Here Are the Threats Federal Network Defenders Need to Know

REDPIXEL.PL/Shutterstock.com

Some cyber criminals are going old school.

Cybersecurity teams working in federal agencies face similar challenges to their counterparts in the private sector. A recent examination of the threat landscape reveals emerging and expanding trends that are important to both. However, a few stand out as particularly relevant to those tasked with securing our federal networks. These include:

  • The growth of ransomware as a service. 
  • EternalBlue and BlueKeep activity.
  • The use of old-school tactics, such as elevated attempts to inject/execute code.

Security teams at federal agencies need to be aware of these attack trends in order to stay a step ahead of cyber criminals pursuing malicious agendas. And for federal networks, the added layers of compliance, budgetary uncertainties, and what is ultimately at stake—our national security—add more complexity to the business of staying secure.  

Here is what federal agencies should be aware of now and in the months ahead:

The Ransomware-as-a-Service Movement Grant Powerful Options to Anti-Government Groups

Ransomware as a service, or RaaS, has lowered the bar for entry for the cybercriminal underworld of operators. Even without the technical skills required to develop and deploy their own original malware attacks, criminal groups can now rent existing attack services, disseminating malware to their targets in exchange for a cut of the profits. As recent research shows, this has resulted in an expansion of malware as a service, including ransomware, which continues to grow in volume each quarter. 

The GandCrab strain of ransomware set the bar for malware services, netting its developers an estimated $2 billion before it was shuttered. Their affiliate model relied upon a network of partners who leveraged this online service to exponentially expand the number of victims that could be targeted. As a result, this fast-moving ransomware was able to infiltrate and do its damage over a wider span of different networks around the world that using traditional methods—achieving the ultimate goal of generating scalable earnings before security teams could get a handle on it. 

Other affiliate networks are attempting the same thing, including the notorious ransomware variants Sodinokibi and Nemty. In addition, Emotet now sells access to its millions of already infected devices, allowing cyber criminals to drop malware inside organizations that, unbeknownst to them, have already been breached.

With more service offerings being made available on the dark web, cyber criminals now have more power within their reach to initiate destructive behavior against federal networks to push political agendas or antigovernment sentiments. 

BlueKeep and EternalBlue Vulnerabilities Threaten Microsoft-Based Government Infrastructure

Microsoft solutions for federal government agencies were, in the past, targeted by an exploit called EternalBlue. Recent research, however, shows that this threat continues to persist, along with the newer BlueKeep vulnerability—a wormable version that targets vulnerable Windows systems via the remote desktop protocol.

The vulnerability targeted by EternalBlue has particular relevance for government network security officers. It now poses a global threat, but with special areas of concern in the U.S., Taiwan and India. It works by targeting a flaw in the Microsoft Server Message Block protocol. SMB is used in network communication for file sharing, printer connections and serial ports running on Microsoft Windows in older systems. 

In 2017, the executive order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure was issued. As part of a general IT modernization program for federal networks, the order calls for broader use and adoption of cloud services. As these initiatives begin to roll out, federal agencies will need to also shift their attention to emerging threats. But they cannot afford to take their eye off the ball of more traditional threat vectors. And for the time being, EternalBlue remains a threat to unpatched systems—and a very attractive threat for cyber criminals who know that many systems are still open to attack. In all, it is believed that there are hundreds of thousands of systems still vulnerable to EternalBlue, with most of them located in the United States.

Bad Actors Recycle Old-School Tactics While Agencies Focus on Anti-Phishing Awareness and Education Programs

Part of the president’s executive order covers the need for increased cybersecurity awareness and education. As most security professionals already know, most malware is still delivered via email. And over the last year or so, there has been an aggressive, nationwide push for end-user training to curtail phishing. As users are trained in how to spot suspicious emails, fewer of them will be opened. Users are also learning to report suspicious emails to their organization’s help desk or IT team, which then use that data to further bolster their defenses by updating their email systems to filter out malicious emails before they even reach the users. 

Recognizing where this is going, some cyber criminals have already started shifting to alternative tactics as organizations focus heavily on their anti-phishing campaigns. While federal agencies must continue to concentrate their efforts on awareness and education, they should be careful not to divert attention away from other security concerns. 

For example, recent data showed an uptick in remote code execution attacks on publicly facing systems and edge services. While many vulnerabilities within publicly exposed services were shored up over the past few years, the injecting and executing of code on target systems have now re-emerged in a flurry of activity during the third quarter of 2019 because cyber criminals are refocusing on areas where they believe IT teams may have momentarily let down their guard. 

Final Thoughts 

As federal agencies map out their security strategies for the new year, they must keep these trends in mind and regularly consult new data and threat intelligence to update plans as needed. Having threat intelligence is essential to establishing visibility into the efficacy of the overall security posture—especially at the federal level—not just for emerging threats, but to engage in security across the entire attack surface. The key for any system is to build recognized strategies into the security plan, starting with a risk assessment and working toward a more resilient security system for the new and repurposed threats that lie ahead.

Anthony Giandomenico is a senior security strategist and researcher and CTI Lead at FortiGuard Labs.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.