Tag: cyberthreat

Security updates released for Microsoft Exchange Servers

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is encouraging organisations to install critical updates following a number of vulnerabilities being addressed in Microsoft Exchange.
As part of Microsoft's scheduled April update cycle, a number of critical severity vulnerabilities were addressed in Microsoft Exchange. We have no information to suggest that these vulnerabilities are being used in active exploitation. However, given the recent focus on Exchange, we recommend the installation of updates as soon as practicable, as attackers may seek to build exploit capability which could be used against systems before the updates are applied.
The vulnerabilities affect Microsoft Exchange Server. The affected versions are:
- Exchange Server 2013
- Exchange Server 2016
- Exchange Server 2019
Organisations running an out-of-support version of Microsoft Exchange should update to a supported version without delay.
Exchange Online customers are already protected.
Recommendation
The NCSC recommends following vendor best practice advice in the mitigation of vulnerabilities. In this case, the most important aspect is to install the latest security updates immediately. The April 2021 security update fixes a number of security vulnerabilities and more information can be found on Microsoft's website.
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When & How to Report Security Incidents - ENISA releases new guidelines

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News, Telecomms sector
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) releases new guidelines to facilitate the reporting of security incidents by national telecom security authorities.
The guidelines published help national telecom security authorities in the reporting of significant incidents to ENISA and the European Commission under the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC).
These new guidelines replace the previous ones issued by ENISA on incident reporting under Article 13a of the EU Telecoms Framework Directive. This revised version takes into account the scope and the provisions of the EECC and provides non-binding technical guidance to national authorities supervising security in the electronic communications sector.
The following three types of incident reporting are provided for under article 40 of the EECC:
1. National incident reporting from providers to national security authorities;
2. Ad-hoc incident reporting between national security authorities and ENISA;
3. Annual summary reporting from national security authorities to the European Commission and ENISA.
The new guidelines focus firstly on the ad-hoc incident reporting between the security authorities and ENISA and secondly on the annual summary reporting. More specifically, the document includes information on how and when security authorities can report security incidents to ENISA, to the European Commission and to other security authorities.
The information provided considers the services and incidents within the scope of the EECC - incidents affecting confidentiality, availability, integrity and authenticity of networks and services.  The thresholds needed for the annual reporting are also defined.  These thresholds are both of a quantitative and of a qualitative nature.
The quantitative elements considered include the number of users affected and the duration of the incident. Qualitative information was also used, such as the geographical coverage of the incident and the impact on the economy, on society and on users.
The new guidelines also include an incident report template and draw the distinction between national and annual reporting.
This report was drafted by ENISA in close cooperation with the ECASEC expert group of national telecom security authorities.
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CISA Publish Ransomware Guidance and Resources

Agency News, Cyber Security CII sector, Industry News
Ransomware is an ever-evolving form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption. Ransomware actors often target and threaten to sell or leak exfiltrated data or authentication information if the ransom is not paid. In recent years, ransomware incidents have become increasingly prevalent among the Nation’s state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) government entities and critical infrastructure organizations.
Malicious actors continue to adjust and evolve their ransomware tactics over time, and CISA analysts remain vigilant in maintaining awareness of ransomware attacks and associated tactics, techniques, and procedures across the country and around the world: See CISA's Awareness Briefings on Combating Ransomware, Joint Ransomware Statement, and CISA Insights – Ransomware Outbreak.
Looking to learn more about this growing cyber threat? The NEW Ransomware Guide is a great place to start. The Guide, released in September 2020, represents a joint effort between CISA and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). The joint Ransomware Guide includes industry best practices and a response checklist that can serve as a ransomware-specific addendum to organization cyber incident response plans.
In January 2021, CISA unveiled the Reduce the Risk of Ransomware Campaign to raise awareness and instigate actions to combat this ongoing and evolving threat. The campaign is a focused, coordinated and sustained effort to encourage public and private sector organizations to implement best practices, tools and resources that can help them mitigate ransomware risk.
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