SolarWinds hackers found conducting widespread spear-phishing campaign

 Microsoft has issued an alert to expose a targeted spear-phishing campaign launched by Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign to target more than 150 different organisations across sectors and conduct data exfiltration or additional malware deployment.

The targeted spear-phishing campaign, conducted by NOBELIUM, the hacker group behind the SolarWinds hacking campaign, was first detected in late January and since then, the hackers have used a variety of tools and techniques to make organisations click on malicious links and enable the deployment of malware into their networks.

According to the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), the spear-phishing campaign has so far targeted approximately 3,000 individual accounts across more than 150 organisations. The hackers have been found employing "an established pattern of using unique infrastructure and tooling for each target, increasing their ability to remain undetected for a longer period of time."

New Zealand central bank hit by cyberattack

On Sunday, New Zealand's central bank reported that it was responding with urgency to a "malicious" breach of one of its data systems.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced that a third-party file-sharing service used by the bank to share and store some sensitive information was illegally accessed.

RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said the breach had been contained and the bank's main functions "remain sound and operational."

"We are working closely with domestic and international cybersecurity experts and other relevant authorities as part of our investigation and response to this malicious attack," Orr said in a statement.

"The nature and extent of information that has been potentially accessed is still being determined, but it may include some commercially and personally sensitive information," he said.

Cyberattacks on rise

It's unclear when the breach took place, who was responsible and in what country the file-sharing service is based. It willk take time to understand the full implications of the breach, according to the bank.

In a November 2019 Financial Stability report, the RBNZ warned that cybersecurity incidents were on the rise in New Zealand.

Several major organizations in New Zealand have been the target of cyberattacks in the past year. Last August, the New Zealand Stock Exchange had been targeted by sustained DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks, halting trade for four consecutive days.

In its latest report, the government agency CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) said cyber attacks in the country had increased 33% year-on-year.