Author: 5amResearch

Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence team issued a warning earlier today about the Russian state-sponsored actor APT28 (aka “Fancybear” or “Strontium”) actively exploiting the CVE-2023-23397 Outlook flaw to hijack Microsoft Exchange accounts and steal sensitive information. The targeted entities include government, energy, transportation, and other key organizations in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The tech giant also highlighted the exploitation of other vulnerabilities with publicly available exploits in the same attacks, including CVE-2023-38831 in WinRAR and CVE-2021-40444 in Windows…

Tipalti says they are investigating claims that the ALPHV ransomware gang breached its network and stole 256 GB of data, including data for Roblox and Twitch. Tipalti offers technology solutions for accounting, payment processing, eCommerce, and affiliate and influencer programs. The company has numerous well-known customers, including Twitch, Roblox, ZipRecruiter, Roku, GoDaddy, Canva, and X. “Over the past weekend, a ransomware group claimed that they allegedly gained access to confidential information belonging to Tipalti and its customers,” Tipalti told BleepingComputer…

There are continued warnings that the US has been without a chemical security programme since late July, leaving more than 3000 high-risk chemical facilities in the country vulnerable to terrorist, cyber- and physical attacks. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) programme, which was authorised 17 years ago and is managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is charged with regulating high-risk chemical facilities to ensure these sites are not weaponised by terrorists. It expired on 27 July and…

HAGUE: A group of human rights organisations took the Dutch government to court on Monday, arguing its supply of parts for F-35 fighters contributes to violations of international law in Gaza. The case concerns US-owned F-35 parts stored at a warehouse in the Netherlands and then shipped to several partners, including Israel, via existing export agreements. Oxfam Novib, one of the groups filing suit, said the export “made the Netherlands complicit in violations of the laws of war and the…

Note from Corruption Ledger Spotify is a publicly traded company headquartered in Luxembourg. Swedish founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon started Spotify as a small start-up in Stockholm, Sweden in 2006.  Job cuts don’t just affect those who are laid off. It creates a culture of fear for remaining employees, who must work additional hours and maneuver to adapt to new demands, the reorganization of departments, and new or altered functions assigned to them. Expectations are often unrealistic, which also…

  SINGAPORE – GIC has bought two logistic facilities developed by Japanese real estate developer Daiwa House Industry for an undisclosed amount. The assets in Takatsuki city of Greater Osaka and Tosu city of Greater Fukuoka were completed in 2023 and 2021, said the Singapore sovereign wealth fund on Dec 4. “Both properties have modern building specifications that cater to a wide range of tenants,” GIC noted, adding that the assets are located in “regional logistics hubs with convenient transportation…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned hospitals this week to patch the critical ‘Citrix Bleed’ Netscaler vulnerability actively exploited in attacks. Ransomware gangs are already using Citrix Bleed (tracked as CVE-2023-4966) to breach their targets’ networks by circumventing login requirements and multifactor authentication protections. HHS’ security team, the Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3), issued a sector alert on Thursday urging all U.S. healthcare organizations to secure vulnerable NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway devices against ransomware gangs’ attacks….

An Abu Dhabi state-backed vehicle has moved closer to taking full control of The Daily Telegraph just hours after the launch of a regulatory probe that prevents it from removing key journalists from their posts. Sky News has learnt that RedBird IMI has given the newspaper’s board and the government notice of its intention to activate a call option that will convert loans secured against the Telegraph titles and Spectator magazine into shares. The move was communicated to key stakeholders…

A statistician has come forward with disturbing information that, if correct, will promote doubt on the safety of mRNA vaccination for decades into the future. The whistleblower was involved with building and implementing the New Zealand government database vaccine payment system, a ‘pay per dose system’ that would remit payments to vaccination providers. In an interview with New Zealand journalist and lawyer Liz Gunn, and using a false name of Winston Smith, the statistician states that science is all about…

The government is to prohibit the removal or transfer of key Daily Telegraph journalists during a public interest probe into the newspaper’s prospective takeover by a state-backed Abu Dhabi investor. Sky News has learnt that Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, is preparing to make an interim enforcement order (IEO) that will impose a set of restrictions on the Daily and Sunday Telegraph’s current owners. City sources said the IEO – which has been notified to the Barclay family – was…

American office supply retailer Staples took down some of its systems earlier this week after a cyberattack to contain the breach’s impact and protect customer data. Staples operates 994 stores in the US and Canada, along with 40 fulfillment centers for nationwide product storage and dispatch. The disclosure comes after multiple Reddit reports posted online since Monday reported various Staples internal operation problems, including an inability to access Zendesk, VPN employee portals, print email, use phone lines, and more. Additionally,…

Mercer Financial Advice has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a $12 million penalty for breaching fee disclosure obligations and for wrongly charging fees to customers, ASIC has reported. “This is a significant penalty for a financial advice provider,” said Sarah Court (pictured above), ASIC deputy chair. “Mercer failed in its obligation to provide fee disclosure statements to clients, provided misleading information in the disclosure statements it did provide, and charged its clients fees for services it was…

WASHINGTON: US inspectors announced fines against China-based firms Thursday, as part of a broader effort to hold US-listed Chinese companies up to American auditing standards amid simmering geopolitical tensions. These included PwC affiliates in Hong Kong and China, alongside a Chinese audit company. The $7.9 million in penalties unveiled by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) represent some of the highest imposed on any firm globally, it said. They mark the first time it “has been able to bring enforcement action…

  SINGAPORE – Venture Corporation said on Nov 30 that its board of directors has established a share buyback plan to purchase up to 10 million ordinary shares of the company. This plan was authorised by the board on Nov 29, following the approval of Venture’s shareholders of the share purchase mandate at the annual general meeting on April 27, the company said in a bourse filing. Under the mandate, the company can buy up to about 14.5 million shares,…

CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency) is warning that threat actors breached a U.S. water facility by hacking into Unitronics programmable logic controllers (PLCs) exposed online. PLCs are crucial control and management devices in industrial settings, and hackers compromising them could have severe repercussions, such as water supply contamination through manipulating the device to alter chemical dosing. Other risks include service disruption leading to a halt in water supply and physical damage to the infrastructure by overloading pumps or opening and…

WASHINGTON: The US on Wednesday said it imposed a new round of sanctions on a group of 20 people and firms allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. The Treasury Department sanctions impact firms and people spanning Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates. Included in the sanctions package are employees, brokers and purchasers from Iranian firm Sepehr Energy, which is also subject to sanctions. The US alleges that Sepehr acts as a…