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An Arrested Administrator Shut Down the Notorious Hacking Forum

 


An FBI officer has arrested a former administrator and owner of an infamous hacker forum that exposed data on companies such as HDB Financial Services, Rail Yatri, Acer, WhatsApp, Truecaller India, Hyundai India, Skoda India, etc. 

According to the FBI, a man was arrested last week who is suspected of being "Pumpompurin", the administrator of the infamous and popular BreachForums website. As soon as the cybercrime website's new administrator was informed of the arrest and the arrest of its administrators, he announced plans to close the forum down permanently. 

According to the FBI, a New York man has been arrested on suspicion of being Pompompurin, the owner of the BreachForums hacking forum. Documents filed in court indicate that he is charged with conspiracy to solicit an individual to sell an unauthorized access device. 

A defendant, Connor Brian Fitzpatrick, was allegedly arrested on the charge of fraud and admitted to being Connor Brian Fitzpatrick during his arrest. It was also revealed that the person who owned the Breach Forums cybercrime forum was Pompourin, who is the owner of the forum. 

The suspect, Conon Brian Fitzpatrick, who is known to the public as "Pompompurin" or "Pom" has earned a high-profile status online for several years now. He has been a target of authorities for quite some time. Fitzpatrick claimed responsibility for the November 2021 attack on an FBI server under the pseudonym Pompompurin, before the breachforums.com website was founded in 2022 by him. 

A million fake cybersecurity emails were sent from the FBI's eims@is.fbi.gov address at the time of Fitzpatrick's alleged exploit in 2021 based on the false information they were provided by Fitzpatrick. A series of emails, containing the subject lines “threat actor in systems” and describing the attack as “a sophisticated chain attack” on your virtualized clusters, were sent out claiming that their intelligence monitoring reported the exfiltration of several of your virtualized clusters. 

There was an operation by U.S. and European law enforcement agencies in April 2022 that led to the takedown of RaidForums, one of the most popular regular internet forums for hackers at the time. Having been a regular member of Raid Forums, Fitzpatrick is known to have become the most popular successor site to Raid Forums after it was demolished. 

There are countless hacking stories linked to BreachForums since its creation because it quickly developed into one of the most popular sites for selling stolen data, especially among independent hackers and other groups that are not associated with ransomware gangs or other ransomware threats. 

In the cybercriminal underground, Pompompurin has gained a reputation of a very well-known player involved in a wide range of activities including hacking companies, and selling or leaking stolen data through forums and social media networks. 

The Raid Forum's cybercrime forum was also a well-known forum where he was active. 

It was an initiative of Pompourin to fill the void left by RaidForums' seizure by the FBI in 2022 by founding an independent forum called 'BreachForums.' 

In recent years, it has been one of the largest forums of its kind, used by malicious users of ransomware and hackers to leak stolen information to the public. 

Earlier this week, a threat actor attempted to use BreachForums to sell the personally identifiable information of U.S. politicians that had been breached in a breach in Washington. 

The Washington Health Link is a healthcare provider for U.S. congressmen and women. Members of the House, their staff, and their families will be affected by the legislation. 

Pompompurin has also been involved in various high-profile breaches of high-profile companies over the years, as BreachForums has become a force in cybercrime. 

Several breaches have been reported, including sending bogus cyberattack emails through a vulnerability in the FBI's Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP), stealing customer data from Robinhood, and allegedly confirming the email addresses of 5.4 million Twitter users using a bug.

BreachForums Mastermind Pompompurin Arrested in New York

 


Earlier this week, U.S. law enforcement officials arrested a New York man as part of their efforts to crack down on the infamous hacking forum BreachForums, which was run by an individual who used the alias “Pompompurin.”

According to Bloomberg Law, a federal investigator spent hours inside as well as outside a Peekskill home earlier this week following reports from News 12 Westchester that federal investigators “had spent hours inside and outside a home in Peekskill.”

Several bags of evidence were removed by investigators from the house at one point, according to a local news service based in New York. 

The suspect has been identified as Conor Brian Fitzpatrick as per an affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He also admitted to owning the BreachForums website according to the affidavit. 

A special agent of the FBI, John Longmire, stated that the defendant's statements to him on March 15, 2023, showed that: 

a) he was Conor Brian Fitzpatrick; 
b) he referred to himself as 'pompompurin,' and 
c) he owned and administered a website called 'BreachForums.' He was the owner and administrator of that website. 

A conspiracy charge against Fitzpatrick has been filed on behalf of a salesperson in connection with unauthorized access to devices sold by him to individuals. It was announced that the defendant would be released from jail a day later after his parents signed a bond for $300,000. The District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia plans to see him on March 24, 2023, at a hearing scheduled to take place there. 

Along with not being able to obtain a passport or other international travel documents, Fitzpatrick is being prohibited from contacting any of his co-conspirators, or using narcotics or other controlled substances unless he has a prescription from a licensed medical practitioner, among other restrictions. 

A coordinated law enforcement operation in March 2022 led to the seizure of the control of RaidForums and the emergence of BreachForums last year. Security firm Flashpoint said at the time that popompurin stated in the threat actor's welcoming thread that BreachForums was not affiliated with RaidForums in any way. 

Because this forum has been hosting stolen databases belonging to several companies, which often include personal information that can be sensitive, the forum has gained notoriety since it was founded. 

A forum user named Baphomet, who was on the forum after Fitzpatrick's arrest, said they owned the website and that Fitzpatrick was the owner. In their report, they noted that no evidence was found that the breached infrastructure had been accessed or modified in any way by anyone. 

In the latest development, the Cyber Police of Ukraine announced the arrest of a 25-year-old developer who had created what they believe was an "app" for gaming, which infected over 10,000 computers with a remote access Trojan.

ChipMixer: Cryptocurrency Mixer Taken Down After ‘Laundering $3bn in Cryptocurrency’


Darknet cryptocurrency mixer, ChipMixer has been shut down as a result of a sting conducted by Europol, the FBI, and German police, which investigated servers, and internet domains and seized $46 million worth of cryptocurrency. 

During the raid, it was discovered that wallets connected to North Korean cybercriminals and Russian intelligence services had evidence of digital currencies. 

The US criminal prosecutors have booked a Vietnamese man they claim to have run the service since its August 2017 creation. Potentially contaminated funds are gathered by mixers and sent at random to destination wallets. 

Minh Quoc Nguyen, 49, of Hanoi has been accused of money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and identity theft. The FBI has included him on the wanted criminal list. 

Criminals laundering more than $700 million in bitcoin from wallets identified as stolen funds, including money taken by North Korean hackers from Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge and Harmony's Horizon Bridge, were among the service's customers. 

It has also been reported that APT28, the Russian military intelligence, and Fancy Bear also utilized ChipMixer in order to buy infrastructure used from Kremlin Drovorub malware. Moreover, according to Europol, the Russian RaaS group LockBit was also a patron. 

ChipMixer joins a relatively small group of crypto mixers that have been shut down or approved, enabling criminals to conceal the source of the cryptocurrency obtained illegally. The list presently includes Blender.io, which was probably renamed and relaunched as Sinbad, and Tornado Cash, a favorite of cybercriminals that helped hackers launder more than $7 billion between 2019 and 2022. 

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany seized two ChipMixer back-end servers and more than $46 million in cryptocurrencies, while American investigators seized two web domains that pointed to the company. 

According to court documents, ChipMixer has enabled customers to deposit Bitcoin, which would then be mixed with other users’ Bitcoin in order to anonymize the currency. 

Court records state that ChipMixer allowed users to deposit Bitcoin, which was then combined with Bitcoin from other users to make the currency anonymous. But, this mixer took things a step further by converting the deposited money into tiny tokens with an equal value called "chips," which were then combined, further anonymizing the currencies and obscuring the blockchain trails of the funds. This feature of the platform is what attracted so many criminals. 

The domain now displays a seizure notice, stating: “This domain has been seized by the FBI in accordance with a seizure warrant.” 

“Together, with our international partners, we are firmly committed to identifying and investigating cybercriminals who pose a serious threat to our economic security by laundering billions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency under the misguided anonymity of the darknet,” adds Scott Brown, special agent in charge of Homeland Securities Investigations (HSI) Arizona.  

Threat Actors Hack US Federal Agency Using Telerik Bug to Steal Data


In a joint security advisory on Wednesday, CISA reported that the threat actors have exploited a three-year-old Progress Telerik UI flaw in order to compromise a server at a federal civilian executive branch agency. 

An unidentified federal civilian executive branch (FCEB) agency's Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server was compromised by a number of threat actors, including an advanced persistent threat (APT). The advisory, which includes in-depth technical information and indicators of the breach, was created by CISA, the FBI, and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). 

Apparently, a critical.NET deserialization flaw in the Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET AJAX component allowed hackers to compromise a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server used by a U.S. government agency last year. 

As per the advisory, the threat actors acquired access to the servers between November 2022 and early January 2023 based on indicators of compromise (IOCs) found on the unidentified FCEB agency’s network. To acquire remote code execution, at least two threat actors (among them the Vietnamese XE Group) accessed the unpatched server. 

According to CISA, the central vulnerability was linked with the Telerik UI flaw on the IIS server – CVE-2017-11357 and CVE-2017-11317 – However, the forensic investigation was unable to conclusively verify which of the two was utilized, or even whether they were. 

The agency's instance was version 2013.2.717; the advisory stated that builds prior to version 2020.1.114 are vulnerable to CVE-2019-18935. "Though the agency's vulnerability scanner had the appropriate plugin for CVE-2019-18935, it failed to detect the vulnerability due to the Telerik UI software being installed in a file path it does not typically scan[…]This may be the case for many software installations, as file paths widely vary depending on the organization and installation method," the advisory noted. 

Similar to the 2017 Equifax hack, it was caused in part by a vulnerability assessment for a severe Apache Struts flaw that overlooked an earlier system that was subsequently infiltrated by threat actors. 

CISA, the FBI, and MS-ISAC advised companies to use central log collection and monitoring. Moreover, it has been recommended to implement process monitoring in order to gain "visibility into file system and application process activity." The advisory also included a CISA-developed YARA rule for CVE-2019-18935. 

Progress CISO Richard Barretto wrote in an email to TechTarget Editorial "the security of our customers is one of our highest priorities, and we continue to distribute periodic reminders on the importance of implementing patches and applying software upgrades," he also included a link to Progress' knowledge base's specific article about the problem. 

"As we do with all critical vulnerabilities found in our products, we issued notification and remediation guidance to our customers in 2019 when the vulnerability was discovered[…]Due to the severity of the vulnerability, we provided technical support as needed to all customers regardless of their license status," he added.  

FBI Admits to Have Gained US Citizens’ Location Data, Unwarranted


According to a Wired report, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed for the first time at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing yesterday that the organization has previously acquired the location data of US citizens without obtaining a warrant. 

Despite the practice becoming more frequent and widespread since the US Supreme Court restricted the government’s ability to track Americans’ phones warrantlessly, around five years ago, the FBI did not previously acknowledge ever making purchases of such kind. 

The revelation comes after Sen. Ron Wyden [D-Ore] questioned Wray “Does the FBI purchase US phone-geolocation information?” The response to which alarmed privacy experts. 

“To my knowledge, we do not currently purchase commercial database information that includes location data derived from Internet advertising[…]I understand that we previously—as in the past—purchased some such information for a specific national security pilot project. But that’s not been active for some time,” said Wray. 

The response, while being vague and revolving around the question asked, gave a clear insight into the way the FBI made use of location data to monitor US individuals with no court oversight. 

It is not immediately clear whether Wray was talking to a warrant—a court order that states that a crime has been committed—or another legal device. Wray also did not explain why the FBI decided to stop the practice. 

The Supreme Court ruled in the infamous Carpenter v. United States decision, that when government organizations accessed historical location data without a warrant, they were in violation of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unjustified searches. But the decision was interpreted very strictly. Privacy groups claim that the judgment left an obvious gap that enables the government to just buy anything it is unable to legally obtain. The Military Intelligence Agency and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are two federal organizations that are known to have exploited this loophole. 

On being asked during the Senate hearing whether the FBI is planning to adhere to the practice of buying location data again, Wray said “We have no plans to change that, at the current time.” 

According to Seam Vitka, a policy lawyer at Demand Progress, a nonprofit firm based on national security and private reforms, the FBI needs to be more forthcoming about the purchase, dubbing Wray’s revelation as “horrifying” in its implications. “The public needs to know who gave the go-ahead for this purchase, why, and what other agencies have done or are trying to do the same,” says Vitka. 

US lawmakers have historically failed to enact a comprehensive privacy law, and the majority of the proposed bills have purposely ignored the government's own acquisition of US citizens' private data. For example, all law enforcement organizations and any business "gathering, processing, or transferring" data on their behalf are excluded from the provisions of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), which was presented last year. Wyden and other senators have attempted to tackle the problem head-on with a number of proposals. For instance, the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act has been reintroduced multiple times in Congress since 2011, but it has never been put to a vote.  

Demanding Data Privacy Measures, FBI Cyber Agent Urges Users

 

The FBI maintains a close eye on cyber security risks, but officials emphasized that in order to be more proactive with the prevention, they need the assistance of both people and businesses.

Every one of us can simply navigate that large and somewhat disorganized ecology thanks to algorithms. These algorithms are really beneficial at their best. At their worst, they are tools of mass deception that might seriously harm us, our loved ones, and our society.

These algorithms don't result in immediate or obvious improvements. Instead, they encourage persistent micro-manipulations that, with time, significantly alter our culture, politics, and attitudes. It makes little difference if you can fend off the manipulation or decide not to use the apps that use these algorithms. Your environment will change, but not in ways that are advantageous to you; rather, it will change in ways that are advantageous to the people who own and manage the platforms, when enough of your neighbors and friends make these very imperceptible adjustments in attitudes and conduct.

Over the years, numerous government officials have voiced comparable cautions, and two presidential administrations have made various attempts to resolve these security worries.TikTok has long maintained that it does not adhere to Chinese government content filtering regulations and that it retains user data from American users in the United States. But, the business has come under more and more criticism lately, and in July it finally admitted that non-American staff members did indeed have access to customer data from Americans.

Data privacy advocates have long raised concerns about these algorithms, but they have had little luck in enacting significant change. The American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) would, for the first time, begin to hold the developers of these algorithms responsible and force them to show that their engagement formulas are not damaging the public. Because to these worries, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a law barring the software on all federally-issued devices. At least 11 other states have already ordered similar bans on state-owned devices.

Consumers currently have little control over how and by whom their equally important personal data is used for the benefit of others. A law similar to the ADPPA would offer a procedure to begin comprehending how these algorithms function, allowing users to have an impact on how they operate and are used.



Here is How Toronto-area Police Force Helped Take Down a Russian-linked Hacking Group


The Toronto police force has recently been explanatory on how it ended up getting involved with the international attempt on legally hack Hive, one of most ruthless ransomware groups in the world. 

The contributions made by the Peel Regional Police are one of the reasons why Canadian flag is among the icons displayed on what was the dark website for the Russian-linked ransomware group Hive, along with the logos of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, and a variety of police forces around the globe. 

According to Detective Const. Karim Hussain in an interview with CTV News Toronto, Peel's detectives got engaged early when a local firm contacted them in 2021 claiming that their systems were down and a text message on their desktops revealed a ransom note. 

“We had one of the first cases in Canada of Hive ransomware[…]It was the first to market. At the time we started gathering evidence, Hive was a fairly new ransomware group. Everything we brought to the table was interesting because no one had seen it before,” he says. 

The attributes of the Hive case were similar to numerous other high-profile incidents, like a hospital in Louisiana where threat actors had accessed data of around 270,000 patients, and a Ohio hospital that was attacked and made them incapable of accepting new patients even during the massive surge of COVID-19. 

Those were only a few of the more than 1,500 attacks throughout the globe that had the digital traces of Hive, an organization whose associates, according to authorities, have made $150 million since 2021 as they demand money from companies in exchange for access to their data or system. 

The attacks are carried out via a "ransomware as a service" (RaaS) model, in which a small group of individuals create malicious software and then distribute it to numerous users, allowing them to quickly scale up their attacks before the security flaws they exploit are addressed. 

“You have an overarching group that provides everything down to the infrastructure, to lesser-capable cyber criminals, and they provide them the tools to conduct the hack,” Hussain said. 

The case brought the RCMP, the FBI, the police from France, Germany, Norway, and Lithuania together with Peel Police and other agencies dealing with Hive's impact. 

In retaliation, the group took over Hive's website earlier this year and replaced it with a landing page with the logos of numerous investigative agencies. “Simply put, using lawful means, we hacked the hackers,” said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a press conference in January. 

Adding to this, she says that the police had found and then openly disseminated decryptor keys that may aid anyone who had been assaulted in independently recovering their data or liberating their systems. 

According to Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, these actions have prevented around $130 million in ransom from being paid. “This cut off the gas that is fueling Hive’s fire,” Wray said. 

According to Hussain, the inquiry is still ongoing as the prevalence of ransomware grows. Ransomware assaults made up 11% of all cyber security incidents in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. 

“There’s no end in sight to cybercrime right now,” Hussain said.  

 Massive DDoS Attack was Thwarted by Cloudflare

 

Prioritized firms like gaming providers, hosting providers, cloud computing platforms, and cryptocurrency enterprises, according to Cloudflare, emanated from more than 30,000 IP addresses.
The greatest volumetric distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that Cloudflare has seen to date was stopped.

The greatest attack, which is the largest documented HTTP DDoS attack, topped 71 million rps, per Cloudlare's analysis. The volume is 35% greater than the previous record, 45 million rps from June 2022, which had been recorded.

The FBI accused six suspects of their involvement in running 'Booter' or 'Stresser' platforms, which anybody can use to execute DDoS attacks, in response to this stream of continuously escalating attacks, and seized dozens of Internet domains. Operation PowerOFF, a larger, more coordinated worldwide law enforcement operation against DDoS-for-hire services, included the action.

Cloudflare has been collaborating with the victims to strike down the botnet and is providing service providers with a free botnet threat feed that will transmit threat intelligence from their IP and any ongoing attacks coming from their hosted autonomous system.

Researchers cautioned entities to take action immediately before the next campaign: protecting against DDoS attacks is crucial for organizations of all sizes, even while DDoS attacks on non-critical websites might not result in permanent harm or safety hazards. DDoS attacks against internet-facing equipment and patient-connect technology in the healthcare industry put patients' safety at risk.



Following a Breach at ION Group, LockBit Hackers Received a Ransom

LockBit hackers who took credit for a severe hack at financial data company ION claim that a ransom was paid, although they would not specify the sum or provide any proof that the payment had been transferred. Meanwhile, the ION Group chose not to comment on the situation. 

The British spying intelligence agency GCHQ's National Cyber Security Agency told Reuters there's nothing further to add. A key to access the files should be provided by the hacking gang if a ransom is paid. As per cybersecurity experts, ransomware often demands the individual file-by-file decryption of computer servers, which can involve days or weeks. Additionally, a machine that has had its data decrypted cannot be trusted after that point and must be wiped clean and rebuilt from scratch. PCs often speed up the process.

After a business pays a ransom, additional ransomware gangs might try to extort them once more by using the company's IT system flaws. Considering to be completely secure, ransomware victims might seek to redesign their technical infrastructure.

In addition, victims' files are kidnapped by LockBit, the group behind the ION assault, which also demands payment by February 4 to prevent their disclosure.

Ransoms should not be paid, according to the National Cyber Security Centre of the UK, 42 of ION's clients were impacted by the early-morning Tuesday attack. Eventually, it caused several banks and brokers in Europe and the US to conduct some trades manually, thus setting them back for decades. About the attack, the FBI has contacted ION management.

LockBit Ransomware Group

In certain cases, the affiliate of LockBit 3.0 is required to start the ransomware binary using a 32-character password. The typical assault procedure consists of infecting the device, encrypting files, removing specific services, and changing the device's background image.

The information can be offered for sale on the dark web if the ransom is not paid. Cobalt Strike, a security testing tool, and a series of malware attacks have been linked to LockBit 3.0's abuse of Windows Defender.

Operating with affiliates who may lack the means to develop and launch attacks, LockBit uses a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) business model. The associated hacker in this case receives a percentage of the ransom, based on a December 2022 warning from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Among the most expensive and disruptive concerns for businesses globally in recent years has been ransomware. Several ransomware groups not only encrypt a victim's files in exchange for a ransom payment, but they also steal data and threaten to expose it online as an added inducement to pay up.

Numerous brokers have experienced difficulties as a result of the exchange-traded financial derivatives trading and clearance being impacted by the ransomware attack on ION. Reuters reports that among the numerous ION customers whose operations have been interrupted are ABN Amro Clearing and Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest bank in Italy.

Microsoft: Iran Unit Responsible for Charlie Hebdo Hack-and-Leak Operation

 

After the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo launched a cartoon contest mocking Iran's ruling cleric, a state-backed Iranian cyber unit retaliated with a hack-and-leak campaign designed to instill fear with the alleged theft of a large subscriber database, according to Microsoft security researchers. 

The FBI has blamed the same Iranian cyber operators, Emennet Pasargad, for an influence operation aimed at interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, according to an blog post published Friday by the tech giant. In recent years, Iran has increased the use of false-flag cyber operations to discredit adversaries. According to Microsoft, a group calling itself "Holy Souls" and posing as hacktivists claimed in early January to have acquired personal details on 200,000 subscribers and Charlie Hebdo merchandise buyers.

As evidence of the data theft, "Holy Souls" published a 200-record sample of Charlie Hebdo subscribers' names, phone numbers, home and email addresses, which "could put the magazine's subscribers at danger for online or physical targeting" by extremists. The group then marketed the alleged complete data cache for $340,000 on several dark web sites. Microsoft stated that it had no knowledge of anyone purchasing the cache.

A Charlie Hebdo representative stated on Friday that the newspaper would not comment on the Microsoft study. Iran's UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The release of the sample on January 4 coincided with the publication of Charlie Hebdo's cartoon contest issue. Participants were asked to create offensive caricatures of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The operation coincided with Tehran's verbal attacks condemning Charlie Hebdo's "insult." The controversially irreverent magazine has a long history of publishing vulgar cartoons that critics regard as deeply insulting to Muslims. In 2015, two French-born al-Qaida extremists attacked the newspaper's office, killing 12 cartoonists, and Charlie Hebdo has been the target of other attacks in the past.

The magazine promoted the Khamenei caricature contest as a gesture of solidarity for the nationwide antigovernment protests that have erupted in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict Islamic dress code, in mid-September.

Following the publishing of the cartoon issue, Iran closed down a decades-old French research institute. It announced sanctions last week against more than 30 European individuals and entities, including three senior Charlie Hebdo employees. The sanctions are mostly symbolic, as they prohibit travel to Iran and allow Iranian authorities to freeze bank accounts and seize property there.

'Ransomware Year' May Be The Most Devastating Ever

 


In recent months, cyberattacks have been launched against Canada's largest children's hospital and a large-scale liquor board. It may be just the beginning of a year filled with major cyber and ransomware attacks on these private institutions. The reason behind this trend is that due to sanctions against Russia and the declining crypto markets, hackers have become more aggressive. In late December, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children was the victim of a ransomware attack that caused delays in lab results and the system to go down. 

It was reported in January that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario had been compromised by a piece of malicious code. This code was used by hackers to steal the data of Ontario customers. As David Shipley from Beauceron Security, a cybersecurity company, explained, many payments in the world of cybercrime are being facilitated through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. These currencies are used as payment instruments in the world of cybercrime. 

Throughout the past year, many crypto assets have experienced significant losses. Several of those losses were recovered through ransom attacks perpetrated by hackers as part of the effort. 

Their business model is that they make hundreds of millions, and perhaps billions of dollars, mainly through bitcoin. This is due to ransoms, which they facilitate mainly through bitcoin, Shipley explained. They have lost a lot of their wealth and they will have to work hard to recoup it. Shipley believes it is the most likely reason for upcoming investigations into future malicious attacks. Additionally, he warned that cybercrime can also be a lucrative way for people to earn money, particularly now that sanctions are being placed against Russia. The U.S. FBI's raid on a ransomware group called Hive may have had a positive effect on slowing down activity. Cybercrime however has an easy entry barrier and a great deal more criminals will be able to enter the market as a result of the low entry barrier. 

During a recent interview with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Sami Khoury, head of the organization, said things seem to be getting comparatively more challenging as time passes. 

Some of the ransomware events have indeed grown in sophistication and number over the past few years. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly apparent that skills that were previously associated with nation-states are now being transferred to cyber criminals. Compared to the ransomware and phishing emails sent five years ago, the malicious email used by today's scammers is a different game altogether,  Khoury added.

Ransomware is the biggest threat to Canadians, according to a report released by the Cyber Center detailing threats. More than 400 healthcare organizations in the U.S. and Canada have been hit by ransomware attacks since March 2020. The researchers found that the majority of them were located in the United States. Their findings also indicated that Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and North Korean state actors were significant contributors. 

Keeping in mind that ransomware can be incredibly lucrative for criminals, Khoury believes it attracts them to attack any company that is constantly running. 

When it comes to ransomware, cybercriminals are indiscriminate, they do not have any scruples, and they believe they will be able to make the most profit by attacking organizations that can not afford an interruption to their day-to-day operations, he continued. 

Cyber-terrorism attacks are constantly evolving, so governments have to adjust their tactics to stay ahead of hackers. Khoury believes the Canadian federal government is adequately protected from cyber-terrorist attacks. 

The government is being targeted with ransomware attacks in an attempt to get complete control of the system. Fortunately, all the sensor technology deployed has allowed people to catch them at the earliest possible stages of their development. This has allowed everyone to hold them at every phase of their expansion. 

There have never been any payments made by the federal government to ransomware companies, according to Shirley Ivan, chief information security officer for the government of Canada. When she was asked how to change passwords and backup systems when they were threatened, she explained that the government had effective procedures in place. 

It is their policy that, in general, they do not pay ransomware for the damage it has caused. Therefore, it cannot be said that there has never been a payment made to us or our partner. However, their IT systems are some decades old, including those that handle large organizations like the Employment Insurance System, which, in some cases, dates back decades. COBOL is a programming language that has not been widely used in recent years but is used in the EI program. 

The programs Ivan is aware of are over a decade old, but he assures it is being updated and the system will remain stable until the updates are completed. 

The company indeed has some older systems, but there are programs in progress to modernize these systems. This will enable the company to continue to provide services to clients to the fullest extent of the company's abilities. Making sure that payment is made, that transactions are processed, and that there is a flow of funds. 

Shipley recognizes that the government and the cyber center do a great job maintaining the security and operation of government systems. Yet, he said, the situation in the country is similar to that of a medieval castle; all the people live outside the walls.   

FBI Takes Down the Infamous Ransomware Gang's Website

 

In a statement last week, the US Department of Justice claimed to have made progress against the significant ransomware organisation known as Hive. 

Since last July, the FBI has been infiltrating Hive's computer networks, and its disruption of the hackers' operations has resulted in the cancellation of more than $130 million in ransom demands.

The FBI infiltrated the gang's network as part of the operation and stole Hive's decryption keys before providing them to the gang's victims. 

The notorious gang has been targeting victims all around the world for some time. Since 2021, it has targeted over 1,500 victims, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom. Healthcare systems have frequently been the target of ransomware attacks.

“The Department of Justice’s disruption of the Hive ransomware group should speak as clearly to victims of cybercrime as it does to perpetrators,” stated US deputy attorney general Lisa O Monaco. 

The US agencies investigating the Hive hackings collaborated with international authorities in Germany and the Netherlands.

“In a 21st century cyber stakeout, our investigative team turned the tables on Hive,” Monaco added. “We will continue to strike back against cybercrime using any means possible and place victims at the centre of our efforts to mitigate the cyber threat.” 

For years, the FBI and other international organisations have been watching Hive's methods. 

Hüseyin Can Yuceel, a security researcher at Picus Security, urged the authorities against getting comfortable in response to their most recent success in foiling the hacker group's attempts. 

One of the most successful ransomware gangs in the previous five years was the Hive ransomware group. Hive became a significant player in the ransomware-as-a-service industry by embracing all of the current trends in the ransomware arena, Yuceel explained. 

He continued, stating that ransomware threat actors "are likely to rebuild and continue their activities" since the industry is still too profitable for hackers to give up on. 

According to Check Point Software security engineer Muhammad Yahya Patel, the FBI's Hive "takedown is a win that we should celebrate." It sends a clear message to ransomware groups and may have alarmed some of them because they don't know if they are also being watched. He also emphasised that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves because groups "do usually reorganise under a new name or spread into other gangs."

Patel thinks that the government's ability to impair Hive's operations in this particular way marks a new step forward in the fight against cybercrime.

DOJ Reveals: FBI Hacked Hive Ransomware Gang


The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently confirmed that the FBI has infiltrated the activities of a popular cyber-crime gang, covertly disrupting their hacking attacks for more than six months. 

According to DOJ, FBI gained deep access to the Hive ransomware group in the late July 2022. The infiltration prevented them from blackmailing $130 million in emancipate bills from more than 300 organizations. 

The files of victims are encrypted by ransomware gangs using malicious software, locking them up and rendering them unavailable unless a ransom is paid to obtain a decryption key. 

It is being estimated that Hive and its affiliates have accumulated over $100 from more than 1,500 victims that included hospitals, school districts, financial companies and critical infrastructure, in more than 80 countries across the globe. 

The FBI revealed that it has collaborated with the local law enforcement agencies to help victims recover from the attack, including the UK's National Crime Agency, which claims to have given around 50 UK organizations decryptor keys to overcome the breaches. 

On Thursday, the US announced that it had put an end to the operation by disabling Hive's websites and communication systems with the aid of police forces in Germany and Netherlands. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that "Last night, the Justice Department dismantled an international ransomware network responsible for extorting and attempting to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world." 

While the Equity Division had not yet been used to capture any individual connected to Hive attacks, a senior official suggested that such releases might happen soon. 

In regards to the infiltrations, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O Monaco said, "simply put, using lawful means, we hacked the hackers." 

Moreover, the DOJ says it would pursue those behind the Hive until they were brought to justice. 

"A good covert operation can degrade confidence in operational security and inject suspicion among actors,” Mandiant Threat Intelligence head John Hultquist said. "Until the group is arrested, they will never truly be gone. They will have to reconstitute, which takes time, but I'll bet they reappear in time."    

A $100 Million Theft Has Been Attributed to the Lazarus Group by the FBI

 


A $100 million cryptocurrency heist was committed by the Lazarus Group last June, which has been blamed by the FBI for the crime. Known for stealing cryptocurrency to help support the military and weapons programs of the North Korean government, this team is associated with the North Korean government. 

A statement released by the FBI on Tuesday identified Lazarus Group, which is also known as APT38, as the perpetrators of the June 24 attack on the Harmony Horizon bridge. The FBI released this information. In the course of this attack, $100 million worth of Ethereum was lost. Harmony Horizon is a bridge that allows you to connect Ethereum, Bitcoin, Binance Chain, and Harmony with the aforementioned cryptocurrency systems. The Ethereum bridge was accessed by attackers in June of this year and the cryptocurrency was stolen. 

There has been a reported theft on the Horizon bridge this morning for approximately $100MM, which was discovered by the Harmony team. At the time of the incident, Harmony said that they had begun to work with national authorities and forensic specialists to identify the perpetrator. In addition, they had begun to regain the funds that had been stolen. 

As a team, the FBI and the Department of Justice's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team have combined to investigate the Harmony heist, as well as several United States attorneys' offices. Earlier this week, the FBI announced that the Lazarus Group had been responsible for the attack and used its malware tool TraderTraitor as part of its operation. This malware was one of the components of the attack. 

"During the June 2022 heist, North Korean cyber actors, who used an encryption protocol known as Railgun, a privacy protocol, gained access to over $60 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) that had been stolen. It is believed that a portion of the stolen Ethereum from this theft was sent to several virtual asset services for conversion into bitcoin (BTC)," the FBI said in a statement released by the bureau. 

Lazarus Group is a North Korean security firm that has been active for several years. It is closely associated with the North Korean government and typically pursues the interests of the government. A successful attack by this group on the Bank of Bangladesh in 2016 netted it $81 million. Since then, Lazarus has continued to operate against banks and crypto exchanges to fund its operations. 

Lazarus Group is a group of companies that specialize in penetrating cryptocurrency firms and exchanges, as well as other targets. This is done with the use of their tools that are integrated into TraderTraitor. Oftentimes, these tactics begin when hackers send phishing emails to employees at a target company. They entice them to download malicious files in the hopes that they will be able to decipher what they are downloading. 

Many of these messages are disguised as recruitment efforts and offer high-paying jobs to entice recipients to download cryptocurrency applications laced with malware, also known as TraderTraitor by the U.S. government, according to a CISA advisory released in April. 

TraderTraitor is the term used to describe a series of malicious applications that are written using cross-platform JavaScript and run on the Node.js runtime running on Electron using the Node.js runtime environment. Several malicious open-source applications have been downloaded into the system, posing as tools that can help traders or price forecasters trade cryptocurrencies. TraderTraitor campaigns promote the alleged features of the applications on websites with modern designs. 

Several intrusions carried out by the Lazarus Group have used TraderTraitor as part of their investigations, and they have been quite successful in doing so. There was also another tool they used, a macOS backdoor called AppleJeus, which they implemented along with more advanced ways. 

In addition to spreading cryptocurrency trading applications modified to contain malware that facilitates cryptocurrency theft, the Lazarus Group also distributed AppleJeus trojanized cryptocurrency applications targeting individuals and companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges and financial services firms. 

According to the advisory, the North Korean regime will likely continue to exploit the vulnerabilities of cryptocurrency technology companies, gaming companies, and exchanges. This will enable it to generate and launder funds to support its regime. 

During the Harmony intrusion, the Lazarus Group moved bitcoin to several exchanges, which the FBI worked with to freeze those assets.

A Swiss Hacker Uncovered Confidential FBI Terrorism Screening Center File

Personal information of civilians who were on an outdated version of the US Government's No Fly List and Terrorist Screening Database was found on an open server by a 23-year-old Swiss hacker.

On January 12, Maia Arson Crimew, an influential hacker noted by the Department of Justice in a separate indictment, discovered the highly sensitive documents while browsing through a search engine full of unsecured servers. 

The text file "NoFly.csv," which refers to the subset of people in the Terrorist Screening Database who have been prohibited from flying because of suspected or known ties to terrorist organizations, was found after server analysis.

According to crimew, there were reportedly more than 1.5 million entries on the list overall. The data includes names and birthdates. The number of distinct people was significantly fewer than 1.5 million because it also contained many aliases.

According to the hacker, CommuteAir, an Ohio-based minor airline, maintained the insecure Amazon Web Services cloud server that contained the No Fly List as well as confidential data on roughly 1,000 of the airline's employees. Their passport numbers, addresses, and phone numbers were apparently included in this data.

Many of the names on the list appeared to be of Arabic or Middle Eastern ancestry, however, there were also Hispanic and Anglican-sounding names. The uncovered No-Fly list had several well-known names, including Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was recently released from a US prison in exchange for US basketball player Brittney Griner. Also included on the list were alleged IRA members, an Irish paramilitary group. Another person was listed as being 8 years old by crimew based on their birth year.

While those on the smaller No-fly list are known or suspected terrorists who are prohibited from traveling to or inside the US, those on the Terrorist Screening Database may be subject to enhanced security checks and inspections when traveling.

According to the FBI, a list of people shared among government agencies is the Terrorism Screening Database, which is intended to prevent the kind of intelligence failures that took place before 9/11. The more constrained, smaller No Fly List is contained within it. People who have been screened for terrorism may be subject to further security checks and limitations. No one from the No Fly List is allowed to board an airplane in the United States.

LAUSD Computers are Breached via Cybercriminals

According to Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest school district in the U. S., the Vice Society ransomware group has stolen files containing private information, including Social Security Numbers, from contractors (SSNs).

Additionally, LAUSD disclosed that the threat actors were present on its network for more than two months, from July 31 to September 3, 2022. The group claimed to have stolen 500 GB of data from the school system's systems to BleepingComputer before distributing the stolen material, but they offered no supporting documentation.

Experian's IdentityWorksSM, which aids in detecting information misuse, is being made available to contractors and their staff members by LAUSD for free for a year. The FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC jointly released an advisory warning of Vice Society's excessive targeting of the U.S. education sector on the day LAUSD reported the ransomware attack. Hackers replied to L.A. Unified's refusal to pay a ransom by exposing the data they obtained into the dark web, where other nefarious characters may use it for identity theft.

The school district declared it would not comply with the cybercriminals' ransom demands in order to better utilize the money for its students and their education, the ransomware group released data from LAUSD.

Data theft is simply one aspect of an operation. The second step entails encrypting computer systems so that users are unable to access them and daily business is rendered impossible. Although basic tasks, such as classroom instruction and record-keeping, were more challenging for approximately two weeks, hackers were able to encrypt systems in the district's facilities division. Schools never had to temporarily close, as in other places when various school systems were targeted.

The revelation in the notice came as no surprise to cybersecurity professionals. They anticipated that an examination would show the system intrusion started earlier than was initially reported. Officials from the school district did not disclose the number of potential victims. When there are more than 500 California citizens affected, the required number for public notification, a notice letter should be filed with the state attorney general in addition to notifying the victims.

Search Results Contain Imposter Ads, FBI Warns

 


Bogus advertising: a tightrope walk 

Since the early days of the Internet, rogue ads have been a particular plague on the Internet. As a user, you never quite know what's waiting in the browser, such as an irritating pop-up window or spinning banner that announces that you have won a prize in an advertisement that contains a malicious redirect or malvertising when you request a web page. 

The FBI has issued a warning regarding fake ads that impersonate the original thing to deceive potential victims into traveling to remote areas. 

Several advertisements appear at the top of your Google or Bing search results. They are standard search engine advertisements. There are two ways in which ads are displayed in search engines. (Depending on the search engine used, the word "sponsored" or "ad" is used to indicate ads.) A group of FBI officials is warning about fake ads, that are paid for by criminals. It uses similar domain names, as well as links to legitimately appearing web pages that are similar to the official website of the impersonated business. 

It is disappointing to discover, that the FBI's release on this scam is surprisingly light on details, but it does propose a few ways to avoid becoming a victim. 

How to avoid these rogue ads?

Generally, the FBI advises people to follow the following guidelines:

  • To ensure the authenticity of a website, you should check the URL before clicking on an advertisement. Generally, malicious domain names are similar to the intended URL but can have typos or misspelled letters similar to the intended URL. 
  • To access a particular business's official website directly from an Internet browser's address bar enter the URL of the company’s official website instead of searching for the company online. 
  • When you are performing Internet searches, it is a good idea to use an extension that blocks ads. Internet browsers allow users to add extensions to their browsers, which can include extensions to prevent advertisements and other forms of advertisement. In a browser, one can toggle between these ad blockers. This means that advertisements can appear on certain websites while they are blocked on other websites. This depends on what the website is about. 

For businesses, the FBI has the following advice: 

  • To avoid spoofing domains, businesses can use domain protection services to alert them to the registration of similar domain names. 
  • Users are advised to be aware of spoofed websites and to confirm the correctness of the URLs they are directed to when visiting them. 
  • Provide users with information about where they can find legitimate downloads of the company's software.
Are shady ads out of control or a step too far? 

Blocking advertisements remains a controversial topic in some quarters, as noted by Techspot. The odds are that many of the sites you use rely on advertising revenue to keep the lights on. However, others are moving towards subscriptions, paywalls, and other kinds of models to make money. 

To block ads in their browsers, some people and organizations use dedicated ad blocker extensions, while others prefer script blocker apps that provide additional options. In addition to blocking ads, some companies use security tools to detect and neutralize exploits and malvertising campaigns. 

Faulty ads cluttering up sponsored search results, no matter what your approach or opinion is towards paid advertising online, will be a problem for quite a while to come. What the FBI released might indeed make people think that fake listings in search results are a new threat. However, the truth is that this is nothing new. Despite this, criminals are well aware that it works and that it often results in success. 

It is very important to pay attention to those paid results that are at the top of your search engine results page. This is when you are shopping around or looking for financial advice and services. You may be able to save yourself a few hours of annoying calls to customer support by taking a few minutes to consider the situation.

FBI: To Install Malware, Hackers are Buying Ad Services

 

The FBI has recommended the citizens to download an ad blocker in order to safeguard themselves from internet security dangers, as cybercriminals use ads to spread ransomware and steal information.  

Trend Micro claims that Royal is the beta version version of the Zeon ransomware that first appeared this year and was linked in August to Conti Team One, one of the organizations responsible for the propagation of the Conti ransomware.

There were three groups of cybercriminals operating behind Conti, one of which switched to Quantum ransomware, another operating the Black Basta, Karakurt, and Blackbyte ransomware families, as well as Royal, and the third being shut down in early 2022, as per a chart that a security expert Vitali Kremez shared in August.

Royal ransomware has been employed in assaults mostly aimed at targets in the US and Brazil, according to Trend Micro. It is typically delivered via callback phishing, tricking victims into downloading remote access software.

The FBI highlighted that these adverts were also used to spoof financial websites, notably exchange platforms for cryptocurrencies.

Businesses employ search engine advertising services to make sure their ads show up at the top of search results with the smallest possible difference between an advertisement and a real internet search result. However, the warning noted that online criminals are also using domains that are similar to legitimate businesses or services to purchase these services for illicit reasons.

How to spot fake advertisements:
  • Prior to clicking an advertisement, check the URL. Look out for typos or unusual suffixes on a link because it will reveal the true URL.
  • If you want to look up businesses, enter the address in the browser's address bar rather than using a search engine like Google. 
  • Try using an ad blocker. These block all advertisements, so you can simply avoid being targeted by fraudulent ads but also fail to see any legitimate ones.
Ad blockers can help consumers avoid misleading adverts, but they can also severely damage their online experience. Many websites depend on advertising, thus some won't let you visit if you are using an ad blocker. When using an ad blocker, be sure to put your preferred websites to the list of the program. This will allow you to see advertising on this site but prevent you from seeing them elsewhere.

To assure the development of strong, safe passwords and keep away of malicious practices, the FBI also advises utilizing a password manager. Another effective strategy for protecting against online attacks is antivirus software.



“Staggering Increase” in Sexploitation Cases Among Minors, Warns FBI and DOJ


On Monday, a number of federal agencies issued a warning about the significant rise in the instances of “financial sexploitation,” of children and teenagers, a type of cybercrime in which the victims are forced into posting obscene photographs on online platforms, followed by them being blackmailed for money. 

A national public alert has since been released by the FBI on Monday, in collaboration with the Justice Department and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and several other agencies in response to what an FBI official called a “staggering increase” in cases – 7,000 reports last year alone, according to the agencies. According to a Justice Department official, such reports led to at least 3,000 victims and more than a dozen suicides that were apparently connected to them. 

A majority of offenders are based in West Africa, mainly from Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. The victims are mostly male, as per the alert. 

The modus operandi of offenders included engaging with their victims via social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, meanwhile also luring them onto gaming platforms. 

Moreover, in a peculiar action taken by agencies, it was not announced how the individuals connected with the reports will be prosecuted. 

In regards to this, a Justice Department official stated, “when it comes to these types of prosecutions, they can be quite difficult, first and foremost with identification of offenders.” Online identities are challenging to validate. They could be easily fabricated, making it more difficult and time-consuming to link them back to the original owner, he furthermore added. 

The advisory was carefully scheduled to coincide with students and families getting ready for Christmas break, since "a lot of youngsters are going to be out of school at home, spending a lot of time online," the Justice Department official added.  

The Importance of Security CPR to your Business Cannot be Overstated

 


In a recent article, the FBI indicated that cybercrime increased by 207 percent between 2008 and 2021. There was an estimated loss of $7 billion in business in 2021 due to cybercrime. The probability of a successful cyberattack occurring at present is approximately one every 39 seconds. In the 21st century, cyber security is no longer considered a luxury but a necessity for all businesses. 

Cybersecurity extends far beyond a collection of technologies, applications, and networking infrastructure. A culture of awareness, policies, procedures, supporting technologies, and a support network are all crucial to cyber security. Businesses must be able to recover and respond in the event of a calamity because no protective measures are fully effective. 

A solid cybersecurity foundation can be built based on the Security CPR model, which encompasses three keystones:  
  • Communication and Education 
  • Prevention and protection 
  • Recovery and Response
Communication and Education 

In terms of cybersecurity, the human factor poses a serious risk. Certainly, you and your team want to do the finest job you can for your company and for the people with whom you deal on a daily basis. Human nature is the prime weapon used by cyberattackers to gather information and coerce humans into taking harmful actions.  

These actions, at the time, appeared to be helpful to the attacker. Communicating with your team is the most effective way to ensure they are aware of potential risks. They should know what to look for and know what steps to take to institute action when they encounter them. A situation like this is particularly relevant when there is suspicion of an attack.  

The message of security awareness is reinforced through education and security awareness training. Continuous education is crucial to keeping your team up-to-date with the latest cyber threats while maintaining a focus on cybersecurity at all times. 

Prevention and protection

Defending against an attack involves preventing it from the start. The purpose of protection is to be able to stop an attack from taking place or in the middle of it. Security technology and services must be matched with policies and procedures that are reasonable to accomplish both prevention and protection. 

Keeping attackers out of a system is the key to prevention. Next-generation endpoint protection protects your devices against malware, DNS/web protection blocks malware from infecting your devices, advanced threat protection tests your inbound email for phishing, malicious links, and infected attachments before they reach your device's inbox, and a cloud-based endpoint support system ensures features are continuously updated. 

Protecting against an attack focuses on stopping the attack in its tracks. Using multi-factor authentication (MFA), you can ensure that an attacker with your username and password cannot access your account if they get their hands on your credentials. 

Encryption of your disks and emails prevents an attacker from accessing and reusing your data if it is on your system. Cybersecurity is a field where a wide variety of services are offered. However, these solutions do not have to be expensive. Proper configuration of your current security services is all that is required for some security solutions. Many other services are available for a small monthly fee per user or computer that can be purchased on an as-needed basis. As a company, you can use security services to manage your costs by making sure you prevent and protect against the most common types of attacks. You can also protect against those that would cause the greatest harm to your business. 

Recovery and Response

No prevention or protection can be guaranteed to be foolproof. After a company has been affected by an incident, the process of recovery involves returning it to normal operation. Managing the effects of a successful cyberattack on your organization is determined by how you respond to the challenges and issues that arise. 

It is the entire process of recovering your business from an incident, including the return of your business to normal operations (RTNO) and the return to business as usual (RTO). All of your computers may need to be wiped and reinstalled if they have been infected with ransomware. 

To prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a cyberattack, you need to plan, implement, and verify continuity services before you come under attack. For example, running a pre-attack image of your servers and workstations in a temporary data center enables you to provide a quick return to operations (RTO) while the repair and recovery process is ongoing as an image of the servers is being created. 

Responding to an incident is an activity that takes place across the entire company. If you are victimized by a successful attack, you will need to deal with your insurance carrier, employees, customers, vendors, as well as law enforcement if the attack was successful. The incident may also trigger mandatory reporting requirements in several jurisdictions. It may also trigger litigation and significant financial and other penalties if the possible loss of protected information is involved. 

Conflicting interests are liable to add a level of complexity to your response. Even though your insurance carrier may press you to pay the ransom to save money on the recovery, you may be violating federal law. The law is 18 U.S. Code 2339B, along with other sections that might apply. 

Successful recovery and response is the result of thinking exactly, what needs to be done to recover and respond to a disaster and establishing an incident response (IR) plan, developing and validating the plan of action, and ensuring that the resources you will need are either available directly, or through your insurance company. 

Using the Security CPR model, there are several ways to understand, plan for, and respond to risks and attacks. When dealing with a cyberattack, it is imperative to incorporate these tenets as much as possible. Make sure that you remain aware of them throughout your operations.