Weekly Infosec News Brief: 28 Mar - 03 Apr

Ransomware Continues to Grow as a Threat to Organizations of all Types and Sizes

Ransomware, malicious software that encrypts digital files and demands a payment for the ability to decrypt them, continues to grow as a threat to organizational computer systems. Due to the profitable and (so far) low-risk nature of these attacks for criminals, the variety and frequency of attacks using ransomware has increased greatly over the past year. Several hospitals and other health care organizations have been targeted and even crippled by such attacks recently. According to a recent DHS report, the federal government faced at least 321 such attacks in 2015. While the variety of such malware makes it impossible to prescribe a single technology or method for avoiding or stopping such attacks, it is widely agreed that frequent, complete, and reliable backups are an essential step for avoiding being crippled by such attacks.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3050018/security/medstar-health-partially-restores-services-after-ransomware-attack.html
http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2016/03/dhs-agencies-reported-321-cases-potential-ransomware/127107/?oref=ng-HPtopstory


 New York Law Firms Breached; FBI Investigating the Purpose of the Breaches

The FBI is investigating a series of breaches at New York city law firms. Most of the firms do a lot of work in the finance industry, and one possible motive being explored is insider information for trading purposes. Another possible motive is the theft of data regarding client personnel for use in attacking other networks. Generally speaking, law firms tend to have large quantities of intellectual property from many different clients, often many clients from a specific industry, and they are therefore tempting targets for hackers.
http://www.scmagazine.com/fbi-investigating-attack-against-computer-networks-at-us-law-firms/article/486419/


 Trend Micro Vulnerability Disclosed; Patch Availability

A vulnerability in multiple Trend Micro antivirus software products could allow attackers to gain control of computers running the software. The software installs a service which listens on the network for connections and potentially allows for an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code. This is just another in a series of flaws that Google's Project Zero researcher Tavis Ormandy has discovered and disclosed over the past year. Trend released a temporary (and, according to Google, partial) patch on March 30th, with plans for a more permanent fix to come later.
http://www.securityweek.com/command-execution-flaw-patched-trend-micro-products
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=773&can=1&q=trend


 Flaw in Mobile Device Management Protocol on iPhone/iPad Enables Malware Delivery

A common recommendation for preventing malware on the iPhone is the use of Mobile Device Management (MDM). This type of software allows organizations to whitelist and blacklist software, as well as to push specific apps to organizational phones or personal phones used on organizational systems ("bring your own device" or BYOD setups). MDM can also allow organizations to manage security settings, track or wipe lose devices, etc. Last week, however, Check Point security researchers demonstrated a vulnerability in the MDM protocol in iOS that could allow an attacker to monitor the communications between the controller and devices, and potentially push out unauthorized software. This not only allows for the placement of malware, but also bypasses the Apple App Store. Check Point informed Apple of the issue last October, but so far Apple has not released a technical fix.
http://blog.checkpoint.com/2016/03/31/sidestepper/
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3050469/apple-ios/hackers-use-the-ios-mobile-device-management-protocol-to-deliver-malware.html#tk.rss_all


 Google Chrome Update Fixes Five Vulnerabilities, Four of them High-Risk

Google released an update to their Chrome browser, updating the current version to 49.0.2623.108. The update fixes five vulnerabilities, four of them considered high-risk. Most of the vulnerabilities were discovered by outside researchers as part of Google's "bug bounty" program that rewards researchers for finding and disclosing vulnerabilities in Google's software. If you allow Chrome in your organization, make sure that all the applicable clients get updated. To make this easier, consider using Google's "Chrome for Work" tools to more easily manage Chrome in your organizational network.
http://www.scmagazine.com/google-patches-chrome-49-vulnerabilities/article/485441/
http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2016/03/stable-channel-update_24.html

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