Dateline Moscow, Kyiv, Berlin, and Washington: A return to diplomacy over Ukraine.
Cyber threat warnings and diplomatic good cops. (The CyberWire) Russia offers the prospect of more diplomacy over Ukraine as the German Chancellor visits Moscow. In the meantime the US repeats warnings of heightened cyber threat during the crisis.
Scholz flies to Moscow in bid to avert war (Reuters) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Moscow on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin in a high stakes mission to avert war, with Russia's largest trading partner in Europe warning of far-reaching sanctions if it attacks Ukraine.
Tone of Ukraine Crisis Shifts as Russia Signals Openness to Talk More (New York Times) Diplomacy is “far from exhausted,” Russia’s foreign minister said, while President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said the prospect of his country joining NATO might be just a “dream.”
Putin Signals Talks With U.S. to Go On as Some Drills End (Bloomberg) Lavrov says some Western proposals are ‘constructive’. Russia to continue diplomacy as U.S. calls for de-escalation.
Sliver of hope: Kremlin sees a diplomatic path on Ukraine (AP NEWS) The Kremlin signaled Monday it is ready to keep talking with the West about security grievances that led to the current Ukraine crisis, offering hope that Russia might not invade its beleaguered neighbor within days as the U.S.
Tone of Ukraine Crisis Shifts as Russia Signals Openness to Talk More (New York Times) Diplomacy is “far from exhausted,” Russia’s foreign minister said, while President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said the prospect of his country joining NATO might be just a “dream.”
Putin: Russia ready to discuss confidence-building measures (AP NEWS) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow is ready for talks with the U.S. and NATO on limits for missile deployments and military transparency. Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said the U.S.
Russians scoff at Western fears of Ukraine invasion (AP NEWS) While the U.S. warns that Russia could invade Ukraine any day, the drumbeat of war is all but unheard in Moscow, where pundits and ordinary people alike don't expect President Vladimir Putin to launch an attack on its ex-Soviet neighbor.
Can dusting off an old peace deal stop Russia from invading Ukraine? Here’s what to know. (Washington Post) Ukraine faces a choice between an unpopular peace deal or a possible Russian invasion. Either way, Russia could win.
Russia Accelerates Troop Buildup Along Ukraine Border (Wall Street Journal) Germany’s chancellor began shuttling between the two nations seeking to stave off a conflict, and Russian President Vladimir Putin left the door open for talks.
Russia sending troops, equipment closer to Ukraine, satellite images show (Military Times) Maxar Technologies collected new satellite images Sunday and Monday that reveal increased Russian military activity in western Russia, Belarus, and Crimea.
Ukraine crisis: Putin says he wants Nato question resolved now as Scholz says diplomacy ‘not exhausted’ – live (the Guardian) Vladimir Putin once again claims ‘human rights violations’ in eastern Ukraine as German Chancellor welcomes pull back of some Russian troops
Live Updates: Russia Says It Has Begun Pulling Back Some Troops From Around Ukraine (New York Times) The Defense Ministry’s announcement was the strongest sign yet that Russia might be trying to de-escalate the military standoff on the Ukrainian border. NATO’s secretary general urged caution, saying the alliance had “not seen any sign of de-escalation.”
Russia says some forces pulling back amid Ukraine crisis (Military Times) The announcement pushed world markets and the ruble up, but U.S. and Ukraine officials expressed skepticism.
Russia Says Some Troops Are Returning to Base After Drills (Bloomberg) Defense Ministry reports units have completed combat exercises. Russia announces measure as Putin hosts Scholz in Moscow.
Watch Russian tanks get stuck in mud during training exercise near Ukraine border (Task & Purpose) It's a sticky situation.
How a Russian invasion of Ukraine could play out (The Telegraph) From a small incursion to airstrikes and a march on Kyiv, Vladimir Putin has a number of options on the table
Russia may dodge sanctions by using Putin proxies to invade Ukraine (Atlantic Council) With Russia facing the possibility of crushing sanctions over the threatened invasion of Ukraine, Putin may prefer to deploy hybrid forces made up of regular Russian troops and mercenaries posing as Ukrainian separatists.
Kyiv Is Calm, but Ukrainians Are Quietly Bracing for War (Foreign Policy) Officials in Kyiv have downplayed Western warnings of an imminent Russian invasion—but many in the capital are learning self-defense and locating bomb shelters.
Zelensky’s Game of Chicken Kyiv (Tablet Magazine) As Biden bumbles, Macron stumbles, and Putin makes rape jokes, the Ukrainian president stalls for time
Is the Russian President a Strategic Master or a Strategic Failure? (The Cipher Brief) Former CIA Officer Gregory Sims weighs in on Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategies and where they are likely to lead
Canada commits lethal weapons and ammunition in support of Ukraine (Mirage News) Today, the Government of Canada announced that it has authorized the provision of additional military assistance to the government of Ukraine to
Opinion | How the West Gets Ukraine Wrong — and Helps Putin As a Result (POLITICO) The extraordinary history and culture of the largest country within Europe needs to be taken more seriously in the Kremlin and everywhere else, too.
Putin Won’t Ever Let Ukraine Be Finland (Foreign Policy) Why a widely touted model for Ukrainian neutrality won’t work to stop a Russian invasion.
Inside the White House preparations for a Russian invasion (Washington Post) A “Tiger Team” of administration officials has spent the past several months preparing a clear series of responses, gaming out scenarios from cyberattacks and limited intervention to an invasion of Ukraine.
Exclusive: FBI and DHS warn U.S. officials of possible Russian cyberattacks linked to invasion of Ukraine (Yahoo) The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security on Monday warned law enforcement, military and others charged with overseeing critical U.S. infrastructure to be prepared for potential Russian cyberattacks in conjunction with a possible invasion of Ukraine.
CISA, FBI, NSA Warn of Increased Threat of Ransomware Attacks on Critical Infrastructure (HIPAA Journal) A joint security advisory has been issued by cybersecurity agencies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, warning about the increased CISA, the FBI, the NSA warn of increased threat of ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure and provide details on tactics used and recommended mitigations.
CISA warns of potential Russian cyberattacks as invasion fears mount (C4ISRNet) CISA said no credible cyber threats against the U.S. homeland are known at this time, but cautioned Russia could choose to escalate the situation.
To Reveal, Or Not to Reveal (Foreign Affairs) What are the risks of exposing so much declassified intelligence about possible Russian schemes to attack Ukraine?
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict is impacting cybercrime (Intel471.com) Financially-motivated cybercriminals have been quiet, but that could change as the conflict escalates.
TU cyber expert weighs in on possibility of cyberattack if Russia invades Ukraine (FOX23 News) A University of Tulsa cyber expert says a cyberattack on Ukraine or even the U.S. is possible.
U.S. Is Closing Kyiv Embassy, Relocating Diplomatic Operations to Western Ukraine (Wall Street Journal) The U.S. is relocating diplomatic operations 340 miles west to Lviv in Western Ukraine, as allies warn that an attack by Russian forces on Ukraine may be imminent.
Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
Government agencies warn of sophisticated, high-impact ransomware (The State of Security) A surge in "sophisticated, high impact" ransomware attacks has prompted a joint advisory about the techniques being used by cybercriminals.
Three-quarters of ransomware payments flowing to Russia (Computing) And up to 10 per cent of all ransomware payments globally are going to Russia-based Evil Corp
Attackers Publicly Demanding Ransom From Hacked Instagram Account Owners in a Brazen Phishing Campaign (CPO Magazine) Security researchers at Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) discovered an Instagram phishing campaign targeting corporate and influencer accounts with a large number of followers. The hackers gain control of the targeted account through phishing and force the victim to pay a ransom to repossess the hacked Instagram account.
Years of hacks against aviation, transportation industries tied to one group, researchers say (CyberScoop) Analysts have noticed various attempts in recent years by hackers trying to breach entities in the aviation and aerospace industries, as well as related transportation fields.
Cybercrime group relentlessly targets aviation and transportation sectors for years (The Record by Recorded Future) A little-known cybercrime group has been relentlessly targeting companies across several industry sectors, including aviation, defense, and transportation, since at least 2017.
Charting TA2541's Flight (Proofpoint) Proofpoint researchers have tracked a persistent cybercrime threat actor targeting aviation, aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, and defense industries for years.
Cryptojacking targeting Linux-based systems (TechHQ) Cryptojacking and evolving ransomware attacks are not only sophisticated and harder to detect but are now also targeting Linux-based operating systems.
Critical Magento 0-Day Vulnerability Under Active Exploitation — Patch Released (The Hacker News) Adobe has released patches for a vulnerability in its Commerce and Magento open-source products that the company says is being actively exploited in
Critical Security Flaws Reported in Moxa MXview Network Management Software (The Hacker News) New vulnerabilities discovered in Moxa MXview web-based industrial network management software which can allow attacker to execute code on servers.
How Roblox ‘Beamers’ Get Rich Stealing from Children (Vice) Underneath the gaming platform worth $68 billion and used by over half of all children in America is a ballooning and highly profitable ecosystem of hackers and traders.
Fake Dating Sites Aiming to Swindle Your Money & Identity (Trend Micro News) Dreaming of an online romance? As more and more people turn to the internet for love and companionship, scammers are out to swindle vulnerable victims — they’ll break your heart and the bank. Indeed, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just reported that in 2021 the total loss attributed to romance scams hit a record high of $547 million (80% more than 2020).
Pandemic, Crypto Fuel Increase in Romance Scams (Wall Street Journal) Scams like the one detailed in the recent Netflix documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’ already were gaining in frequency before the coronavirus pandemic began, but their prevalence is now reaching new heights.
Sports brand Mizuno hit with ransomware attack delaying orders (BleepingComputer) Sports equipment and sportswear brand Mizuno is affected by phone outages and order delays after being hit by ransomware, BleepingComputer has learned from sources familiar with the attack.
Flash Report: BlackByte Ransomware Claims Responsibility for Attack on San Francisco 49ers (ZeroFox) Threat actors leveraging BlackByte ransomware claimed to have exfiltrated data in an attack targeting the San Francisco 49ers.
Hackers Snagged $36 Million in Crypto in Breach of IRA Financial (Bloomberg) Bitcoin and Ethereum snatched from IRA users on Feb. 8. Company has launched investigation, contacted law enforcement.
Hackers Just Leaked the Names of 92,000 ‘Freedom Convoy’ Donors (Vice) GiveSendGo, the Christian crowdfunding site that helped raise $8.7 million for the anti-vax “freedom convoy” in Canada, was hacked on Sunday night.
Ontario company gave $75,000 to protesters, as security breach reveals Canadian, U.S. donors (Global News) The donation was largest from within Canada to the protests that have disrupted the national capital.
German Fuel Storage Firm Mabanaft Still Unable to Restore Operations After Cyber Attack (Insurance Journal) Germany's Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG, the fuel storage and distribution company that suffered a cyber attack at the end of January, said its first tests
Vulnerability Summary for the Week of February 7, 2022 (CISA) The CISA Vulnerability Bulletin provides a summary of new vulnerabilities that have been recorded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in the past week. NVD is sponsored by CISA. In some cases, the vulnerabilities in the bulletin may not yet have assigned CVSS scores. Please visit NVD for updated vulnerability entries, which include CVSS scores once they are available.
Security Patches, Mitigations, and Software Updates
Adobe fixes zero-day exploit in e-commerce code: update now! (Naked Security) There’s a remote code execution hole in Adobe e-commerce products – and cybercrooks are already exploiting it.
Linux tops Google's charts for fixing bugs the fastest (Register) Plus new breach disclosure rules for US investment firms
Trends
From the back office to the till: Cybersecurity challenges facing global retailers (WeLiveSecurity) This ESET report looks at how the retail sector, which has for years been one of the most frequently targeted by cyberattacks, can keep threats at bay.
Ransomware Research Report 2022 (Cyber Security Works) From APT groups to Ransomware-as-a-service, products they target and the type of weaknesses they love to exploit, this report delves deep into every aspect of this threat and presents the most exhaustive insights and actionable information.
Marketplace
Netacea | Netacea announces $12m Series A investment (RealWire) New funding from high profile cybersecurity leaders will grow Netacea’s presence in U.S. and U.K. bot mitigation markets
Manchester, UK – 15th February 2022 – Netacea, the bot detec
Cyber security company Securonix raises $1 billion in Vista-led round (Reuters) Cloud-based security solutions provider Securonix has raised more than $1 billion in a private fundraising round led by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, the company said on Monday.
Juniper Networks Buys Cloud Networking Startup WiteSand (Channel Futures) Juniper Networks has acquired WiteSand, a startup that provides cloud-native zero trust Network Access Control (NAC) solutions.
TrueFort Names Matt Hathaway Chief Marketing Officer (Business Wire) Matt has served in brand leadership roles with Imperva, Carbon Black, Rapid7 and several other leading security vendors.
NTT Research Names Dr. Elette Boyle Senior Scientist in CIS Lab (Yahoo) NTT Research, Inc., a subsidiary of NTT, announced that Dr. Elette Boyle has joined the Cryptography & Information Security Lab as a senior scientist.
Nucleus Security Appoints Andrew Peterson to Advisory Board (Business Wire) Andrew Peterson, experienced founder, CEO, board member and investor, joins the Nucleus Security advisory board.
Nixu’s CEO will change (News Powered by Cision) The Nixu Board of Directors and CEO Petri Kairinen have agreed together that Nixu's CEO will change for the next growth phase. Kairinen has resigned today to join another company. Nixu’s Board of Directors has already started last year the search for a successor in order to appoint a new CEO for Nixu.
ExtraHop Grows Annual Recurring Revenue by 47%, Names Patrick Dennis Chief Executive Officer (Yahoo Finance) SEATTLE, February 15, 2022--ExtraHop Grows Annual Recurring Revenue by 47%, Names Patrick Dennis Chief Executive Officer
Axis Security Names Joe Mattioli as Chief Revenue Officer (Axis security) Cloud leader from CrowdStrike and Proofpoint joins Axis to scale Sales organization to meet fast-growing demand for company’s Security Service Edge platform
DomainTools Expands Executive Team Following Strategic Acquisition of Farsight Security Inc. (GlobeNewswire News Room) DomainTools Positioned for Accelerated Growth with Expansion of Executive Team Driven by Increased Global Demand for Industry-leading Threat Intelligence...
Products, Services, and Solutions
Dragos announces NSA, CISA as advisors for Neighborhood Keeper (Intelligence Community News) Dragos, Inc., a provider of cybersecurity for industrial controls systems (ICS)/operational technology (OT) environments based in Hanover, MD, announced on February 14 initiatives with the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Forescout Announces Vedere Labs to Deliver Data Powered Threat Intelligence (GlobeNewswire News Room) Global cybersecurity threat intelligence team continues to support the cybersecurity community with expanded research capabilities and mitigation...
Pondurance Launches New Channel Partner Program (Business Wire) Pondurance, a leader in Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, announced today the launch of its new channel program, the Pondurance Channel P
UAE bank taps Israeli fintech firm ThetaRay for fraud detection tools (Times of Israel) Mashreq Bank to use Hod Hasharon-based company's tech to secure cross-border payments between financial institutions
Stellar Cyber’s Open XDR Platform Debuts “Universal EDR” to Optimize Data from Any EDR for Enhanced Speed and Precision in Detecting Attacks (Stellar Cyber) Universal EDR is Industry’s First Open, High-Fidelity XDR Technology to Unify and Amplify Data from Any and All EDRs
One Identity Enhances Unified Identity Security Platform with CIEM, Application Governance and Teams Modules to Further Advance Vision for End-to-End Identity Security (One Identity)
Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) Offering to Secure the Enterprise Cloud Estate – Centralizing Visibility and Improving Business Confidence
Application Governance Solution to Empower Application Owners to Control User Access ...
Atakama and BigID Announce Strategic Alliance for Discovering and Protecting Sensitive Data (Yahoo) Atakama, the leading encryption company, has partnered with BigID, the leading data intelligence platform, to provide organizations with an integrated, automated approach to discovering and protecting sensitive and critical data.The integration of Atakama's file encryption solution with BigID's data discovery and classification ensures that organizations can automate well-defined policies to discover, classify, and protect their data. Together, BigID and Atakama make it easy for customers to acc
Red Canary Launches Partner Program to Meet Growing Demand for Security Beyond the Endpoint (PR Newswire) Red Canary, the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider that detects threats no one else can, today announced the launch of Red Canary...
Bugcrowd Announces Real-Time Customer Visibility and Improved Crowd-matching For Penetration Testing as a Service Solution (PR Newswire) Bugcrowd, the leader in crowdsourced cybersecurity, today announced the availability of powerful new features and functionality for its...
authID.ai Joins Microsoft Partner Network to Expand Verified™ CloudConnect™ to Office 365 and Azure (GlobeNewswire News Room) Verified CloudConnect™ integrates cloud-based facial biometric authentication with existing Azure deployments to fortify workforce access to enterprise...
Technologies, Techniques, and Standards
NIST releases software, IoT, and consumer cybersecurity labeling guidance (CSO Online) The new guidance aims to tighten security requirements for federally purchased software and give consumers better insight into the security of software and devices they buy.
Feds say goodbye to ‘information sharing,’ hello to ‘operational collaboration’ (SC Magazine) As the term information sharing has lost some of its luster, federal officials are rebranding their partnership with the private sector as something that goes deeper than the mere sharing of static indicators around cyber threats.
What the NSA has learned from a year of external cybersecurity collaboration (Federal News Network) For more than a year, the National Security Agency has been sharing cybersecurity threat information with defense industrial base companies. The idea is to correlate NSA signal intelligence with…
Ransomware Threat Intel: You're Soaking In It! (Dark Reading) Organizations need to improve their ability to detect and prevent emerging ransomware attacks.
New Research from Knight Ink and BlastWave Provides Vital Insight to Preventing Account Take Over, VPNs are Dead (Blastwave) True zero-trust protection for critical IoT infrastructure.
Never Use Text Pixelation To Redact Sensitive Information (Bishop Fox) See why you should never use pixelation for redacting text and why it is a surefire way to get your data leaked. Learn from security researcher Dan Petro.
Legislation, Policy, and Regulation
Russia and China devote more cyber forces to offensive operations than US, says new report (C4ISRNet) Russia and China have each dedicated significantly more military cyber forces to conducting cyber effects than the United States, according to IISS.
They condemned attempts to use the cyberspace and technology. (The Plunge Daily) Without referring to China and North Korea’s alleged misuse of cyberspace and hacking exercises, India and Australia have condemned the abuse of the World Wide Web. The foreign ministers of the latter two countries, during their dialogue in Melbourne on Saturday, condemned attempts to use cyberspace and cyber-enabled technologies to undermine international peace and stability. […]
EU watchdog calls for ban on surveillance tool Pegasus (Reuters) The European Union's data protection watchdog called on Tuesday for a ban on the controversial spyware tool Pegasus, developed by Israeli-based NSO Group.
SEC Proposes Cyber Rules for Investment Funds and Advisers (Wall Street Journal) Under the draft proposals, thousands of financial firms would be required to report ‘significant events,’ including data breaches, within 48 hours.
New SEC cybersecurity rules for private equity firms could bring learning curve (SC Magazine) The Securities and Exchange Commission last week proposed new cybersecurity rules for private equity firms that would essentially bring the segment of the financial industry more in line with other areas, including reporting cyber incidents.
Litigation, Investigation, and Law Enforcement
Russia Sentences Man Who Claimed to Hack Clinton, RIA Reports (Bloomberg) Konstanin Kozlovsky given 14-year term by Yekaterinburg court. He made unconfirmed claim the FSB hired him to hack the DNC.
Alexei Navalny faces 15 more years in prison as new trial starts (the Guardian) Russian opposition leader in fresh trial at penal colony far from support base on charge of embezzlement
Army general questions Brazil's electronic voting system (The Brazilian Report) Heber Portella, the head of the Army's cyberdefense division, sent electoral courts questions about the Brazil's electronic voting system.
This is the group of cybercriminals that for 10 years planted false evidence to incriminate activists without being detected (TheNewsTrace) Since 2012, a group of cybercriminals has been planting incriminating evidence on the devices of human rights activistslawyers and journalists from India in order to cause their arrest by the authorities, as has now been discovered and revealed by the American cybersecurity company SentinelOne. As explained by one of its researchers, Tom Hegel, on his […]
With $100 million settlement confirmed, BlockFi aims to register Yield with SEC (The Block) BlockFi aims to offer its yield product to US investors once more following SEC registration.
BlockFi Agrees to Pay $100 Million in Penalties and Pursue Registration of its Crypto Lending Product (US Securities and Exchange Commission) Company also agrees to attempt to bring its business into compliance with the Investment Company Act of 1940 within 60 days
Texas Sues Meta Over Facebook’s Facial-Recognition Practices (Wall Street Journal) The state says the social-media giant violated privacy protections in a lawsuit, seeking civil penalties that a person familiar with the matter says range in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Fallout from REvil arrests shakes up ransomware landscape (SearchSecurity) Infosec vendors and analysts weigh in on the impacts of the REvil arrests in Russia.
Ilya Lichtenstein Ordered Detained Until Crypto Trial; Heather Morgan Released (Wall Street Journal) The judge ruled that flight risk is high for Ilya Lichtenstein after the Manhattan couple were charged with conspiring to launder billions in stolen cryptocurrency.
Husband jailed, wife freed in alleged laundering of $3.6 billion in hacked bitcoin funds (Washington Post) A U.S. judge on Monday jailed a New York husband but set free his wife as they await trial on charges alleging they tried to launder $3.6 billion in stolen bitcoin. During a detention hearing Monday in Washington, the judge cited searches of the couple’s apartment and office that yielded $40,000 in cash, more than 50 electronic devices and bitcoin wallets, hollowed-out books and a bag marked “Burner Phone.”
Col. Owen Ray may lose Special Forces tab, lawyer doxxed prosecutor’s kids ahead of trial (Army Times) There has been a perception within the Green Beret community Col. Ray "got off scot free," a source said.
Navy Nuclear Engineer Pleads Guilty in Submarine Espionage Case (New York Times) Jonathan Toebbe, who was arrested in October along with his wife, is set to face 12 years or more in prison under a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
