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N2K Networks

Deception, influence, and social engineering in the world of cyber crime.

Hacking Humans

Happy Halloween from the team at N2K Networks! 

We hope you share in our Halloween tradition of listening to the Malware Mash. You can check out our video ⁠here⁠. 

Lyrics

I was coding in the lab late one night

when my eyes beheld an eerie sight 

for my malware threat score began to rise 

and suddenly to my surprise...

It did the Mash 

It did the Malware Mash 

The Malware Mash 

It was a botnet smash 

It did the Mash 

It caught on 'cause of Flash 

The Malware Mash 

It did the Malware Mash

From the Stuxnet worm squirming toward the near east 

to the dark web souqs where the script kiddies feast 

the APTs left their humble abodes 

to get installed from rootkit payloads. 

They did the Mash 

They did the Malware Mash 

The Malware Mash 

It was an adware smash 

They did the Mash 

It caught on 'cause of Flash 

The Malware Mash 

They did the Malware Mash

The botnets were having fun 

The DDoS had just begun 

The viruses hit the darknet, 

with ransomware yet to come. 

The keys were logging, phishing emails abound, 

Snowden on chains, backed by his Russian hounds. 

The Shadow Brokers were about to arrive 

with their vocal group, "The NotPetya Five."

They did the Mash 

They played the Malware Mash

The Malware Mash 

It was a botnet smash 

They did the Mash 

It caught on 'cause of Flash 

The Malware Mash 

They played the Malware Mash

Somewhere in Moscow Vlad's voice did ring 

Seems he was troubled by just one thing. 

He opened a shell then shook his fist 

and said, "Whatever happened to my Turla Trojan twist." 

It's now the Mash 

It's now the Malware Mash 

The Malware Mash 

And it's a botnet smash 

It's now the Mash 

It caught on 'cause of Flash 

The Malware Mash 

It's now the Malware Mash

Now everything's cool, Vlad's a part of the band 

And the Malware Mash is the hit of the land. 

For you, defenders, this mash was meant to 

when you get to my door, tell them Creeper sent you.

Then you can Mash 

Then you can Malware Mash 

The Malware Mash 

And be a botnet smash 

It is the Mash 

Don't you dare download Flash 

The Malware Mash 

Just do the Malware Mash

The Malware Mash!

This week, our hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (also host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Minus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Space Daily show) are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. In our follow up, our hosts respond to a listener who wrote in with an insightful question about the role of wealth in scam susceptibility. Joe's story covers how a fake AI recruiter lures developers with a GitHub “technical assessment” that, when run, unleashes a five-stage malware chain to steal credentials, wallets, and install persistent backdoors. Maria has the story on a Halloween-themed phishing scam that lured victims with a fake Home Depot giveaway, using obfuscated code, stolen email threads, and tracking pixels to trick users into handing over personal and payment information. Dave’s story is on a convincing phishing email claiming Dashlane was hacked, showing how fear and urgency—even in obvious scams—can make anyone second-guess before thinking twice. Our catch of the day is from the scams sub-Reddit thread, and is how one user received a message from their "aunt" who wanted to be nice and grab the user a present. 

Resources and links to stories:

 
⁠How a fake AI recruiter delivers five staged malware disguised as a dream job

 Home Depot Halloween phish gives users a fright, not a freebie

 Why the Obviously Fake Dashlane Hack Phishing Email Still Made Me Jump

 

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Beware the boo-gus giveaway.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. 

A set of solutions for ensuring that the right users can only access the appropriate resources.

CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/identity-and-access-management⁠

Audio reference link: “⁠The Wrath of Khan (1982) ‘Kirk’s Response⁠,’” by Russell, YouTube, 16 May 2017.

Identity access management (IAM) (noun) [Word Notes]

This week, while ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠ is on vacation, hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (also host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Minus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Space Daily show) are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Users are reporting a potential new Signal scam involving fake in-app messages posing as official support, though Signal confirms it never contacts users first and only communicates via Signal email addresses. Joe’s story is on South Korea targeting Cambodia’s scam industry after reports of kidnappings, torture, and a death, as officials crack down on criminal groups luring citizens into forced online fraud operations across Southeast Asia. Maria has the story on how AI-driven scams like deepfakes and virtual kidnappings are increasingly targeting Gen Z, using fake voices and videos to power extortion schemes that exploit their mobile-first, always-online lives. Listener DarkProphet6 shares a clever phishing attempt disguised as a fake Cloudflare “I’m not a robot” check, which tried to trick users into pasting malicious code into their terminal — a move that could have created a remote shell for attackers.

Resources and links to stories:

 South Korea Targets Cambodia’s Scam Industry After Kidnappings, Torture and a Death

 Feds seize $15 billion in bitcoin after busting alleged global crypto scam

 China sentences 11 members of mafia family to death

 AI-driven scams are preying on Gen Z’s digital lives​

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Liar, liar, AI on fire.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. 

The deployment of rules to the security stack across all data islands, cloud, SaaS applications, data centers, and mobile devices designed to manifest an organization's cybersecurity first principle strategies of zero trust, intrusion kill chain prevention, resilience, and risk forecasting. 

CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/policy-orchestration⁠

Audio reference link: “⁠The Value of Using Security Policy Orchestration and Automation⁠,” by David Monahan, uploaded by EMAResearch, 3 April, 2018

Policy Orchestration (noun) [Word Notes]

This week, our hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (also host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Minus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Space Daily show) are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Dave's story is on how older aspiring models like Judy were scammed into paying hundreds for fake photoshoots, and how to avoid falling for similar tricks. Joe’s got the story of how Bitcoin ATMs are being exploited by scammers, costing Americans millions and targeting mostly older victims. Maria's got the story of a rapidly spreading WhatsApp “Vote for My Child” scam across Europe that hijacks accounts and extorts money through emotional trickery. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit, where a user is messaged by the one and only Barack Obama. 

Resources and links to stories:

 I was fooled into paying £500 to be a model. Here's how to avoid my mistake

 Bitcoin ATMs increasingly used by scammers to target victims, critics say

 WhatsApp ‘Vote for My Child’ Scams Are Rapidly Spreading Across Europe, Bitdefender Lab Warns

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Scams that steal more than money.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. 

A process of hiding the complexity of a system by providing an interface that eases its manipulation.

CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/abstraction-layer⁠

Audio reference link: “⁠What Is Abstraction in Computer Science,⁠” by Codexpanse, YouTube, 29 October 2018.

Abstraction layer (noun) [Word Notes]

This week, our hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠ , ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joe Carrigan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Maria Varmazis⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (also host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Minus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Space Daily show) are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Listener Chad wrote in after hearing an episode to share that he received a suspicious call that sounded like a prison-related scam. Maria’s story is on a new Consumer Reports study revealing a surge in texting and messaging scams, with young adults hit hardest and major disparities in who loses money. Joe covers the story on YouTuber Tai Lopez — famous for his “here in my garage” videos — being charged by the SEC for running a $112 million Ponzi-like investment scheme. Dave’s got the story on a new Android trojan called Datzbro that targets seniors with AI-generated Facebook travel events, leading to device takeovers and financial fraud. Our catch of the day comes from listener Cameron, who shares an "urgent message from Union Bank."

Resources and links to stories:

 
⁠Consumer Reports study finds surge in texting and messaging scams

 SEC Says ‘Here in My Garage’ YouTuber Tai Lopez Ran a Ponzi Scheme

 New Android Trojan "Datzbro" Tricking Elderly with AI-Generated Facebook Travel Events

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hackinghumans@n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The text trap tightens.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. 

A set of services for managing identity and access management, or IAM across all of an organization's data islands.

CyberWire Glossary link: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/identity-fabric⁠

Audio reference link: “⁠Leadership Compass Identity Fabrics - Analyst Chat 126⁠,” by KuppingerCole, YouTube, 30 May 2022.

Identity Fabric (noun) [Word Notes]

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is ⁠⁠⁠⁠Selena Larson⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Proofpoint⁠⁠⁠⁠ intelligence analyst and host of their podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠DISCARDED⁠⁠⁠⁠. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by her co-hosts ⁠⁠⁠⁠N2K Networks⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Keith Mularski⁠⁠⁠, former FBI cybercrime investigator and now Chief Global Ambassador at ⁠⁠⁠Qintel⁠⁠⁠.

Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this spooky special episode, our hosts ponder which threat actor, malware, or campaign name would be the most terrifying — from the spectral stealth of GhostRAT silently haunting your systems, to the deceptively sweet lure of ILoveYou that once spread chaos across the globe. Along the way, they share some of their favorite “ghost stories” from the cyber underworld — legendary incidents and infamous operations that still haunt defenders today — and explore why these names and their real-world impacts have left such lasting scars on the digital landscape.

Plus, we’ve cooked up a fun, mystery-solving video to accompany this episode — complete with spooky clues, masked sleuths, and a few laugh-out-loud moments that fans of classic cartoon detectives will appreciate. Check it out on YouTube and see if you can unmask the culprit!

When malware goes bump in the night.

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Rick Howard to uncover the stories behind notable cyberattacks. 
Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode, we talk about how threat actors are shifting tactics across the landscape, focusing more on advanced social engineering and refined initial access strategies than on sophisticated malware. 
We’ll dive into Proofpoint's latest blog detailing a transport sector breach that, while involving relatively standard malware, showcases this growing trend of nuanced techniques and toolsets.

Whispers in the wires: A closer look at the new age of intrusion. [OMITB]

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