Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^®  Protection by containment™

Using portable media, such as USB drives, is paramount in enterprise cybersecurity. Nevertheless, these devices also potentially threaten sensitive data and networks. Organizations must establish a comprehensive strategy for safeguarding against potential attacks. It is crucial to acknowledge the intricacies involved in effectively mitigating these threats.

Understanding the Threat Landscape

Removable media presents both a convenient and risky option for data transfer. While it enables seamless sharing, it also poses a security threat by acting as a potential entry point for malicious actors to infiltrate corporate networks. The risks associated with removable media are extensive, including malware infiltration, data theft, and exploitation of system vulnerabilities. Recent high-profile incidents have underscored the severity of unmonitored removable media usage and its potential consequences.

Challenges in Defense

Defending against removable media attacks poses significant challenges for enterprise users and security professionals. Traditional security measures such as antivirus software and perimeter defenses must often be equipped to thwart sophisticated attacks originating from removable media. The transient nature of these devices, coupled with their propensity to bypass traditional security mechanisms, renders enterprises vulnerable to infiltration and compromise.

Current Protections and Limitations

Due to the increasing threat landscape, organizations have implemented measures to reduce the security risks associated with removable media. However, there are better solutions than outright blocking or limiting the use of these devices, as it hinders productivity and collaboration and causes frustration for users but does not address the underlying security vulnerabilities.

While device control software can limit access, the pressure from employees and key management in the organization to enable users to work and connect removable media makes it difficult to maintain control. Consequently, CISOs (Chief Information Security Officers) and IT managers are forced to cancel device control limitations, exposing the organization to dangerous security risks.

The Solution: Prevention-Based Isolation

Removable media poses a significant threat to data security, but there’s hope in the form of prevention-based isolation. BUFFERZONE^® Safe Workspace® security suite (that  it’s strategic concept is Protection by containment™) takes a unique approach to removable media isolation, effectively neutralizing attacks from USB drives, CDs, and DVDs.

By creating a secure virtual environment that isolates removable media from critical systems and networks, BUFFERZONE^® empowers organizations to utilize removable media without compromising security. Safe Workspace automatically opens removable media inside the secure virtual container, preventing auto-execution attacks.

Rather than outright blocking users access, BUFFERZONE^® isolates the threat, allowing the user to work securely inside the container and open and edit media and documents without the risk of ransomware, data stealers, or other evasive attacks. Advanced detection solutions and antivirus software can scan the virtual environment and enhance security.

Making Security Accessible: Moving files from removable media to the organization

BUFFERZONE^® SafeBridge® platform provides advanced file security features such as Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR). This feature is based on zero-trust principles and can protect organizations from unknown threats while allowing users to upload files into the organization safely.

SafeBridge^® benefits organizations that use data sanitization KIOSKs, as it eliminates the need for users to go to the sanitization room and KIOSK station physically. Safe Workspace automatically secures removable media and moves it to the organization’s chosen location. This makes it easier and faster for users to access files without compromising security.

In addition to CDR, SafeBridge^® also offers integration with multiple anti-virus scanners and malware sandboxes to provide even more robust security measures.

Conclusion

As the reliance on removable media continues to pervade enterprise environments, the imperative for robust security measures has never been greater. By acknowledging the inherent risks and embracing innovative solutions such as prevention-based isolation, organizations can confidently navigate the complexities of defending against removable media attacks. BUFFERZONE^® Security stands at the forefront of this endeavor, equipping enterprises with the tools and technologies needed to safeguard their digital assets in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^® AI Anti-Phishing,  Protection by containment™

Despite law enforcement disruptions to major ransomware gangs like LockBit and BlackCat, Q1 2024 marked the peak in activity, with a 21% surge compared to Q1 2023, as per Corvus Insurance [1]. Global ransomware attacks in 2023 hit a record high, up almost 70% from 2022. Despite law enforcement targeting LockBit’s infrastructure in Q1 2024, leading to reduced operations, the group is attempting to rebuild slowly. ALPHV/BlackCat’s March attack on a healthcare company caused significant damage. Nevertheless, ransomware attacks continued and even intensified, possibly due to Ransomware groups affiliates shifting to new groups. Additionally, 18 new data leak sites emerged in Q1 2024, totaling 60 active leak sites for the quarter.

Staying Safe in the Digital World

While no security solution can offer complete protection, organizations have still been affected by Ransomware attacks. Individuals and organizations must adopt preventive security measures to address this increasing threat. Such measures include:

• Educating employees on the signs of phishing emails.
• Implementing advanced application isolation technology.
• Regularly updating systems to patch vulnerabilities.

To tackle this issue, our team has developed BUFFERZONE® Safe Workspace®, a suite of zero-trust solutions designed to offer robust security measures is based on Protection by containment™. The suite includes Safe Mail, NoCloud^® Artificial Intelligence (AI) Anti-Phishing, SafeBridge® Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR), and Safe Browser, a secure browsing solution.

Safe Mail is a Microsoft Outlook plugin that uses BUFFERZONE® SafeBridge® to ensure emails are disarmed and safe from email attacks. Safe Mail ensures the attachments and links are securely opened inside BUFFERZONE® secure virtual container. The container isolates the browsing and file activity, thus keeping your computer safe from evasive attacks. By isolating threats, the next step of the attack is stopped, and the security breach caused by the human factor is minimized.

Conclusion

Ransomware and evasive malware are always coming up with new and innovative ways to avoid detection. By changing our security and adding a new prevention approach based on application isolation to the existing detection layers, we can successfully minimize the attack surface and contain the threats before they damage the organization while keeping IT simple.

References

[1] HelpNetSecurity, Ransomware activity is back on track despite law enforcement efforts, https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/05/07/ransomware-activity-q1-2024/

Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^® Anti-Phishing, Object Detection, Protection by containment™

The cybersecurity landscape constantly changes, and attackers always develop new ways to bypass detection mechanisms. One technique that is becoming more popular is steganography
phishing attacks, especially in object detection. These attacks involve embedding subtle changes into logos or images, preventing them from detection by traditional security measures.
This poses a significant challenge for security measures.

Steganography, derived from the Greek words steganos (covered) and graphia (writing), is the art of concealing information within other data. While historically associated with covert communication, its application has expanded to encompass malicious activities, including phishing attacks. In the context of object detection, steganography involves subtly changing
logos or images to insert imperceptible alterations, thereby deceiving Artificial Intelligence (AI) models while still being visually indistinguishable from human observers.

The primary target of steganography phishing attacks in object detection is to manipulate the confidence levels of AI models. Object detection systems rely on neural networks trained
to accurately identify and classify objects within images. However, these systems can be misled with subtly altered images, leading to misclassification or reduced prediction confidence.

One common approach involves introducing imperceptible noise or hidden images into the logos of legitimate entities. By strategically embedding these alterations, attackers can disrupt
the object detection process without arousing suspicion from human observers. For instance, a seemingly innocuous logo may contain hidden patterns or changes that subtly influence the
AI model’s decision-making process.

The implications of such attacks are profound, particularly in scenarios where object detection plays a critical role in security measures. For example, consider using AI-based systems in
fraud detection, where logos are essential indicators of authenticity. By undermining the reliability of these systems, steganography phishing attacks can facilitate fraudulent activities,
including identity theft and financial fraud. A recently published article has proven that YoloV5, a well-known object detector, can be easily bypassed by using a steganography attack.
As a result, the authors demonstrated that the medical objects were not detected at all, while before the attack, the objects were detected with almost 90% Recall.

Mitigating the threat posed by steganography phishing attacks requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses technical and procedural vulnerabilities. AI models in object detection
must be equipped with robust mechanisms for overcoming subtle alterations introduced through steganographic techniques.

Furthermore, organizations must enhance employee awareness and training programs to recognize other signs of phishing attacks, such as abnormal domain names or top-level domains (TLD).

In conclusion, the rise of steganography phishing attacks presents a formidable challenge to the effectiveness of object detection systems. By exploiting subtle alterations within logos or
images, attackers can bypass traditional detection mechanisms, undermining the integrity of AI-based security measures. Addressing this threat requires a proactive approach that combines technical innovation with user education and robust authentication measures. Only through collective vigilance and adaptation can organizations effectively mitigate the risks posed by steganography phishing attacks in the era of AI-driven cybersecurity.

At BUFFERZONE®, we are highly aware of such attacks, and we will present how to overcome AI attacks with AI in future blogs.

Interested in learning more?

Contact us

Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^® Anti-Phishing, Protection by containment™

DarkGate malware attacks are spread through spam emails containing malicious attachments or links.
This threat is called Malsam. It is a way to deliver malware or other harmful
software to a victim’s computer or network. DarkGate Malspam campaigns often use emails with attachments like Microsoft Office documents, PDF files,
or ZIP archives.
These attachments are designed to exploit vulnerabilities or deceive users into opening them. Once opened, the malware can install backdoors, keyloggers, ransomware,
or other
malicious software on the victim’s system.

Discovered by a security researcher (@Tac_Mangusta, Link), the new attack infection process for this campaign starts with an email file that has an HTML attachment
(Figure. 1).

Figure. 1 Email lure with HTML file attachment (source Link)

The HTML file looks like a blank Microsoft Document with instructions on fixing offline viewing. This is a trick to get victims to paste malicious PowerShell code into a
Windows Terminal as can be seen in Figure. 2.

Figure. 2 HTML lure with clicked How to fix instruction that looks like Microsoft Word file (source Link).

Once the code is executed, an HTA file will be downloaded and will continue to execute, eventually downloading a follow-up ZIP file. Once extracted, the ZIP file will launch
an open-source automation engine called AutoIt to execute a malicious AutoIt script named script.a3x that will eventually load the DarkGate trojan.

Staying Safe in the Digital World

To combat this threat, individuals and organizations must adopt preventive security measures. This includes educating employees about the signs of phishing emails, implementing
advanced security solutions, and regularly updating systems to patch vulnerabilities. However, 92% of the attacks start with phishing attacks targeting the human factor.
However, this attack used a simple lure text and malicious phishing link.

This is why we created BUFFERZONE^® Safe Workspace^®, a suite of zero-trust solutions that  it’s strategic concept is Protection by containment™, it consists of Safe Mail, NoCloud^® Artificial Intelligence (AI) Anti-Phishing, SafeBridge®
Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR), and Safe Browser, a secure browsing solution.

Safe Mail is a Microsoft Outlook plugin that uses BUFFERZONE^® SafeBridge^® to CDR emails and open links and attachments securely inside a BUFFERZONE^® secure virtual container. BUFFERZONE^® container isolates the browsing and file activity while keeping your computer safe from evasive attacks. In this sophisticated Malspam attack example, the fake HTML file
that looks like a Word file will be opened inside our container and will be unable to execute its malicious second step, will be isolated from the organization environment.
As a result, the next step of the attack is stopped, and the human factor security breach is minimized.

Conclusion

Phishing and evasive malware are always finding new innovative ways to bypass detection. By isolating threats and adding prevention capabilities to your existing detection solution
with an intelligent phishing detection solution, the organization achieves the highest level of security and keeps IT simple.

Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^® Anti-Phishing, Object Detection, Protection by containment™

In the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, phishing is still one of the oldest yet most effective tools in a cybercriminal’s arsenal. However, as cybersecurity measures grow more sophisticated,
so do the tactics of these digital adversaries. A particularly cunning evolution in phishing is adversarial attacks, precisely manipulating company logos to slip past AI (Artificial Intelligence) detection defenses.

The Stealthy Art of Adversarial Attacks

Adversarial attacks in cybersecurity are techniques that apply subtle alterations to digital content, making it difficult for AI-based detection systems to identify threats without hampering
human recognition. These manipulations are often indiscernible to the naked eye yet are enough to deceive algorithms to detect phishing attempts. Our earlier blog discusses adversarial
attacks on login page text information. This blog will focus on the brand logo’s visible attacks.

The Devil in the Details: Logo Manipulation Techniques

Logo manipulation involves altering critical visual elements of a logo to avoid detection by security algorithms. Techniques can range from slight color adjustments and pixel-level noise
addition to more sophisticated geometric transformations. These changes are calculated to preserve the logo’s recognizability to human observers, while the modifications in the image
are designed to bypass AI-driven object detection.

This manipulation exploits a critical vulnerability in how security systems and humans process visual information. While people can easily recognize a slightly altered logo, AI systems
can
falter, mistaking the tampered logo for a harmless or unrelated image. Recent publications concluded the following observations:

1. “Despite abundant evidence showing that ML models are vulnerable, practitioners persist in treating such threats as low priority.”
2. “To evade phishing ML detectors, attackers employ tactics relying on cheap but effective methods that are unlikely to result from gradient computations.”

The paper concluded based on the analysis of one hundred phishing pages and summarized the popularity of the following logo attacks:

Since those attacks are easy to create, have a high effectiveness ratio, they pose a significant threat on AI detection.

Technological Countermeasures:

To overcome adversarial attacks, we recommend the following steps:

Advanced Detection Algorithms: Researchers continuously develop sophisticated AI models with more robust detection capabilities and lower prediction latency.
In addition, researchers are working on state-of-the-art algorithms to enhance the protection against adversarial attacks. One of those initiatives is the Trust.AI consortium, which
focuses on improving the AI model’s confidence and resilience against adversarial attacks.

Adversarial Training: This involves training detection systems using examples of manipulated logos, thereby improving their ability to recognize such alterations.

Human-Centric Defenses:

Education and Awareness: Regular employee training sessions can significantly enhance an organization’s defense against phishing. Users may not detect the steganography
attack but can find other anomalies on the web page, such as text manipulation, abnormal URL names, uncommon top-level domains (TLDs), and the detection of web hosting sites.

Policy and Procedure: Setting up clear protocols for verifying the authenticity of suspicious emails or websites can prevent phishing attempts from succeeding.

In future blogs, we will discuss how adversarial try to bypass AI and how AI can overcome these challenges by fighting AI with AI.

Interested in learning more?

Contact us

Target: IT Professionals (Elementary)

Tags: Phishing, Safe Workspace^®, Safe Browsing, NoCloud^® Anti-Phishing, Object Detection, Protection by containment™

Phishing attacks are a persistent threat in the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity. Attackers use various techniques to deceive unsuspecting users into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials. One technique that is gaining popularity is bypassing object detection systems by manipulating the login text information. This manipulation of login text information is a significant step in recognizing a phishing attack. Attackers use different ways to camouflage the login page, making it difficult to detect. However, object detection is a promising solution to overcome this issue. In this blog, we will discuss the critical need for robust object detection capabilities in detecting phishing attacks. We will explore how attackers manipulate login text to evade detection and increase success rates.

The Importance of Object Detection in Phishing Detection

Object detection plays a pivotal role in modern cybersecurity defenses, especially in the context of phishing detection. With the proliferation of sophisticated phishing attacks, automated systems equipped with object detection capabilities have become indispensable tools for identifying and thwarting such threats.

Object detection systems use advanced algorithms based on Deep Learning models to analyze images and detect specific objects or patterns. In the context of phishing detection, these systems are adept at recognizing elements such as login screens, password fields, brand logos, and other sensitive information commonly targeted by attackers.

Bypassing Object Detection Through Text Manipulation

Phishing attackers are adept at exploiting vulnerabilities in security systems, and one increasingly prevalent tactic involves manipulating login text information to bypass object detection mechanisms. Here’s how attackers execute this technique:

Text Obfuscation: Attackers may obfuscate login text by applying transformations such as rotating, skewing, or distorting characters. These alterations make it challenging for object detection algorithms to accurately extract text from phishing images.

Background Noise Addition: Another tactic involves adding background noise or clutter around login text elements. By blending text with surrounding visual elements, attackers disrupt the clear delineation between text and background, making it harder for object detection systems to isolate and recognize login information.

Overlay Techniques: Attackers may overlay transparent images or patterns on top of login text, obscuring it from object detection algorithms. This technique exploits the limitations of image analysis algorithms, which may struggle to differentiate between legitimate text and overlay artifacts.

Font Manipulation: Altering the font style, size, or color of login text can also confound object detection systems. By employing unconventional fonts or color schemes, attackers introduce additional complexity, making it more difficult for automated systems to identify and extract login information accurately.

Homoglyph Substitution: This is a technique where attackers replace characters with visually similar alternatives to obfuscate the original text. This can make it more challenging for detection systems to recognize sensitive information, such as passwords, especially in the context of phishing attacks.

For example, a fake AT&T login page manipulates the PASSWORD to PASS*RD between others.

An alternative can be seen in this fake Microsoft Login page where homoglyphs for “a” and “o” are used.

Implications and Countermeasures

The manipulation of login text to bypass object detection poses significant challenges for cybersecurity defenders. As attackers continuously refine their tactics, organizations must enhance their detection capabilities and adopt proactive measures to combat phishing threats effectively.

To mitigate the risks associated with text manipulation in phishing attacks, organizations can implement the following strategies:

Advanced Object Detection Techniques: Improve object detection algorithms to adapt to evolving attack tactics. This may involve using deep learning models trained on diverse datasets to enhance the accuracy and robustness of detection systems.

Anomaly Detection: Augment object detection with anomaly detection techniques to identify suspicious patterns or inconsistencies in phishing images. By flagging deviations from expected norms, anomaly detection mechanisms can help uncover sophisticated attack attempts.

User Education and Awareness: Educate users about vigilance and skepticism when interacting with online content. Empower users to recognize phishing indicators such as unusual login prompts or suspicious website URLs, reducing the likelihood of falling victim to phishing attacks.

Multi-Layered Defense Mechanisms: Implement a multi-layered security approach that combines object detection with other security measures such as email filtering, web content filtering, and behavioral analysis. By deploying complementary defense mechanisms, organizations can effectively create multiple barriers to thwart phishing attempts.

In conclusion, manipulating login text to bypass object detection is a significant challenge in the ongoing battle against phishing attacks. By understanding the tactics employed by attackers and implementing robust detection and mitigation strategies, organizations can bolster their defenses and minimize the risks posed by these insidious threats.

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Contact us