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Linux Malware Records a New High in 2022


While more and more devices are adopting Linux as their operating system, the popularity of the software has nonetheless attracted cyber-criminals. According to recent reports, the number of malware aimed at the software increased dramatically in 2022. 

As per the reports from observations made by Atlas VPN based on data from threat intelligence platform AV-ATLAS, as many as 1.9 million Linux malware threats were observed in 2022, bringing the figure up 50% year-on-year. 

The reports further claimed that most of the Linux malware samples were discovered in the first three months of the year. 

 Secure Operating System

In Q1 2022, researchers identified 854,690 new strains. The number later dropped by 3% in Q2, detecting 833,065 new strains. 

The number of new detections fell 91% to 75,841 in the third quarter of the year, indicating that Linux malware developers may have taken their time off. The numbers increased once more in the fourth quarter of the year, rising by 117% to 164,697. 

Despite the researcher’s observations, Linux remains one of the “highly secure operating systems.” 

“The open-source nature of Linux allows for constant review by the tech community, leading to fewer exploitable security vulnerabilities. Additionally, Linux limits administrative privileges for users and compared to more widely used operating systems like Windows, it still has less malware targeting it,” the researchers added. 

While threat actors will not stop chasing flaws in the world’s fifth most popular operating systems, businesses and consumers alike must also be on the lookout, the researchers concluded. 

Although Linux is not as popular as Windows or macOS, it is still a widely used operating system. From Android devices (which are built on Linux) to Chromebooks, video cameras, and wearable devices, to all kinds of servers (web servers, database servers, email servers, etc.) there are more than 32 million endpoints operating on Linux.  

T-Mobile Reveals its Security Systems were Hacked via Lapsus$ Hackers

 

T-Mobile acknowledged on Friday it had been the subject of a security compromise in March when the LAPSUS$ mercenary group gained access to its networks. The admission occurred after investigative journalist Brian Krebs published internal chats from LAPSUS$'s key members, revealing the group had infiltrated the company many times in March previous to the arrest of its seven members. 

After analyzing hacked Telegram chat conversations between Lapsus$ gang members, independent investigative journalist Brian Krebs first exposed the incident. T-Mobile said in a statement the breach happened "a few weeks ago" so the "bad actor" accessed internal networks using stolen credentials. "There was no customer or government information or any similarly sensitive information on the systems accessed, and the company has no evidence of the intruder being able to get anything of value," he added.

The initial VPN credentials were allegedly obtained from illegal websites such as Russian Market in order to get control of T-Mobile staff accounts, enabling the threat actor to conduct SIM switching assaults at anytime. 

The conversations suggest how LAPSUS$ had hacked T-Slack Mobile's and Bitbucket accounts, enabling the latter to obtain over 30,000 source code repositories, in addition to getting key to an internal customer account management application called Atlas. In the short time since it first appeared on the threat scene, LAPSUS$ has been known for hacking Impresa, NVIDIA, Samsung, Vodafone, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Okta, and Globant. 

T-Mobile has acknowledged six previous data breaches since 2018, including one in which hackers gained access to data linked to 3% of its members. T-Mobile acknowledged it had disclosed prepaid customers' data a year later, in 2019, and unknown threat actors had acquired access to T-Mobile workers' email accounts in March 2020. Hackers also acquired access to consumer private network information in December 2020, and attackers accessed an internal T-Mobile application without authorization in February 2021. 

According to a VICE investigation, T-Mobile, unsuccessfully, tried to prevent the stolen data from being posted online after paying the hackers $270,000 through a third-party firm in the aftermath of the August 2021 breach. After its stolen sensitive information turned up for sale on the dark web, the New York State Office of the Attorney General (NY OAG) alerted victims of T-August Mobile's data breach would face elevated identity theft risks. 

The City of London Police announced earlier this month as two of the seven adolescents arrested last month for alleged potential connections to the LAPSUS$ data extortion group, a 16-year-old, and a 17-year-old had been charged.

Latest Research Reports Prices of Your Documents on the Dark Web


Atlas VPN did a new study based on Flash Intelligence Research findings from 2017-2019. The research has revealed the costs of essential goods and services on the dark web. For instance, the Social Security Numbers, which are now out of date and insecure as they are no longer in use, especially after the 2018 Equifax Hack, they are still widely used as a primary proof of identification confirmation. Hackers tend to attack websites that can generate millions of SSNs at once so that all the data is vulnerable to hackers.


Therefore, with millions of SSNs in the open, they are sold up to $4 on the dark web. According to Flashpoint, the following services are available on the dark web along with the SSNs.

These services are divided into four types:


  •  Hacker Services
  •  Forged Documents 
  • Personal Identifiable Information (PII) 
  • Stolen Financial Information 


The PII (personally identifiable information) package, in addition to the SSN for $4, has the victim's Name, Passport No, Driver's License Details, and email id. However, access to Stolen Financial Information costs much more than SSN. According to Atlas VPN, credit cards up to $5k balance costs $10, whereas discredited bank accounts with savings more than $10000 cost $25.

Note: The price also depends on the victim's savings. If the savings go higher, the cost to obtain the details also goes higher. It is because of victims with high credit score accounts are less risky to attack as their banks won't notice it and won't cut it off.

Forged documents top the list in the prices. Physical passports are sold for $3k-$5k on the dark web. According to other reports, a 1-hour DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service allows the servers to shut down or stop working )attack on any bank or government website costs around $165.

How to prevent yourself? 

It is a bit difficult to prevent such attacks, but the users can always follow some rules to secure their account information. These are:

  •  Secure your devices with a password; a pin would be better.
  •  Avoid using public wifis while browsing or downloading apps. 
  • Use 2 step verification