel is a Security Analyst with Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing Security consultancy and managed services.
Joshua is working as a Managed Service Lead with Ironshare, an Information and Cyber Security company providing Security consultancy and managed services.
