Hackers installed cryptojacking malware by compromising a popular browser extension

Thousands of websites, including government sites in the United States, the U.K., and Australia, were ensnared in an international cryptojacking scheme, The Register reports:

The affected sites all use a fairly popular plugin called Browsealoud, made by Brit biz Texthelp, which reads out webpages for blind or partially sighted people.

This technology was compromised in some way – either by hackers or rogue insiders altering Browsealoud’s source code – to silently inject Coinhive’s Monero miner into every webpage offering Browsealoud.

For several hours today, anyone who visited a site that embedded Browsealoud inadvertently ran this hidden mining code on their computer, generating money for the miscreants behind the caper.

The nearly 4,300 websites impacted included the U.S. Federal Court system, City University of New York, and the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS). Notably, the sites themselves were not breached; hackers delivered the malware by compromising the popular Browsealoud plugin. As of this writing, the developers of Browsealoud have not determined how their code was hacked.

Cryptojacking Attacks Getting More Frequent & Sophisticated

Cryptojacking, which employs crypto-mining malware to covertly (and illegally) co-opt CPU resources to “mine” cryptocurrencies like Monero, is on track to becoming a bigger threat to enterprises than ransomware. There are two ways in which cryptojacking attacks can occur:

The first attack vector uses a script injected into a website or in content delivered to multiple websites, such as ads or plugins. No code is stored on victims’ computers; the malware runs only while the visitor has the infected website tab or ad pop-up open. This is the type of attack vector used in the Browsealoud hack and the cryptojacking advertisements recently discovered running on YouTube.

If your organization’s website is cryptojacked, your site visitors’ computer hardware is put to work making money for cyber criminals. Whenever your employees visit a cryptojacked site, they’re the ones put to work for the cyber criminals; additionally, the cryptojacking malware eats up their machines’ resources, slowing their systems, decreasing their productivity, and potentially tying up your IT department with complaints about system sluggishness.

The second method of attack is to install crypto-mining malware on victims’ computers that runs in the background, sucking up resources unbeknownst to the victims. Usually, this happens through a phishing scheme, but a new cryptojacking variant called WannaMine, which specifically targets enterprise systems, also employs the credential harvester Mimikatz to crack weak user passwords.

While cryptojacking malware traditionally attacked smartphones and other small IoT devices, “next-generation” malware like WannaMine and Smominru are designed to go after desktop machines and servers. WannaMine has been reported to eat up so many resources that it has caused applications and hardware to crash. Rogue crypto-mining is even threatening critical infrastructure. Last week, cryptojacking malware was discovered on an industrial control system at a water utility in Europe, where it reportedly had a “significant impact” on system operations.

Preventing Cryptojacking

There are several ways in which your organization can guard against cryptojacking:

• Incorporate cryptojacking into the cyber security training given to your IT help desk workers and the rest of your employees.
• Use network security software to monitor for and block the activity needed for crypto-miners to work.
• Keep your systems and software up-to-date; only older Windows machines are susceptible to the Eternal Blue exploit used by WannaMine and Smominru.
• Ensure that all system users are using strong passwords that cannot be cracked by Mimikatz.
• Ensure that all of your employees use ad blocking and anti-crypto-mining browser extensions.

The cyber security experts at Continuum GRC have deep knowledge of the cyber security field, are continually monitoring the latest information security threats, and are committed to protecting your organization from security breaches. Continuum GRC offers full-service and in-house risk assessment and risk management subscriptions, and we help companies all around the world sustain proactive cyber security programs.

Continuum GRC is proactive cyber security®. Call 1-888-896-6207 to discuss your organization’s cyber security needs and find out how we can help your organization protect its systems and ensure compliance.

Stronger GSA Federal Contractor Cyber Security Rules Are Coming

The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to tighten up federal contractor cyber security requirements regarding sensitive non-classified data, according to a Federal Register Notice dated January 12. The rules would cover internal contractor systems, external contractor systems, cloud systems, and mobile systems.

Technically, the proposed rules aren’t “new.” The GSA wants to update the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to include existing GSA federal contractor cyber security requirements that did not previously go through the rulemaking process. This would allow the GSA the benefit of receiving public comments and ensure that the final rules are included in subsequent updates to the GSAR. There will be two public comment periods; the public can comment on the information security rules from April to June 2018 and on the incident response rules from August to October.

In addition to tightening up reporting requirements for federal contractor cyber security breaches, the new rules would require federal contractors to protect sensitive non-classified information in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements. Specifically, all federal contractors would be required to adhere to NIST SP 800-171 security requirements, just as DoD contractors are now required to do under DFARS, which went into effect on December 31. Applying NIST SP 800-171 requirements to all federal contractors would ensure uniformity in cyber security requirements and reporting.

Understanding NIST SP 800-171

NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations, is 81 pages long and outlines 110 security controls across 14 categories, including:

• Access control
• Employee awareness and training
• Configuration management
• Risk assessment
• Security assessment
• Incident response

The crux of NIST SP 800-71 is that it applies to information that is unclassified yet sensitive. Under the GSA’s proposed rules, federal contractors that currently handle classified information will have to extend their security controls to cover additional systems, as DoD contractors were made to do to comply with DFARS. Contractors that do not currently handle classified data, on the other hand, will have a lot more work to do; some will need to completely rework their security controls to comply with NIST SP 800-171.

While these rules have not yet been enacted, there is every reason to believe that the GSA’s proposal will be approved in some form. Complying with a new, tougher set of standards will be challenging, but in the end, it will end up benefiting federal contractors. Right now, there is no uniformity to federal contractor cyber security standards; they are set by individual agencies. The GSA’s new standards will apply to every agency, which means that contractors who do business with multiple federal agencies will have to follow only one set of rules.

Is your organization compliant with all of the controls in NIST SP 800-171? Compliance can be complex, which is why it’s best to enlist the help of a professional IT audit and cyber security firm such as Continuum GRC. We create sustainable NIST 800-171 based compliance partnerships with our clients. Our proven methodology and project plan, powered by our proprietary IT Audit Machine IRM GRC software solution, will help you achieve compliance on budget and on schedule.

The cyber security experts at Continuum GRC have deep knowledge of the cyber security field, are continually monitoring the latest information security threats, and are committed to protecting your organization from security breaches. Continuum GRC offers full-service and in-house risk assessment and risk management subscriptions, and we help companies all around the world sustain proactive cyber security programs.

Continuum GRC is proactive cyber security®. Call 1-888-896-6207 to discuss your organization’s cyber security needs and find out how we can help your organization protect its systems and ensure compliance.

Complying with SEC, NFA FINRA Cyber Security Standards

 Both the SEC, NFA and FINRA have indicated that they will put heavy emphasis on cyber security enforcement throughout 2018. While FINRA is explicit – among other things, it publishes a cyber security checklist and a detailed report on best practices – the SEC’s guidance is far more general. This causes some confusion among affected companies regarding how to develop controls and internal policies in line with SEC, NFA FINRA cyber security standards.

Owing to different data environments, risks, and vulnerabilities, the precise details of SEC, NFA FINRA cyber security compliance will vary at every enterprise, but there are a few general best practices that all organizations should adhere to:

Use an Integrated Risk Management Approach to Policymaking

FINRA mentions in its Report on Cybersecurity Practices that “A sound governance framework with strong leadership is essential,” and the SEC, NFA focuses on “governance and risk assessment” during its cyber security audits. Organizations should develop their SEC, NFA FINRA cyber security policies using an integrated risk management approach. IRM eliminates silos and fosters a top-down, data-centric, and risk management-based culture throughout the organization.

Have Clear, Consistent Security Policies

In its latest risk alert, the SEC, NFA reported that nearly all of the firms it audited had written cyber security policies. However, most of them had issues, such as contradictory and/or vague policies and policies that were not being uniformly enforced. Security policies and protocols must be clear, consistent, and make sense in light of the organization’s data environment and individual vulnerabilities and risks.

Conduct Regular Risk Assessments

FINRA considers risk assessments to be “foundational tools” in firms’ cyber security arsenals. Because the threat environment is continually changing, organizations must perform risk assessments on a regular basis to ensure that their technical controls and SEC, NFA FINRA cyber security policies and procedures are up to date.

Conduct Regular Employee Security Training

An organization’s biggest security vulnerability is its own people; most of the time, hackers break into systems not through brute force attacks but social engineering schemes such as phishing emails. For this reason, both the SEC, NFA and FINRA emphasize the importance of well-trained employees to preventing cyber attacks. Cyber security awareness training should be conducted on a regular and ongoing basis.

Make Sure Your Business Associates Are Secure

Over 60% of enterprise data breaches are traced back to third-party vendors of larger organizations, and SEC, NFA FINRA cyber security standards do not allow companies to pass the buck if one of their business associates is breached. FINRA’s report specifically instructs organizations to “manage cybersecurity risk exposures” by “exercising strong due diligence across the lifecycle of their vendor relationships,” and the SEC, NFA looks at “vendor management” during security audits.

The cyber security experts at Continuum GRC have deep knowledge of the cyber security field, are continually monitoring the latest information security threats, and are committed to protecting your organization from security breaches. Continuum GRC offers full-service and in-house risk assessment and risk management subscriptions, and we help companies all around the world sustain proactive cyber security programs.

Continuum GRC is proactive cyber security®. Call 1-888-896-6207 to discuss your organization’s cyber security needs and find out how we can help your organization protect its systems and ensure compliance.