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New research points to the broader range and related collateral damage caused by North Korea-linked cyberattacks that spread out of control. Researchers believe two of these threats likely originated from North Korea; one of them was likely an external group attacking North Korea.

Analysts at AlienVault published details on multiple attacks after collecting evidence from the millions of malicious files it scans each day. All of these attacks are separate but share commonalities, including a link to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and causing more harm than was likely intended.

“These are all quite different attacks,” explains Chris Doman, AlienVault security researcher and threat engineer. “They’re all part of a broader trend of accidental damage from North Korea.”

In a blog post on the research, Doman digs into the details of all the attacks, explaining where and when they were discovered, their relation to the DPRK, and how they spread outside the author’s control.

Rivts Virus

Rivts is a malware family created in 2009 and still regularly seen by AlienVault, Doman explains, noting that the new files seen today are not the result of new developments from the author but of new files being infected with the original malware.

This is a file-infecting worm that spreads across USB drives and hard drives, and attaches itself to files to continue moving, he says, adding that it was first detected in January 2011 on the Voice of Korea, the DPRK’s international broadcasting service. Doman hypothesizes that Rivts leaked from this site and moved around DPRK systems for two years before escaping from the Voice of Korea.

Doman calls Rivts a “fairly boring” virus but notes an interesting detail: it initially checks for system files normally found on Windows XP but looks for two pieces of unusual software in the Windows System folder. Both are pieces of DPRK software built by the Korea Computer Center.

“It was interesting to find a piece of malware that looked for North Korean software,” Doman points out. “We thought at first it was something attacking North Korean systems.”

It’s more likely Rivts was a prototype or learning project, as indicated by the word “test” in multiple places, he notes, observing that the virus also doesn’t have a backdoor, as many attacks from North Korea do. While Rivts “doesn’t rank highly” on the threat scale, Doman says, it serves as a reminder that once a worm is released, it continues to spread for a long time.

JML Virus

It’s possible Rivts is a new version of an early file-infector called the JML virus, another homemade attack from North Korea, according to Doman. JML, which started on Visual C++5.0 and MASM 6.0, was reportedly created in 1997 as part of a student’s university project and later became a North Korean military standard. Mutations of the virus have spread outside the DPRK ever since.

“It’s not interesting in terms of damage … it’s interesting in terms of how far it could go,” says Doman of JML. “I think what happened is it was probably an accident, copied over from another system in North Korea.”

He links JML and Rivts with “low confidence.” Both originated in North Korea, include the word “test,” and built with Visual Studio C++ 5.0, a compiler rarely seen today. However, he says technical details make it impossible to positively determine a sample of the JML virus.

Faedevour Worm

In January 2015 an independent researcher discovered the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was distributing a form of malware called Faedevour. Unlike Rivts and the Voice of Korea site, researchers at Kaspersky report this was an intentional compromise by an outside attacker.

Analysis by Kaspersky indicates the DarkHotel group is responsible. Faedevour, like Rivts, is a worm and contains references to DPRK software it seeks on systems, explains Doman. It copies itself across to infect network shares and USB disks. While there is a possibility both were created by DarkHotel, Doman says this “does not seem to be the most likely explanation.”

Doman says Faedevour accidentally spread in a supply chain compromise in April 2017. IBM and Lenovo had both sent storage server customers USB sticks containing installation software. Later on, he says, they learned the USB sticks had been infected with the Faedevour worm. Specifically, it was infected with the same exact malware file spotted on the KCNA website.

According to Doman, it’s more likely this was an accidental infection than an intentional attack by DarkHotel, which would not likely use malware that had been created, and reported on, years earlier.

WannaCry and the Brambul Malware

Doman notes WannaCry, the attack that was created by Lazarus Group and spread via SMB file-shares, shares some of the same code base as the Brambul malware variant also released by Lazarus Group over the years. He says earlier forms of WannaCry do the same brute-forcing as Brambul and, to an extent, the massive attack could be described as a variant of Brambul.

“There are so many Brambul worms bouncing around the Internet,” says Doman, that WannaCry is another instance in which the attacker lost control. “I would be surprised if the guys who wrote WannaCry expected to cause this much damage around the world. They created this thing that didn’t make much money but caused a lot of damage … if I was going to try and make a lot of money, I probably wouldn’t draw too much attention to myself.”

Related Content:

• Windows 10 Critical Vulnerability Reports Grew 64% in 2017
• Encrypted Attacks Continue to Dog Perimeter Defenses
• Fileless Malware: Not Just a Threat, but a Super-Threat
• Lazarus Group Attacks Banks, Bitcoin Users in New Campaign

Black Hat Asia returns to Singapore with hands-on technical Trainings, cutting-edge Briefings, Arsenal open-source tool demonstrations, top-tier solutions and service providers in the Business Hall. Click for information on the conference and to register.

Kelly Sheridan is Associate Editor at Dark Reading. She started her career in business tech journalism at Insurance Technology and most recently reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft and business IT. Sheridan earned her BA at Villanova University. View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/north-korea-linked-cyberattacks-spread-out-of-control-report/d/d-id/1331075?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

New research points to the broader range and related collateral damage caused by North Korea-linked cyberattacks that spread out of control. Researchers believe two of these threats likely originated from North Korea; one of them was likely an external group attacking North Korea.

Analysts at AlienVault published details on multiple attacks after collecting evidence from the millions of malicious files it scans each day. All of these attacks are separate but share commonalities, including a link to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and causing more harm than was likely intended.

“These are all quite different attacks,” explains Chris Doman, AlienVault security researcher and threat engineer. “They’re all part of a broader trend of accidental damage from North Korea.”

In a blog post on the research, Doman digs into the details of all the attacks, explaining where and when they were discovered, their relation to the DPRK, and how they spread outside the author’s control.

Rivts Virus

Rivts is a malware family created in 2009 and still regularly seen by AlienVault, Doman explains, noting that the new files seen today are not the result of new developments from the author but of new files being infected with the original malware.

This is a file-infecting worm that spreads across USB drives and hard drives, and attaches itself to files to continue moving, he says, adding that it was first detected in January 2011 on the Voice of Korea, the DPRK’s international broadcasting service. Doman hypothesizes that Rivts leaked from this site and moved around DPRK systems for two years before escaping from the Voice of Korea.

Doman calls Rivts a “fairly boring” virus but notes an interesting detail: it initially checks for system files normally found on Windows XP but looks for two pieces of unusual software in the Windows System folder. Both are pieces of DPRK software built by the Korea Computer Center.

“It was interesting to find a piece of malware that looked for North Korean software,” Doman points out. “We thought at first it was something attacking North Korean systems.”

It’s more likely Rivts was a prototype or learning project, as indicated by the word “test” in multiple places, he notes, observing that the virus also doesn’t have a backdoor, as many attacks from North Korea do. While Rivts “doesn’t rank highly” on the threat scale, Doman says, it serves as a reminder that once a worm is released, it continues to spread for a long time.

JML Virus

It’s possible Rivts is a new version of an early file-infector called the JML virus, another homemade attack from North Korea, according to Doman. JML, which started on Visual C++5.0 and MASM 6.0, was reportedly created in 1997 as part of a student’s university project and later became a North Korean military standard. Mutations of the virus have spread outside the DPRK ever since.

“It’s not interesting in terms of damage … it’s interesting in terms of how far it could go,” says Doman of JML. “I think what happened is it was probably an accident, copied over from another system in North Korea.”

He links JML and Rivts with “low confidence.” Both originated in North Korea, include the word “test,” and built with Visual Studio C++ 5.0, a compiler rarely seen today. However, he says technical details make it impossible to positively determine a sample of the JML virus.

Faedevour Worm

In January 2015 an independent researcher discovered the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was distributing a form of malware called Faedevour. Unlike Rivts and the Voice of Korea site, researchers at Kaspersky report this was an intentional compromise by an outside attacker.

Analysis by Kaspersky indicates the DarkHotel group is responsible. Faedevour, like Rivts, is a worm and contains references to DPRK software it seeks on systems, explains Doman. It copies itself across to infect network shares and USB disks. While there is a possibility both were created by DarkHotel, Doman says this “does not seem to be the most likely explanation.”

Doman says Faedevour accidentally spread in a supply chain compromise in April 2017. IBM and Lenovo had both sent storage server customers USB sticks containing installation software. Later on, he says, they learned the USB sticks had been infected with the Faedevour worm. Specifically, it was infected with the same exact malware file spotted on the KCNA website.

According to Doman, it’s more likely this was an accidental infection than an intentional attack by DarkHotel, which would not likely use malware that had been created, and reported on, years earlier.

WannaCry and the Brambul Malware

Doman notes WannaCry, the attack that was created by Lazarus Group and spread via SMB file-shares, shares some of the same code base as the Brambul malware variant also released by Lazarus Group over the years. He says earlier forms of WannaCry do the same brute-forcing as Brambul and, to an extent, the massive attack could be described as a variant of Brambul.

“There are so many Brambul worms bouncing around the Internet,” says Doman, that WannaCry is another instance in which the attacker lost control. “I would be surprised if the guys who wrote WannaCry expected to cause this much damage around the world. They created this thing that didn’t make much money but caused a lot of damage … if I was going to try and make a lot of money, I probably wouldn’t draw too much attention to myself.”

Related Content:

• Windows 10 Critical Vulnerability Reports Grew 64% in 2017
• Encrypted Attacks Continue to Dog Perimeter Defenses
• Fileless Malware: Not Just a Threat, but a Super-Threat
• Lazarus Group Attacks Banks, Bitcoin Users in New Campaign

Black Hat Asia returns to Singapore with hands-on technical Trainings, cutting-edge Briefings, Arsenal open-source tool demonstrations, top-tier solutions and service providers in the Business Hall. Click for information on the conference and to register.

Kelly Sheridan is Associate Editor at Dark Reading. She started her career in business tech journalism at Insurance Technology and most recently reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft and business IT. Sheridan earned her BA at Villanova University. View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/north-korea-linked-cyberattacks-spread-out-of-control-report/d/d-id/1331075?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

New research points to the broader range and related collateral damage caused by North Korea-linked cyberattacks that spread out of control. Researchers believe two of these threats likely originated from North Korea; one of them was likely an external group attacking North Korea.

Analysts at AlienVault published details on multiple attacks after collecting evidence from the millions of malicious files it scans each day. All of these attacks are separate but share commonalities, including a link to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and causing more harm than was likely intended.

“These are all quite different attacks,” explains Chris Doman, AlienVault security researcher and threat engineer. “They’re all part of a broader trend of accidental damage from North Korea.”

In a blog post on the research, Doman digs into the details of all the attacks, explaining where and when they were discovered, their relation to the DPRK, and how they spread outside the author’s control.

Rivts Virus

Rivts is a malware family created in 2009 and still regularly seen by AlienVault, Doman explains, noting that the new files seen today are not the result of new developments from the author but of new files being infected with the original malware.

This is a file-infecting worm that spreads across USB drives and hard drives, and attaches itself to files to continue moving, he says, adding that it was first detected in January 2011 on the Voice of Korea, the DPRK’s international broadcasting service. Doman hypothesizes that Rivts leaked from this site and moved around DPRK systems for two years before escaping from the Voice of Korea.

Doman calls Rivts a “fairly boring” virus but notes an interesting detail: it initially checks for system files normally found on Windows XP but looks for two pieces of unusual software in the Windows System folder. Both are pieces of DPRK software built by the Korea Computer Center.

“It was interesting to find a piece of malware that looked for North Korean software,” Doman points out. “We thought at first it was something attacking North Korean systems.”

It’s more likely Rivts was a prototype or learning project, as indicated by the word “test” in multiple places, he notes, observing that the virus also doesn’t have a backdoor, as many attacks from North Korea do. While Rivts “doesn’t rank highly” on the threat scale, Doman says, it serves as a reminder that once a worm is released, it continues to spread for a long time.

JML Virus

It’s possible Rivts is a new version of an early file-infector called the JML virus, another homemade attack from North Korea, according to Doman. JML, which started on Visual C++5.0 and MASM 6.0, was reportedly created in 1997 as part of a student’s university project and later became a North Korean military standard. Mutations of the virus have spread outside the DPRK ever since.

“It’s not interesting in terms of damage … it’s interesting in terms of how far it could go,” says Doman of JML. “I think what happened is it was probably an accident, copied over from another system in North Korea.”

He links JML and Rivts with “low confidence.” Both originated in North Korea, include the word “test,” and built with Visual Studio C++ 5.0, a compiler rarely seen today. However, he says technical details make it impossible to positively determine a sample of the JML virus.

Faedevour Worm

In January 2015 an independent researcher discovered the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was distributing a form of malware called Faedevour. Unlike Rivts and the Voice of Korea site, researchers at Kaspersky report this was an intentional compromise by an outside attacker.

Analysis by Kaspersky indicates the DarkHotel group is responsible. Faedevour, like Rivts, is a worm and contains references to DPRK software it seeks on systems, explains Doman. It copies itself across to infect network shares and USB disks. While there is a possibility both were created by DarkHotel, Doman says this “does not seem to be the most likely explanation.”

Doman says Faedevour accidentally spread in a supply chain compromise in April 2017. IBM and Lenovo had both sent storage server customers USB sticks containing installation software. Later on, he says, they learned the USB sticks had been infected with the Faedevour worm. Specifically, it was infected with the same exact malware file spotted on the KCNA website.

According to Doman, it’s more likely this was an accidental infection than an intentional attack by DarkHotel, which would not likely use malware that had been created, and reported on, years earlier.

WannaCry and the Brambul Malware

Doman notes WannaCry, the attack that was created by Lazarus Group and spread via SMB file-shares, shares some of the same code base as the Brambul malware variant also released by Lazarus Group over the years. He says earlier forms of WannaCry do the same brute-forcing as Brambul and, to an extent, the massive attack could be described as a variant of Brambul.

“There are so many Brambul worms bouncing around the Internet,” says Doman, that WannaCry is another instance in which the attacker lost control. “I would be surprised if the guys who wrote WannaCry expected to cause this much damage around the world. They created this thing that didn’t make much money but caused a lot of damage … if I was going to try and make a lot of money, I probably wouldn’t draw too much attention to myself.”

Related Content:

• Windows 10 Critical Vulnerability Reports Grew 64% in 2017
• Encrypted Attacks Continue to Dog Perimeter Defenses
• Fileless Malware: Not Just a Threat, but a Super-Threat
• Lazarus Group Attacks Banks, Bitcoin Users in New Campaign

Black Hat Asia returns to Singapore with hands-on technical Trainings, cutting-edge Briefings, Arsenal open-source tool demonstrations, top-tier solutions and service providers in the Business Hall. Click for information on the conference and to register.

Kelly Sheridan is Associate Editor at Dark Reading. She started her career in business tech journalism at Insurance Technology and most recently reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft and business IT. Sheridan earned her BA at Villanova University. View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/north-korea-linked-cyberattacks-spread-out-of-control-report/d/d-id/1331075?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple

The Internal Revenue Service has reported a significant decrease in tax-related identity theft for the second year in a row, pointing to its Security Summit program with state tax agencies and the tax industry as the reason for the improved numbers.

The Security Summit program, which was formed in 2015 to combat tax-related identity theft, provides multiple behind-the-scenes safeguards to protect taxpayers such as providing security best practices tips and enhancing taxpayer authentication procedures, for example. 

According to the IRS, the agency in 2017 received 242,000 reports from taxpayers that they were victims of tax-related identity theft, compared to 401,000 in 2016 – a drop of nearly 40%.

“These dramatic declines reflect the continuing success of the Security Summit effort,” says Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter. “This partnership between the IRS, states and tax community is helping protect taxpayers against identity theft. More work remains in this effort, an we look forward to continuing this collaborative effort to fight identity theft and refund fraud.”

Some Progress

Al Pascual, senior vice president, research director and head of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy Research, says that while the IRS has made progress, taxpayers need to understand that criminals are still keeping up the pressure.

Javelin, which tracks and conducts research on identity theft, found that reported incidents of tax-related identity fraud actually increased from 392,000 in 2016 to 425,000 in 2017. Pascual says these are people who told Javelin they were hit with tax-related identity fraud, but might not have necessarily reported it to the IRS.

The good news overall is that the total number of actual refund loss has gone down – as has the average amount, he says. Actual refund loss declined to $783 million in 2017, from $914 million in 2016. And the average individual refund loss dropped a little more than 14% to $1,750 in 2017, down from $2,214 in 2016.

“What’s happened is that there are more cases, but the criminals are getting away with less money,” Pascual says. “Overall, it’s trending in the right direction because the total amount of money stolen has gone down.”

Related Content:

• Equifax Lands $7.25 Million Contract with IRS
• 8 Nation-State Hacking Groups to Watch in 2018
• 1 in 9 Online Accounts Created in 2017 Was Fraudulent
• US, International Law Enforcement Shut Down Massive Cybercrime Marketplace

Black Hat Asia returns to Singapore with hands-on technical Trainings, cutting-edge Briefings, Arsenal open-source tool demonstrations, top-tier solutions and service providers in the Business Hall. Click for information on the conference and to register.

Steve Zurier has more than 30 years of journalism and publishing experience, most of the last 24 of which were spent covering networking and security technology. Steve is based in Columbia, Md. View Full Bio

Article source: https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/irs-reports-steep-decline-in-tax-related-id-theft--/d/d-id/1331077?_mc=rss_x_drr_edt_aud_dr_x_x-rss-simple