2/2/21

LP, AP & IT Security's #1 News Source

LP + IT Convergence
The Pandemic & IoT adoption have accelerated the merger

Increase in Physical Security Incidents Adds to IT Security Pressures
An increase in physical security incidents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic may be adding to IT security teams' workloads at many organizations.

In a recent survey by Pro-Vigil, a provider of remote video-monitoring services, nearly 20% of 124 business operations leaders surveyed said their organizations had experienced more physical security incidents than the prior year. One-third said they believed they will see an increase in these incidents in 2021.

Concerns over physical security has prompted 40% of the organizations in the survey to make changes to their security strategy, including an increase in their use of video cameras and security guards, since the start of the pandemic.

Organizations are aware of the cyber-risks associated with the digital technologies that are increasingly being deployed for physical security and often have strict IT security requirements when deploying them, says Jeremy White, founder of Pro-Vigil.

"IT security organizations are primarily responsible these days for the deployment and management of not only digital camera systems, but also IP-based access control and many other related products and services," he says.

White says IT teams often have control over the procurement of physical security. As a result, there is a growing need for the IT and physical security teams to work hand-in-hand to ensure physical security technologies are deployed correctly and operate efficiently.

"It's a shift from physical security management in the past," he notes. "As physical security has shifted from an analog offering into a more advanced IP-based or digital solution, the greater the requirement for both physical security to learn more about IT and for IT to learn more about physical security."

The convergence between IT and physical security has been in the making for several years, but it has accelerated recently due to the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and increasingly sophisticated industrial IoT devices at many organizations. Nearly half of the respondents in the Pro-Vigil study, for instance, said they are using modern digital video systems with artificial intelligence (AI) for object recognition.  darkreading.com

A Cautionary Ransomware Tale
A company paid millions to get their data back, but forgot to do one thing.
So the hackers came back again.

Organizations that fall foul of ransomware should concentrate on finding how it happened before anything else - or they could fall victim again.

A company that fell victim to a ransomware attack and paid cyber criminals millions for the decryption key to restore their network fell victim to the exact same ransomware gang under two weeks later after failing to examine why the attack was able to happen in the first place.

The cautionary tale is detailed by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in a blog post about the rise of ransomware. The unnamed company ended up paying millions in bitcoin - twice - in order to restore its network and retrieve its files.

The NCSC has detailed the incident as a lesson for other organisations - and the lesson is that if you fall victim to a ransomware attack, find out how it was possible for cyber criminals to embed themselves on the network undetected before the ransomware payload was unleashed.

"For most victims that reach out to the NCSC, their first priority is - understandably - getting their data back and ensuring their business can operate again. However, the real problem is that ransomware is often just a visible symptom of a more serious network intrusion that may have persisted for days, and possibly longer," said the blog post by an NCSC technical lead for incident management.

In order to install ransomware, cyber criminals may have been able to gain backdoor access to the network - potentially via a previous malware intrusion - as well as having administrator privileges or other login credentials.

If the attackers have that, they could easily deploy another attack if they wanted to - and did, in the example detailed above, as the victim hadn't examined how their network was compromised. zdnet.com

'ValidCC,' a Major Payment Card Bazaar and Looter
of E-Commerce Sites, Shuttered
ValidCC, a dark web bazaar run by a cybercrime group that for more than six years hacked online merchants and sold stolen payment card data, abruptly closed up shop last week. The proprietors of the popular store said their servers were seized as part of a coordinated law enforcement operation designed to disconnect and confiscate its infrastructure.

There are dozens of online shops that sell so-called "card not present" (CNP) payment card data stolen from e-commerce stores, but most source the data from other criminals. In contrast, researchers say ValidCC was actively involved in hacking and pillaging hundreds of online merchants - seeding the sites with hidden card-skimming code that siphoned personal and financial information as customers went through the checkout process.

Russian cybersecurity firm Group-IB published a report last year detailing the activities of ValidCC, noting the gang behind the crime shop was responsible for plundering nearly 700 e-commerce sites. Group-IB dubbed the gang "UltraRank," which it said had additionally compromised at least 13 third-party suppliers whose software components are used by countless online stores across Europe, Asia, North and Latin America. krebsonsecurity.com

Interview With a Russian Cybercriminal
A LockBit ransomware operator shared with researchers why he became involved in cybercrime, how he chooses victims, and what's in his toolbox.

Only 21% of people trust global brands to keep their data safe and secure

Researchers develop tool that ensures secure sensitive data sharing

Scammers targeting COVID-19 vaccination cards posted online

Don't post you COVID-19 vaccination cards online. You may have seen people posting their vacations cards on Instagram, Facebook, and TIK TOK. Your card has personal information that scammers can use. Scammers in the UK have been selling counterfeit vaccination cards posted online. People want to buy counterfeit CDC cards, so they can travel without being quarantined. This is one of the many scams related to the Covid-19 vaccination.

Henderson, NV: Shoplifting Suspect Fatally Stabbed by Mall Security
Henderson police said a shoplifting suspect was killed following a confrontation with property security Sunday night. About 5:40 p.m. on Jan. 31, police said they responded to the Galleria at Sunset, for a battery-related incident involving a knife. According to an investigation, an on-property security officer produced a knife after the theft suspect, a 34-year-old man accused of concealing stolen store merchandise, threatened the security guard with his own knife. "Preliminary information revealed a male subject was observed concealing store merchandise on his person and proceeded to exit the business without paying for the merchandise," police said in a release. "The business' 56-year-old security officer was alerted to the theft and attempted to retrieve the stolen merchandise from the male outside the business." The theft suspect was stabbed during the incident and later transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where he later died. The guard involved stayed on scene and was cooperating with police, they said.  fox5vegas.com

Tucson, AZ: One dead, 1 injured in Officer-involved shooting outside Circle K
Tucson Police Department says a man is dead after an officer-involved shooting on the south side Monday morning. Officials say the shooting happened at a Circle K store at 3301 S. Sixth Avenue at about 6:30 a.m. A man linked to the shooting of a woman, was later killed by police early Monday morning on Tucson's south side, police said. The incident started about 6:30 a.m. when officers answering reports of gunfire in the 3600 block of South Sixth Avenue found a wounded woman in a vehicle, said Sgt. Richard Gradillas, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. The woman had been shot and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, he said. Shortly after, police say they found a man suspected in the woman's shooting at a Circle K store at 3301 S. Sixth Ave. in a car seen fleeing the earlier shooting. The store is near West 44th Street, just south of Interstate 10. Police are investigating whether the man fired before he was shot and killed by an officer, Gradillas said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Tucson Police Department's homicide unit and internal affairs are each investigating the incident, which is standard procedure, Gradillas said.  tucson.com

Garland, TX: Dead Man Found In Ditch Behind Garland Walmart
A man was found dead behind a Walmart in Garland this afternoon. His body was in a ditch at the store located at I-30 and Broadway near the back fence. "We believe there was an exchange of gunfire between the victim and somebody else behind the store," said Garland PD Lt. Pedro Barineau. The victim is identified as 18-year-old Rhamil Reason of Dallas. dfw.cbslocal.com

Tallahassee, FL: Court denies 'Stand Your Ground' defense for suspect in Bonefish Grill co-worker's death
A Florida appeals court is denying a Jacksonville man's legal appeals to invoke the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law over the death of his girlfriend, the latest case to define limits on claiming that a killing might be justified as self-defense. In a brief written decision, the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee agreed with a lower circuit judge's order that Lee Rodarte Jr. was not entitled to immunity under the law in an ongoing murder trial in the 2017 death of his girlfriend and Bonefish Grill co-worker, 21-year-old Savannah Page Gold. Citing the self-defense law, Rodarte's lawyer said the two fought in his parked vehicle outside the restaurant. "In pain and fearing imminent serious bodily harm, the defendant grabbed Ms. Gold's neck," court records said. During the struggle, "the defendant heard and felt a pop in Ms. Gold's neck." A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Tuesday in Jacksonville. Rodarte is also charged with abusing her dead body and tampering with evidence. Police said Rodarte, 32, led them to Gold's body, which had been burned and wrapped in a plastic sheet and dumped at the bottom of a retention pond. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. jacksonville.com

South Burlington, VT: 1 person injured in shooting at University Mall
One person sustained minor injures during a shooting at University Mall on Monday, according to police. They say he was a bystander. South Burlington police Chief Shawn Burke said police received reports of shots being fired in the mall at approximately 5:30 p.m. near the GameStop location inside of the mall. The building immediately went into lockdown as stores closed their doors, according to Burke. The victim has been taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center to receive treatment. "What we're looking into right now is the fact that there was a dispute among some people that led to gunfire," said Burke. Stores immediately went into lockdown mode with employees and shoppers still inside, until police escorted them out approximately three hours later. mynbc5.com

Update: San Gabriel, CA: Man Pleads Not Guilty in shooting death of a man outside a strip mall last month

Rutherfordton, NC: Three Gunmen fire 24 rounds inside convenience store; only the 3 Suspects wounded
 

Anchorage, AK: Man arrested after threatening Walmart employee with a knife
Anchorage Police responded to a robbery involving a knife at Walmart on the Old Seward Highway. After a short chase by Police, 33-year-old Jesse R. Rogers was taken into custody without incident. Rogers was on probation and had two open felony cases. Initial indications are that a Walmart greeter heard a clanging noise as Rogers was passing by him with a shopping cart full of items he had stolen from the store. The greeter did not say anything to Rogers, but Rogers verbally threatened the greeter with physical harm, and that is when the greeter realized the noise he had heard was Rogers hitting a knife against the cart he was pushing. This action by Rogers put the employee in fear for his safety. Rogers had stolen a duffle bag from inside Walmart, and filled it with several more items he had not paid for. Once Rogers pushed the shopping cart outside, he grabbed the bag from the cart and left the area on foot. While Rogers was running from the police, he abandoned the bag in a nearby gas station parking lot. The bag and all of its contents were recovered. There were no injuries.  local.nixle.com

Jonesboro, AR: Rolex Smash and Grab thwarted by employee who ran him down
A Memphis man was being held Monday on a $1 million bond after an attempted "smash and grab" at a jewelry store went wrong. Jermaine Byers, 43, requested Friday to look at a Rolex watch at Sissy's Log Cabin. The watch has a value of $54,650. When the employee was showing Byers the watch, the suspect "snatched it out of the employee's hand causing minor injury," the probable cause affidavit read. The employee, 33, chased Byers to the parking lot of Academy Sports. "After a brief struggle that caused physical injury to the employee's knee, Byers was held down until officers arrived on the scene to take him into custody," the affidavit read. Officers and Street Crimes Unit investigators with the Jonesboro Police Department assisted with Byers' arrest. jonesborosun.com

Update: Gang member sentenced to over 13 years in federal prison for 2 Colorado Springs robberies

Buffalo, NY: 7-Elelven Armed Robber sentenced to 7 years

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