Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity firm Proofpoint identified a new spear phishing campaign that targeted three undisclosed U.S. utilities. Based on overlaps with historical campaigns and macros utilized, Proofpoint believes the campaign is state-sponsored. The convincing phishing lures purport to come from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), a business that handles professional licensing for engineers and surveyors, indicating the threat actors have a decent amount of industry knowledge.

The NCCIC has released an advisory on out-of-bounds read and type confusion vulnerabilities in LCDS LAquis. SCADA 4.3.1.71 is affected. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to obtain confidential information or execute remote code. LCDS recommends users update to Version 4.3.1.323. The NCCIC also advises of a series of measures for mitigating the vulnerability. Read the advisory at CISA.

Unit 42, which describes itself as “the global threat intelligence team” at Palo Alto Networks, has released 11 new “Adversary Playbooks” that present the tools, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by cyber threat actors. The addition of the newest Playbooks nearly doubles the number in Unit 42’s collection, which now stands at 21.

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) reminds partners to properly dispose of old or unused data and devices in its July 2019 newsletter. Without careful management of online accounts, cloud storage, physical storage, and electronic devices, users could inadvertently disclose sensitive information that can be exploited by cyber criminals. CIS is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), a WaterISAC partner focused on cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for U.S. state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities.