Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Every day we hear about some new technology threats or vulnerabilities. Lately we talk about the data collection attack known as “Magecart”. Let’s try to understand what it is and how we can do to defend ourselves.
Magecart is a large group of hackers as well as a typical attack that mainly targets online shopping carts. This type of attack has become very common in recent years.
What is the Magecart attack?
Gli hacker di Magecart di solito prendono di mira i negozi online sviluppati con Magento CMS e mirano a rubare le informazioni della carta di credito dei clienti. Questo tipo di attacco è anche conosciuto come supply chain attack, web skimming o e-skimming. Il codice JavaScript iniettato nel sorgente durante l’attacco è solitamente chiamato anch’esso Magecart.
The experts of cyber security noticed this activity of the criminal group in 2010, even though Magecart is become very well known recently. For over 10 years of observation, the Magecart attack has been detected about 2 million times. Since 2010, Magecart is responsible for hacking more than 18,000 hosts. By driving the malicious code, the criminals used 573 domains with about 10,000 download links with Magecart malware.
Today, researchers are reporting a new series of Mageсart attacks. Criminals have changed tactics and automated attacks. Now they are looking for badly set targets to infect the websites and JavaScript files they can reach. Since April 2019, cybercriminals have compromised over 17,000 domains by publishing JavaScript code (also called “ skimmer “) on these websites.
According to Computerweekly , Magecart attacks on online retailers increased by 20% during the COVID-19 pandemics.
How the Magecart-attack works
data skimming attacks such as Magecart typically follow a well-established pattern. They must achieve three things to be successful.
1. Go to the site
There are typically two ways attackers gain access to the website and place the skimming code. They can break into your infrastructure or server and put the skimmer there. Or, they’ll go to one of your third-party vendors, especially if they’re an easier target, and infect a third-party tag that will execute a malicious script on your site when invoked in the browser.
2. Collect sensitive information
There are many different ways in which groups can capture data, but the skimming code is almost always a JavaScript script that listens to personal information and collects it. We have seen an approach in which they monitor all keystrokes on a sensitive page or even interception of input in specific parts of a webform such as the credit card and CVV fields . Generally, attackers hide malicious code inside other code, which appears benign, to avoid detection.
3. Send the data to a server
This is the simplest part of the whole process. Once the hackers have access to your website and collect the data they want, the game is over. They can send information from end-user browsers to almost any place on the Internet.
The current state
As we have already mentioned, the Magecart attack is mainly distributed via malicious JavaScript code injected into downloadable plugins or add-ons for Magento online stores. Lately, attackers have started using banner ads to distribute skimmers .
In 2019, during a lightning attack, cybercriminals hacked nearly 1000 e-commerce sites in just 24 hours , proving that they didn’t act manually, but instead used automated tools. Most of the resources affected were small e-shops, although they also include several large companies.
The skimming script was used to steal information from online store visitors, specifically, their bank card details, names, phone numbers and addresses. Then the script records all data entered on payment pages and stores them in the browser until the victim refreshes the page or switches to another tab. The stolen data is then sent to a server controlled by the cybercriminals.
How to deal with the situation
The problem with Magecart is that there is a lot of confusion when it comes to actually protecting these web-based card skimming attacks. For example, auditing of a website on a regular basis cannot stop the attacks, as the problem comes from third party tags, which auditing will not detect.
The advice for IT teams is to take a zero-trust approach with JavaScript on their sites, starting with a policy to block default access to any sensitive information placed in web forms and stored cookies. From there, you only allow a select set of controlled scripts (usually your own) to access sensitive data. And as a result, if this type of skimming code enters the site, it simply cannot access any of the sensitive information.
The advice for IT teams is to take a zero-trust approach with JavaScript on their sites, starting with a policy to block default access to any sensitive information placed in web forms and stored cookies. From there, you only allow a select set of controlled scripts (usually your own) to access sensitive data. And as a result, if this type of skimming code enters the site, it simply cannot access any of the sensitive information.
How to actively protect yourself
To protect your company from Magecart attacks, take a complete inventory of your digital assets using our CTI service . Next, find all possible web and mobile applications, set a security score for each of them, and show which apps are to be fixed and secured. The service can also search the Dark Web, cloud archives and code repositories for all possible data leaks.
The approach adopted is proactive and is based on looking for compromises before they have occurred. This approach, which actively manages the attack surface and scans the dark web, allows for a complete view of the security status of the digital system.
After a complete inventory you can proceed with a Penetration Test to verify the situation and protect your company from any security threats. The Magecart attack, as well as other more modern attack methods that cybercriminals are constantly inventing, can only be countered with this kind of proactive approach, keeping your guard up.
If you have any questions or would like to know how our services can secure your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Cyber Threat Hunting is a proactive security search across networks, endpoints and datasets to hunt down malicious, suspicious or risky activities that have escaped detection by existing tools.
Definition
There is a distinction between malware detection and cyber threat hunting . Threat detection is a passive approach to monitoring data and systems to identify potential security problems. However, it is a necessity and can help a threat hunter . Instead, proactive threat hunting tactics have evolved to use new threat intelligence on previously collected data to identify and classify potential risks before the attack .
Security personnel cannot afford to believe that their security system is impenetrable. Must always remain vigilant for the next threat or vulnerability . Rather than sitting around and waiting for threats to strike, cyber threat hunting develops hypotheses based on knowing the behaviors of threat actors and validating those hypotheses through active research in the environment .
With threat hunting, an expert doesn’t start with an alarm or indicators of compromise (IOC), but with deeper reasoning. In many cases the threat hunter’s efforts create and concretize the alarm or the IOC.
This aggressively assumes that a breach has occurred or will occur at the company. Security officers hunt down threats in their environment rather than rely on automatisms.
Threat hunting practice
For companies that are ready to take a more proactive approach to cybersecurity , which tries to stop attacks before they get too deep, adding threat hunting protocols to their security program is the next logical step.
After consolidating endpoint security and incident response strategies to mitigate the now unavoidable known malware attacks, companies can begin to take the offensive . This means digging deep and finding what hasn’t been detected yet. This is precisely the purpose of cyber threat hunting.
As mentioned earlier, threat hunting is an aggressive tactic that starts from the premise of the “assumption of violation”. Attackers are already inside an organization’s network and are secretly monitoring and moving into it.
This may sound far-fetched, but in reality, attackers can be inside a network for days, weeks, and even months . In the meantime, they prepare and execute attacks as advanced persistent threats, with no automatic defense detecting their presence . Cyber threat hunting stops these attacks by looking for covert indicators of compromise (IOCs) so they can be mitigated before the attacks reach their goals.
The key elements of a threat hunting
The goal of the threat hunt is to monitor daily activities and traffic across the network and investigate possible anomalies to find any undiscovered malicious activity that could lead to a complete breach . To achieve this level of proactive detection, threat hunting incorporates four equally important components.
1. Methodology
To be successful in hunt for threats, companies must commit to a proactive, full-time approach that is continuous and evolving. Instead, a responsive, ad hoc implementation, “ when we have time “, will be self-defeating and will only lead to minimal results.
2. Technology
Most companies already have comprehensive endpoint security solutions with automatic detection. Threat hunting works in addition to these and adds advanced technologies . The aim is to find anomalies, unusual patterns, and other traces of attackers that shouldn’t be in systems and files.
The new cloud-native endpoint protection (EPP) platforms that leverage big data analytics can capture and analyze large volumes of non-data filtered on endpoints, while behavioral analytics and artificial intelligence can provide broad, high-speed visibility into malicious behaviors that seem normal at first.
3. Highly qualified and dedicated staff
The threat hunters are a race of their own. These experts know how to use the security technology deployed by companies. In addition, also combine the aspiration to go on the offensive with intuitive problem-solving skills to uncover and mitigate hidden threats.
4. Threat intelligence
Having access to evidence-based global intelligence from experts from around the world (e.g. Miter Att & amp; ck ) further improves and accelerates hunting for existing threats. Hunters are aided by information such as attack classifications for identifying malware and threat groups , as well as advanced threat indicators.
The abilities of a threat hunter
The Threat Hunting Report from Crowd Research Partners confirms the importance of certain capabilities for threat hunting. When asked to rank the most important skill, the survey found that:
69% chose threat intelligence
57% chose behavior analysis
56% chose automatic detection
54% chose machine learning and automated analysis
The profile of a threat hunter
Threat hunters look for attackers who manage to break through vulnerabilities that a company might not even know exist . These attackers spend a considerable amount of time planning and performing the reconnaissance, acting only when they know they can successfully penetrate the network without warning. They also inject and build malware that has not yet been recognized or use techniques that do not rely on malware at all, to provide a persistent base from which to attack.
What does it take to outsmart even the smartest attackers?
A cyber threat hunter is relentless and can find even the smallest trace of what attackers have left behind. In general, threat hunters use their skills to undo the small changes that occur when attackers make their moves within a system or file.
The best threat hunters rely on their instincts to sniff out the stealth moves of the most dangerous attacker.
Are you a threat hunter? Contact us!
SOD is looking for a SOC / ICT analyst to add to the team. If you think you’re the right person, visit this page to view the detailed job posting.
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