QuoScient’s Weekly Intelligence Bulletin for the week of 12 July – 19 July 2018 is now available for download in the Media Center! Find below a summary.
Cyber
Vulnerabilities The Oracle July 2018 patch release addresses 334 vulnerabilities, of which 206 (~61%) are remotely exploitable without authentication and 61 are assessed as ‘Critical’.
Reported Incidents Medical laboratory testing firm LabCorp reportedly suffered a ransomware attack on its network, after “detecting suspicious activity” during the weekend of July 14.
Telecommunications provider Telefonica suffered a data breach impacting millions of Spanish users of the company’s Movistar landline, broadband, and pay television service. As a result, Telefonica faces fines of between 2 and 4 percent of their annual turnover under new GDPR regulation.
Cyber Threat Actor Activity Reportedly, the recent attack on the Russian bank, PIR Bank, was the result of the Russian threat actor group MoneyTaker breaching the banks network via an outdated router.
Researchers analyzed a collection of new samples that were allegedly used in a multi-stage cyberespionage campaign dubbed Operation Roman Holiday. Among those identified samples is a new variant of the malware family named X-Agent, which is a backdoor attributed to the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor group APT28.
Cryptocurrency
Mastercard won a patent for a method to combine a fiat currency and cryptocurrency under one profile. This patent might increase the usability of cryptocurrencies as means of payment.
The Malta-based cryptocurrency company Stasis launched EURS, a coin entirely backed by the Euro. The company hopes EURS will increase institutional trust in the market by connecting traditional finance providers with cryptocurrency.
Geopolitics
The E.U. and Japan have signed a free trade agreement which will create one of the largest free trading blocs globally. Analysts expect this to boost the E.U.’s and Japan’s economies.
President Trump holds President Putin responsible for Russia’s reported meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, backtracking from his initial remark that Russia was not involved. Shortly before their summit, a federal jury charged 12 Russian intelligence officers for infiltrating the Democratic party’s network in 2016.
Outlook
July 20 – The Circle of Hope
July 21 – G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
July 25 – President Trump to meet E.U. Commission President Juncker
July 26 – ECB Monetary Policy Meeting