Cyber Daily 1/6/24: Best of the Week ??

Happy Saturday! Here are the most popular stories from last week on The Record from Recorded Future News.

Hackers breach Australian court hearing database

The court system for Australia’s second-most-populated state was hit by a ransomware attack that potentially exposed sensitive recordings of some court hearings. Here's what you need to know:

1. Hackers have breached a database belonging to The Interpreter's Molecular Ecologist (TIME), an entity responsible for providing real-time closed captioning for court hearings throughout Australia.
2. The compromised data reportedly includes confidential court hearing details of many Australian courts, which could have significant implications for the privacy and safety of individuals involved in court proceedings.
3. The breach may have been unnoticed for an extended period – giving the attackers potentially ample time to not only steal sensitive information but also manipulate or destroy evidence recorded in the databases. The timeframe and extent of the cyberattack remains under investigation.

Firmware prank causes LED curtain in Russia to display ‘Slava Ukraini’ — police arrest apartment owner

The owner of an apartment in Veliky Novgorod in Russia has been arrested for discrediting the country’s armed forces after a neighbor alerted the police to the message ‘Slava Ukraini’ scrolling across their LED curtains. When police went to the scene, they saw the garland which the owner had hung in celebration of the New Year and a “slogan glorifying the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” as a spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs told state-owned news agency?TASS. Here's what you need to know:

1. The owner of an apartment in Veliky Novgorod, Russia, was arrested after police were alerted to the message 'Slava Ukraini' (Glory to Ukraine) appearing on their LED curtains. The apartment owner claims the message was supposed to be a "Happy New Year" greeting, but other reports suggest this change to the message was due to a manipulated open-source software.
2. An independent investigation linked the issue to a common open-source firmware code. Affected LED curtains were found to use the same code which appears to have been manipulated by a Ukrainian originator, disclosing a 'Glory to Ukraine' message on the New Year's day, particularly for residents of Russia.
3. This incident of software manipulation is indicative of cyber actions linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Analysts suggest this highlights potential vulnerabilities created by software dependencies and the implications of supply chain attacks that have been observed during the course of the conflict.

In AirTags stalking lawsuit, federal judge says Apple likely negligent

A San Francisco-based federal judge said he believes Apple was likely negligent in its design and oversight of the AirTags tracking product, signaling he is leaning toward denying the company’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by stalking victims who charge the device empowered their abusers. Here's what you need to know:

1. Judge Vince Chhabria believes that Apple may have been negligent in its design and oversight of the AirTags tracking device. The statement poses potential implications for a class action lawsuit filed by stalking victims who argue that the device has empowered their perpetrators.
2. The judge also suggested that Apple should have foreseen the risks of its product being used for stalking. He affirmed the claims of plaintiffs who alleged extreme emotional harm due to the stalking facilitated by AirTags, countering the argument presented by the Apple lawyer that emotional harm is less significant than physical harm.
3. The lawsuit alleges that Apple's initial design of the product did not effectively enable individuals being stalked to detect unwanted AirTags. Recommendations for improvement have since been implemented, such as more noticeable alerts and being alerted to unwanted tracking sooner, but victims argue that these measures should have been included from the beginning.

Swedish supermarket chain Coop responds to cyberattack

Coop, one of Sweden's largest supermarket chains, said it is dealing with a cyberattack affecting stores in the county of V?rmland. Here's what you need to know:

1. Coop V?rmland Attack: A cyberattack impacted Coop V?rmland, a large supermarket chain in Sweden, affecting its 44 supermarkets and 17 smaller stores.
2. Previous Incidents: Coop has previously been a victim of ransomware, notably in 2021 due to an attack on Kaseya, leading to the closure of around 800 stores.
3. Cactus Ransomware Trends: The Cactus ransomware gang, known for significant attacks and exploiting vulnerabilities, is increasingly targeting industrial and manufacturing sectors.

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