Tag: cybersecurity

Universal Health Services lost $67m to ransomware attack

Health & Social Care, Industry News
UHS was among the first hit with the coordinated ransomware wave that targeted the healthcare sector last year. On September 29 last year, Universal Health Services announced in a press release that due to an IT security incident that took place two days earlier, it had to suspend user access to its IT applications related to operations located in the United States.
In the early hours of September 27, UHS clinicians and staff members took to Reddit to determine if other UHS employees across the country were experiencing similar computer and phone outages.
The thread detailed internet and data center outages, with one employee attributing the incident to a ransomware attack after seeing ransom messages from the Ryuk hacking group displayed on some computer screens.
Upon discovery, the IT team took all systems offline to prevent further propagation. The following day, UHS officials confirmed the event as an IT disruption, before reporting as a malware infection several days later.
The disruption caused by the ransomware attack was immense, considering UHS is among the largest providers of hospital and healthcare services in the US, featuring among Fortune 500 companies in 2019 with annual revenue of $11.4 billion and also ranking #330 in Forbes list of U.S.' Largest Public Companies.
The company employs around 90,000 people across 26 acute care hospitals, 330 behavioral health facilities, 41 outpatient facilities, and a number of ambulatory care access points and a network of physicians. Aside from the US, Universal Health Services also operates in Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.
UHS said that it immediately implemented extensive IT security protocols and was working with security partners to restore the affected IT services as soon as possible. The incident caused temporary disruption to some clinical and financial operations, forcing acute care and behavioural health facilities to rely on offline documentation efforts to deliver round-the-clock patient care.
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CISA Announce Transfer of .gov Top-Level Dommain from US General Services Administration

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced it will begin overseeing the .gov top-level domain (TLD) in April 2021. CISA is working closely with the U.S. General Services Administration, who currently oversees the TLD, to ensure a seamless transition of daily operations for .gov customers.
“Using .gov and increasing trust that government communications are authentic will improve our collective cybersecurity,” said Eric Goldstein, Executive Assistant Director for CISA’s Cybersecurity Division. “People see a .gov website or email address and know they are interacting with an official, U.S.-based government organization. Using .gov also provides security benefits, like two-factor authentication on the .gov registrar and notifications of DNS changes to administrators, over other TLDs. We’ll endeavor to make the TLD more secure for the American public and harder for malicious actors to impersonate.”
.gov is one of the six original TLDs in the internet’s domain name system (DNS). The TLD is actively used by each branch of the federal government, every state in the nation, hundreds of counties and cities, and many tribes and territories as they serve the public on the internet. The DOTGOV Act of 2020 shifted responsibility for managing .gov to CISA as the nation’s civilian cybersecurity agency.
Because the TLD is central to the availability and integrity of thousands of online services relied upon by millions of users, .gov is critical infrastructure for governments throughout the country and all aspects of its administration have cybersecurity significance. Under the actions required by the Act, CISA will work to increase security and decrease complexity for our government partners.
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Joint NSA and CISA Guidance on Strengthening Cyber Defense Through Protective DNS

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The National Security Agency (NSA) and CISA have released a Joint Cybersecurity Information (CSI) sheet with guidance on selecting a protective Domain Name System (PDNS) service as a key defense against malicious cyber activity. Protective DNS can greatly reduce the effectiveness of ransomware, phishing, botnet, and malware campaigns by blocking known-malicious domains. Additionally organizations can use DNS query logs for incident response and threat hunting activities.
CISA encourages users and administrators to consider the benefits of using a protective DNS service and review NSA and CISA’s CSI sheet on Selecting a Protective DNS Service for more information.
Protecting users’ DNS queries is a key defense because cyber threat actors use domain names across the network exploitation lifecycle: users frequently mistype domain names while attempting to navigate to a known-good website and unintentionally go to a malicious one instead (T1583.001); threat actors lace phishing emails with malicious links (T1566.002); a compromised device may seek commands from a remote command and control server (TA0011); a threat actor may exfiltrate data from a compromised device to a remote host (TA0010).1 The domain names associated with malicious content are often known or knowable, and preventing their resolution protects individual users and the enterprise.
Due to the centrality of DNS for cybersecurity, the Department of Defense (DoD) included DNS filtering as a requirement in its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) standard (SC.3.192). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a memo and directive requiring U.S. government organizations to take steps to mitigate related DNS issues. Additionally, the National Security Agency has published guidance documents on defending DNS [1, 2, 3].
This guidance outlines the benefits and risks of using a protective DNS service and assesses several commercial PDNS providers based on reported capabilities. The assessment is meant to serve as information for organizations, not as recommendations for provider selection. Users of these services must evaluate their architectures and specific needs when choosing a service for PDNS and then validate that a provider meets those needs.
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GAO report finds DOD's weapons programs lack clear cybersecurity guidelines

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
DOD's network of sophisticated, expensive weapon systems must work when needed, without being incapacitated by cyberattacks. However, GAO reported in 2018 that DOD was routinely finding cyber vulnerabilities late in its development process.
A Senate report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 included a provision for GAO to review DOD's implementation of cybersecurity for weapon systems in development. GAO's report addresses (1) the extent to which DOD has made progress in implementing cybersecurity for weapon systems during development, and (2) the extent to which DOD and the military services have developed guidance for incorporating weapon systems cybersecurity requirements into contracts.
Since GAO's 2018 report, the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken action to make its network of high-tech weapon systems less vulnerable to cyberattacks. DOD and military service officials highlighted areas of progress, including increased access to expertise, enhanced cyber testing, and additional guidance. For example, GAO found that selected acquisition programs have conducted, or planned to conduct, more cybersecurity testing during development than past acquisition programs. It is important that DOD sustain its efforts as it works to improve weapon systems cybersecurity.
Contracting for cybersecurity requirements is key. DOD guidance states that these requirements should be treated like other types of system requirements and, more simply, “if it is not in the contract, do not expect to get it.” Specifically, cybersecurity requirements should be defined in acquisition program contracts, and criteria should be established for accepting or rejecting the work and for how the government will verify that requirements have been met. However, GAO found examples of program contracts omitting cybersecurity requirements, acceptance criteria, or verification processes. For example, GAO found that contracts for three of the five programs did not include any cybersecurity requirements when they were awarded. A senior DOD official said standardizing cybersecurity requirements is difficult and the department needs to better communicate cybersecurity requirements and systems engineering to the users that will decide whether or not a cybersecurity risk is acceptable.
DOD and the military services have developed a range of policy and guidance documents to improve weapon systems cybersecurity, but the guidance usually does not specifically address how acquisition programs should include cybersecurity requirements, acceptance criteria, and verification processes in contracts. Among the four military services GAO reviewed, only the Air Force has issued service-wide guidance that details how acquisition programs should define cybersecurity requirements and incorporate those requirements in contracts. The other services could benefit from a similar approach in developing their own guidance that helps ensure that DOD appropriately addresses cybersecurity requirements in contracts.
GAO is recommending that the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps provide guidance on how programs should incorporate tailored cybersecurity requirements into contracts. DOD concurred with two recommendations, and stated that the third—to the Marine Corps—should be merged with the one to the Navy. DOD's response aligns with the intent of the recommendation.
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CISA Issues Emergency Directive for Federal Agencies to Patch Critical Vulnerability

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Emergency Directive (ED) 21-02 requiring federal civilian departments and agencies running Microsoft Exchange on-premises products to update or disconnect the products from their networks until updated with the Microsoft patch released yesterday.  It also requires agencies who are currently able to do so to collect forensic images. All agencies are also required to search for known indicators of compromise after patching, and if indicators are found, contact CISA to begin incident response activities.  The directive is in response to observed active exploitation of these products using previously unknown vulnerabilities.  CISA also issued an activity alert to provide additional information and to encourage other public and private sector organizations to take steps to protect their networks.
“This Emergency Directive will help us secure federal networks against the immediate threat while CISA works with its interagency partners to better understand the malicious actor’s techniques and motivations to share with our stakeholders,” said Acting CISA Director Brandon Wales.  “The swiftness with which CISA issued this Emergency Directive reflects the seriousness of this vulnerability and the importance of all organizations – in government and the private sector – to take steps to remediate it.”
ED 21-02 reflects CISA’s determination that exploitations that pose an unacceptable risk to the federal civilian executive branch agencies require emergency action.  CISA made this assessment on the basis of 1) current exploitation of these vulnerabilities, 2) the likelihood of widespread exploitation of the vulnerabilities after public disclosure and the risk that federal government services to the American public could be degraded.
CISA and the National Security Agency worked with Microsoft and security researchers to identify detection and mitigation approaches to these vulnerabilities, for which Microsoft released the patch this afternoon.  Cloud services such as Microsoft 365 and Azure systems are not known to be affected by this vulnerability.
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NSCAI Report presents strategy for winning the artificial intelligence era

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The 16 chapters in the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) Main Report provide topline conclusions and recommendations. The accompanying Blueprints for Action outline more detailed steps that the U.S. Government should take to implement the recommendations.
The NSCAI acknowledges how much remains to be discovered about AI and its future applications. Nevertheless, enough is known about AI today to begin with two convictions.
First, the rapidly improving ability of computer systems to solve problems and to perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence—and in some instances exceed human performance—is world altering. AI technologies are the most powerful tools in generations for expanding knowledge, increasing prosperity, and enriching the human experience. AI is also the quintessential “dual-use” technology. The ability of a machine to perceive, evaluate, and act more quickly and accurately than a human represents a competitive advantage in any field—civilian or military. AI technologies will be a source of enormous power for the companies and countries that harness them.
Second, AI is expanding the window of vulnerability the United States has already entered. For the first time since World War II, America’s technological predominance—the backbone of its economic and military power—is under threat. China possesses the might, talent, and ambition to surpass the United States as the world’s leader in AI in the next decade if current trends do not change. Simultaneously, AI is deepening the threat posed by cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns that Russia, China, and others are using to infiltrate our society, steal our data, and interfere in our democracy. The limited uses of AI-enabled attacks to date represent the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, global crises exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change highlight the need to expand our conception of national security and find innovative AI-enabled solutions.
Given these convictions, the Commission concludes that the United States must act now to field AI systems and invest substantially more resources in AI innovation to protect its security, promote its prosperity, and safeguard the future of democracy.
Full report is available at https://reports.nscai.gov/final-report
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Cybersecurity for 5G: ENISA Releases Report on Security Controls in 3GPP

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
Cybersecurity for 5G: ENISA Releases Report on Security Controls in 3GPP
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) provides authorities with technical guidance on the 5G Toolbox measure for security requirements in existing 5G standards.
The Agency has released its Security in 5G Specifications Report about key security controls in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the main body developing technical specifications for fifth generation of mobile telecommunications (5G) networks. As vendors, system integrators and operators build, deploy and manage 5G networks, the ENISA publication underlines the need for cybersecurity and for the national regulatory authorities in charge of cybersecurity policy development and implementation to have a good understanding of these controls.
This new ENISA report is directly driven by the objectives set in the EU toolbox for 5G security - mainly technical measure ‘TM02’. This technical measure calls on the relevant authorities in EU Member States to ensure and evaluate the implementation of security measures in existing 5G standards (3GPP specifically) by operators and their suppliers.
The aim of the report is to help national and regulatory authorities to better understand the standardisation environment pertaining to 5G security, 3GPP security specifications and key security controls that operators must implement to secure 5G networks.
More specifically, the report provides:
- A high-level overview of the specification and standardisation landscape for the security of 5G networks, and of the main activities by various standardisation organisations and industrial groups in the area of 5G;
- An explanation of the technical specifications developed by 3GPP for the security of 5G networks, with a focus on optional security features;
- Summary of key findings and good security practices.
The ENISA report also covers security considerations beyond standards and specifications, such as testing and assurance, product development, network design, configuration and deployment, and operation and management.
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Compromise of U.S. Water Treatment Facility

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News, Water sector
On February 5, 2021, unidentified cyber actors obtained unauthorized access to the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system at a U.S. drinking water treatment facility. The unidentified actors used the SCADA system’s software to increase the amount of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, a caustic chemical, as part of the water treatment process. Water treatment plant personnel immediately noticed the change in dosing amounts and corrected the issue before the SCADA system’s software detected the manipulation and alarmed due to the unauthorized change. As a result, the water treatment process remained unaffected and continued to operate as normal. The cyber actors likely accessed the system by exploiting cybersecurity weaknesses, including poor password security, and an outdated operating system. Early information indicates it is possible that a desktop sharing software, such as TeamViewer, may have been used to gain unauthorized access to the system, although this cannot be confirmed at present date. Onsite response to the incident included Pinellas County Sheriff Office (PCSO), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) have observed cyber criminals targeting and exploiting desktop sharing software and computer networks running operating systems with end of life status to gain unauthorized access to systems. Desktop sharing software, which has multiple legitimate uses—such as enabling telework, remote technical support, and file transfers—can also be exploited through malicious actors’ use of social engineering tactics and other illicit measures. Windows 7 will become more susceptible to exploitation due to lack of security updates and the discovery of new vulnerabilities. Microsoft and other industry professionals strongly recommend upgrading computer systems to an actively supported operating system. Continuing to use any operating system within an enterprise beyond the end of life status may provide cyber criminals access into computer systems.
Click here for a PDF version of this report.
Technical Details
Desktop Sharing Software
The FBI, CISA, EPA, and MS-ISAC have observed corrupt insiders and outside cyber actors using desktop sharing software to victimize targets in a range of organizations, including those in the critical infrastructure sectors. In addition to adjusting system operations, cyber actors also use the following techniques:
- Use access granted by desktop sharing software to perform fraudulent wire transfers.
- Inject malicious code that allows the cyber actors to
 - Hide desktop sharing software windows,
 - Protect malicious files from being detected, and
 - Control desktop sharing software startup parameters to obfuscate their activity.
- Move laterally across a network to increase the scope of activity.
TeamViewer, a desktop sharing software, is a legitimate popular tool that has been exploited by cyber actors engaged in targeted social engineering attacks, as well as large scale, indiscriminate phishing campaigns. Desktop sharing software can also be used by employees with vindictive and/or larcenous motivations against employers.
Beyond its legitimate uses, when proper security measures aren’t followed, remote access tools may be used to exercise remote control over computer systems and drop files onto victim computers, making it functionally similar to Remote Access Trojans (RATs). TeamViewer’s legitimate use, however, makes anomalous activity less suspicious to end users and system administrators compared to RATs.
Windows 7 End of Life
On January 14, 2020, Microsoft ended support for the Windows 7 operating system, which includes security updates and technical support unless certain customers purchased an Extended Security Update (ESU) plan. The ESU plan is paid per-device and available for Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise versions, with an increasing price the longer a customer continues use. Microsoft will only offer the ESU plan until January 2023. Continued use of Windows 7 increases the risk of cyber actor exploitation of a computer system.
Cyber actors continue to find entry points into legacy Windows operating systems and leverage Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) exploits. Microsoft released an emergency patch for its older operating systems, including Windows 7, after an information security researcher discovered an RDP vulnerability in May 2019. Since the end of July 2019, malicious RDP activity has increased with the development of a working commercial exploit for the vulnerability. Cyber actors often use misconfigured or improperly secured RDP access controls to conduct cyberattacks. The xDedic Marketplace, taken down by law enforcement in 2019, flourished by compromising RDP vulnerabilities around the world.
Mitigations
General Recommendations
The following cyber hygiene measures may help protect against the aforementioned scheme:
- Update to the latest version of the operating system (e.g., Windows 10).
- Use multiple-factor authentication.
- Use strong passwords to protect Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials.
- Ensure anti-virus, spam filters, and firewalls are up to date, properly configured, and secure.
- Audit network configurations and isolate computer systems that cannot be updated.
- Audit your network for systems using RDP, closing unused RDP ports, applying multiple-factor authentication wherever possible, and logging RDP login attempts.
- Audit logs for all remote connection protocols.
- Train users to identify and report attempts at social engineering.
- Identify and suspend access of users exhibiting unusual activity.
Water and Wastewater Systems Security Recommendations
The following physical security measures serve as additional protective measures:
- Install independent cyber-physical safety systems. These are systems that physically prevent dangerous conditions from occurring if the control system is compromised by a threat actor.
- Examples of cyber-physical safety system controls include:
 - Size of the chemical pump
 - Size of the chemical reservoir
 - Gearing on valves
 - Pressure switches, etc.
The benefit of these types of controls in the water sector is that smaller systems, with limited cybersecurity capability, can assess their system from a worst-case scenario. The operators can take physical steps to limit the damage. If, for example, cyber actors gain control of a sodium hydroxide pump, they will be unable to raise the pH to dangerous levels.
Remote Control Software Recommendations
For a more secured implementation of TeamViewer software:
- Do not use unattended access features, such as “Start TeamViewer with Windows” and “Grant easy access.”
- Configure TeamViewer service to “manual start,” so that the application and associated background services are stopped when not in use.
- Set random passwords to generate 10-character alphanumeric passwords.
- If using personal passwords, utilize complex rotating passwords of varying lengths. Note: TeamViewer allows users to change connection passwords for each new session. If an end user chooses this option, never save connection passwords as an option as they can be leveraged for persistence.
- When configuring access control for a host, utilize custom settings to tier the access a remote party may attempt to acquire.
- Require remote party to receive confirmation from the host to gain any access other than “view only.” Doing so will ensure that, if an unauthorized party is able to connect via TeamViewer, they will only see a locked screen and will not have keyboard control.
- Utilize the ‘Block and Allow’ list which enables a user to control which other organizational users of TeamViewer may request access to the system. This list can also be used to block users suspected of unauthorized access.
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GCHQ and NSA Celebrate 75 Years of Partnership

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the United States National Security Agency (NSA) commemorate their partnership to share intelligence. These intelligence agencies have worked together for nearly a century to strengthen national security. March 5, 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the formalized agreement to share information between the two agencies as much as possible, with minimal restrictions.
The British USA (BRUSA) Communications Intelligence (COMINT) Agreement, signed on March 5, 1946, was the original document that formalized the relationship. The agreement emerged from U.K. and U.S. specialists recognizing the beneficial results of intelligence sharing during World War II. The BRUSA Agreement was updated and expanded to become the UKUSA Agreement in 1955. This groundbreaking document created the policies and procedures for U.K. and U.S. intelligence professionals for sharing communication, translation, analysis, and code breaking information.
GCHQ and NSA personnel have worked together to address threats across all domains. The diversity of our experts provides better outcomes in analysis and innovative approaches to form solutions.
The UKUSA Agreement became the foundation for our intelligence alliances with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. When the challenge is global, working with partners around the world is essential. This extraordinary trust and collaboration brings a strategic advantage in our nations’ safety.
The 75th anniversary of the UKUSA Agreement marks the passage of a historic and lasting relationship which enhances the resilience of our nations’ defenses and security of our future.
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NYU Tandon’s Index of Cyber Security sees rapid rise in nation-state concerns

Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The recent Solar Winds attack confirms fears from cybersecurity experts that threats from nation-states are on the rise.
Cybersecurity experts across the world reported a 5% rise in nation-state and targeted counterparty hacking concerns in December, according to an index issued by a research team from the NYU Center for Cybersecurity (CCS) at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. This rise appears to correlate closely with the recent “sunburst” attack on national and business infrastructure via SolarWinds’ Orion business software updates.
The Index of Cyber Security, which is updated monthly at the NYU CCS website, collects sentiment estimates via direct polling of practicing security experts around the world on cybersecurity threat-related issues. The index has operated since 2008, with CCS curating and hosting the research project for two years.
“When we saw this rise, we immediately connected it to the recent massive third-party software attack involving SolarWinds,” said NYU Tandon Distinguished Research Professor Edward Amoroso, who leads the ICS research team. “The experts who provide data for our index clearly saw this threat as increasing in intensity.”
An additional risk indicator that rose during the month was a shift toward cyberattacks being specifically aimed at counterparties. “This increased targeting of designated counterparties, versus devices, systems, or other non-human actors, is consistent with the motivation inherent in most nation-state campaigns,” said Amoroso.
The sentiment index is based on observational factors such as unpatched servers, unsatisfactory audit findings, and average time to respond to an incident. Amoroso’s academic research group at NYU Tandon’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering collaborates with TAG Cyber LLC, which supports information technology functions.
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