Top Cybersecurity News from the Week of Nov 28th
As we get closer to the new year, a new wave of end-user threats and data breaches are affecting millions of users and organisations. We are also seeing a new range of regulations being introduced by governments to minimise the economic impact of cyberattacks, and emphasise the need for proactive security across all industries. Here are some of the most notable cybersecurity news from the week:
Australia passes bill to increase the data breach penalty for enterprises
The Australian government has passed a bill that significantly increases the penalty for companies suffering from serious or repeated data breaches.
The maximum fines have been increased from AU$2.22 million to AU$50 million, 30% of an entity’s adjusted turnover in the relevant period, or three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information, whichever is greater.
The turnover period is the time duration from when the contravention occurred to the end of the month when the incident is officially addressed.
This new bill is being labelled as the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022. The regulation will also provide more powers to the Australian Information Commissioner to address security breaches. This regulation comes on the back of increasing cyberattacks in Australia. According to recent findings, organisations in the country have experienced over 700 cyberattacks every day in the past 2 years. That’s one attack every two minutes.
Increased cyber espionage in the Philippines
A threat actor, suspected to be supported by the Chinese government, has been linked to a set of espionage attacks in the Philippines that primarily relies on USB devices as an initial infection vector. According to reports, these attacks have affected several private and public organisations across the globe.
Mandiant, which is part of Google Cloud, is tracking the cluster under its uncategorized moniker UNC4191. An analysis of the artefacts used in the intrusions indicates that the campaign dates as far back as September 2021.
“UNC4191 operations have affected a range of public and private sector entities primarily in Southeast Asia and extending to the U.S., Europe, and APJ,” said the researchers of Mandiant Intelligence.
A new TikTok challenge is spreading malware
Threat actors are capitalizing on a popular TikTok challenge to trick users into downloading information-stealing malware, according to new research from Checkmarx.
The trend, called Invisible Challenge, involves applying a filter known as Invisible Body that just leaves behind a silhouette of the person’s body. But the fact that individuals filming such videos could be undressed has led to a scandalous scheme wherein the attackers post TikTok videos with links to malicious software dubbed “unfilter” that removes the applied filters.
“Instructions to get the ‘unfilter’ software deploy WASP stealer malware hiding inside malicious Python packages,” Checkmarx researcher Guy Nachshon said in a Monday analysis.
The WASP stealer (aka W4SP Stealer) is a malware that’s designed to steal users’ passwords, Discord accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and other sensitive information. The TikTok videos posted by the attackers are estimated to have reached over a million views. The accounts have since been suspended.
Trojan app stole Facebook credentials of over 300,000 Android users
More than 300,000 users across 71 countries have been victimized by a new Android threat campaign called the Schoolyard Bully Trojan.
Mainly designed to steal Facebook credentials, the malware is camouflaged as legitimate education-themed applications to lure unsuspecting users into downloading them. The apps, which were available for download from the official Google Play Store, have now been taken down. However, it’s still available on third-party app stores.
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