Autor: Peter Hale, Date: 2. December 2020 Those who do not learn anything from history are doomed to repeat it. Nobody wants to repeat 2020. Thus, the experts of our worldwide Acronis CPOC network (Cyber ​​Protection Operation Centre) have summarized their research results and observations from the past year in the Acronis Cyberthreats Report 2020

Here at Acronis, we’re always monitoring for dangers to your data, deploying updates to handle newly-discovered vulnerabilities, and issuing alerts and recommendations to help you stay protected. Our global network of Acronis Cyber Protection Operations Centers (CPOCs) continue to work around the clock to proactively detect and defend against the latest cyberthreats. Part of this work includes video updates to inform you of modern hazards in the digital landscape — such as newly-discovered cryptojackers and severe vulnerabilities in popular software. Here’s a look at some of the most recent breaking news and analyses:

While OSAMiner has been around since 2015, and known since at least 2018, a newly discovered version of OSAMiner has remained hidden from researchers by cleverly concealing one run-only AppleScript inside of another run-only AppleScript. Run-only scripts do not contain human-readablez code and are notoriously difficult to fully decompile. Some IoCs have been able to be identified in these campaigns but a full analysis was not previously available, leaving some of the critical files in these campaigns lurking in the dark. This has changed with a couple of recently developed tools to aid in decompiling AppleScripts. Using these tools, we can now get a better view at the internals of the files in this cryptojacking campaign, as well as a broader view of the files associated with the malware.

Here at Acronis, we’re always monitoring for dangers to your data, deploying updates to handle newly-discovered vulnerabilities, and issuing alerts and recommendations to help you stay protected. Our global network of Acronis Cyber Protection Operations Centers (CPOCs) continue to work around the clock to proactively detect and defend against the latest cyberthreats. Part of this work includes video updates to inform you of modern hazards in the digital landscape — such as new tactics seen in phishing and ransomware campaigns. Here’s a look at some of the most recent breaking news and analyses:

You don’t have to work in cybersecurity to be aware of the recent discovery that a sophisticated state actor had potentially compromised tens of thousands of private companies and government institutions in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. The means was a software supply-chain: attackers breached the software distribution infrastructure of tech vendor SolarWinds, embedding malware in its popular Orion network management tool. When customers downloaded the latest Orion product update, the malware surreptitiously spread throughout their organizations, in many cases finding and forwarding sensitive data to external servers controlled by the attackers. Now comes news that SolarWinds was not the only victim of this Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attack. Cybersecurity vendor Malwarebytes disclosed earlier this week that it had also been victimized by the same threat actors.

While its current name may be fairly new, Ranzy Locker is simply the latest evolution in a line of ransomware variants that began with MedusaLocker. Many of its details have since changed, including a shift in encryption algorithms from AES-256 to Salsa20. The distribution vectors for Ranzy Locker remain somewhat unclear, though spam campaigns have been indicated as one method.

Here at Acronis, we’re always monitoring for dangers to your data, deploying updates to handle newly-discovered vulnerabilities, and issuing alerts and recommendations to help you stay protected. Our global network of Acronis Cyber Protection Operations Centers (CPOCs) continue to work around the clock to proactively detect and defend against the latest cyberthreats. Part of this work includes video updates to inform you of modern hazards in the digital landscape — such as ransomware attacks on major corporations and changes in business application security. Here’s a look at some of the most recent breaking news and analyses: