TOP OF THE DAY – Kyiv’s hackers launched an unprecedented cyber attack on Russian state media VGTRK on Putin’s birthday

(Pierluigi Paganini – Security Affairs – 7 October 2024) A Ukrainian government source told Reuters that Kyiv’s hackers are behind the cyber attack that disrupted operations at the Russian state media company VGTRK on Putin’s birthday. The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK, Russian: ВГТРК) or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russian Television and Radio, is a national state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and radio channels in 53 of Russia’s languages. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in Moscow. – Kyiv’s hackers launched an unprecedented cyber attack on Russian state media VGTRK on Putin’s birthday (securityaffairs.com)

Governance

(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 October 2024) The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a new audit framework to help businesses comply with data protection rules. The framework, which is an extension of the ICO’s existing Accountability Framework, provides nine distinct toolkits for areas that are likely to be analyzed during a data protection audit. These are: accountability, records management, information and cybersecurity, training and awareness, data sharing, data requests, personal data breaches, AI and age-appropriate design. – ICO Releases New Data Protection Audit Framework – Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

(James Coker – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 October 2024) The EU has been urged by a leading risk managers association to make cyber incident reporting requirements more consistent ahead of new legislation coming into force. The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) said in a new report that the EU needs to provide a more streamlined and consistent set of requirements when it comes to reporting on cyber incidents, ensuring it is easy, safe and secure for organizations to provide such information. – EU Urged to Harmonize Incident Reporting Requirements – Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

(Nicol Turner Lee, Isabella Panico Hernández – Brookings – October 3, 2024) Memes present unique opportunities because they can disseminate information and foster a sense of community through humor and other apolitical ways. Due to congressional inaction on copyright protections for the data training large language models (LLMs) or more stringent legislation to curb the flow of false information, memes can flourish and, under current election laws, be perceived to be harmless in nature. Globally, memes have been perceived as fueling extremist behavior. – AI memes: Election disinformation manifested through satire (brookings.edu)

Security

(Ionut Arghire – SecurityWeek – 7 October 2024) Researchers at Aqua Security are raising the alarm for a newly discovered malware family targeting Linux systems to establish persistent access and hijack resources for cryptocurrency mining. The malware, called perfctl, appears to exploit over 20,000 types of misconfigurations and known vulnerabilities, and has been active for more than three years. – Stealthy ‘Perfctl’ Malware Infects Thousands of Linux Servers – SecurityWeek

(Ionut Arghire – SecurityWeek – 7 October 2024) Non-profit technology and R&D company MITRE has introduced a new mechanism that enables organizations to share intelligence on real-world AI-related incidents. Shaped in collaboration with over 15 companies, the new AI Incident Sharing initiative aims to increase community knowledge of threats and defenses involving AI-enabled systems. – MITRE Announces AI Incident Sharing Project  – SecurityWeek

(Eduard Kovacs – SecurityWeek – 7 October 2024) Universal Music Group is informing hundreds of individuals about a recent data breach impacting their personal information. According to information shared by the media giant with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, unuthorized activity was discovered in an internal application in early July. – Personal Information Compromised in Universal Music Data Breach  – SecurityWeek

(Ionut Arghire – SecurityWeek – 7 October 2024) Telecommunications provider Comcast is notifying close to 238,000 individuals that their personal information was compromised in a ransomware attack at debt collection agency Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS). Initially disclosed in April 2024, the incident was discovered on February 26, 2024, but the attackers had access to FBCS’s network for two weeks before that and could view and exfiltrate certain data, including personal information. – 238,000 Comcast Customers Hit by FBCS Ransomware Attack – SecurityWeek

(Eduard Kovacs – SecurityWeek – 7 October 2024) The China-linked threat group known as Salt Typhoon has hacked into the networks of several major broadband providers in the United States, potentially compromising wiretap systems, according to The Wall Street Journal.  The publication reported last month that Salt Typhoon had compromised the systems of unnamed ISPs in the US in search of sensitive information. Salt Typhoon is believed to be a Chinese state-sponsored APT. – China’s Salt Typhoon Hacked AT&T, Verizon: Report – SecurityWeek

(Kevin Poireault – Infosecurity Magazine – 7 October 2024) Technology professionals are increasingly worried about the shortage of AI security skills within organizations, according to learning platform provider O’Reilly. In its 2024 State of Security Survey report, the firm found that 33.9% of tech professionals reported a shortage of AI security skills, particularly around emerging vulnerabilities like prompt injection. Survey respondents also ranked AI-enabled security tools as the top priority for the coming year (34.4%), followed by security automation (28.2%). Evidence that automating cybersecurity defenses is a growing trend among security professionals . – Tech Professionals Highlight Critical AI Security Skills Gap – Infosecurity Magazine (infosecurity-magazine.com)

Defense, Intelligence, and War

(Seth J. Frantzman – Breaking Defense – 7 October 2024) In July, nine months after the devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Israel Defense Forces released one of its first publicly available investigations into the failures of that day, a study of the battle of Kibbutz Be’eri, where 101 civilians were killed during the Hamas attack. But it is clear the Israeli military could not wait nine months to begin reacting to the Oct. 7 attacks, as it mounted an aggressive, deadly retaliatory campaign in Gaza. The IDF has been evolving in real time in the year of war since — using new technology, reorganizing its fighting forces and even adjusting the way it trains its soldiers. With ground operations now expanding into southern Lebanon, where Israel hopes to push back Iran-backed Hezbollah, here’s a look at how Israel has responded to the demands of modern combat in the past year. – In a year of war since Oct. 7, Israel introduced new battlefield tech, honed its organization – Breaking Defense