Category: Adversary Intelligence
Region: Brazil
TLP: GEEEN
Executive Summary
This threat intelligence report analyzes over 300 cyberattacks that occurred in Brazil during the past three months, leading up to Brazilian Independence Day. Defacement attacks were the most prevalent threat vector, targeting government websites and critical infrastructure.
The sectors most affected by these attacks were Finance, Government, and Gambling & Betting.
This indicates a heightened risk for these industries, especially during times of national significance. Team R70 emerged as the most active threat actor group, launching a significant number of attacks.
Their focus on government targets suggests a potential political motive behind their actions. Understanding these trends is crucial for organizations in Brazil to strengthen their cybersecurity defenses and mitigate the risks associated with targeted attacks during national holidays.
Brazil Cyber Threat Landscape: Industry-Specific Insight
Brazil has been grappling with a diverse range of cyberattacks targeting various industries. Over the past three months, the country has witnessed a surge in cyber incidents across different sectors.
Finance, government, and gambling have emerged as the most vulnerable industries, facing a significantly higher number of cyberattacks. This suggests that these sectors are particularly attractive to threat actors due to the value of the data they hold.
Healthcare, telecommunication, retail, education, and transportation have also been impacted, but to a lesser extent. While these industries may not be as heavily targeted, they still require robust cybersecurity measures to protect against potential threats.
Top Hacktivist Groups Targeting Brazil
- Team R70: A politically driven hacking group, is responsible for 19.70% of all attacks, with a focus on defacing Brazilian government websites to promote their agenda
- Indonesian Groups: Tengkorak Cyber Crews, Ethersec Team Cyber, and JATIM RedStorm Xploit (JRX) are also very active indicating Indonesian-affiliated entities are targeting Brazil
- Diverse Threat Groups: A range of hacktivist groups like Team 1945, MUNDO HACKER VPN, CRYPTO Corp, HelandMerahGroup, and FED_UP are also involved, suggesting a diverse threat landscape with various motivations and capabilities
- Other Groups: Several other groups, such as Ghosts of Palestine, WE ARE PALESTINE & GAZA, Z-BL4CK-H4T, RADNET 64, and Moroccan Soldiers account for relatively small percentages of the attacks, but their involvement still poses a threat to Brazil's cybersecurity
Brazil Cyber Threat Landscape: Attacks-Type Insight
- Defacement: Defacement is a prevalent cyber attack type where attackers alter the visual appearance of a website, often to spread political or social messages. In Brazil, this attack type is notably high in frequency, indicating a significant issue with website security and the need for robust protection measures
- Data Breach: Data breaches involve unauthorized access to sensitive information, which can lead to significant financial and reputational damage for organizations. The relatively high percentage highlights the critical need for improved data protection strategies and regular security audits
- DDoS: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks aim to overwhelm a target's online services, causing disruptions and downtime. While less frequent than defacements or data breaches, DDoS attacks still pose a serious threat, emphasizing the importance of having mitigation strategies in place
- Ransomware: Ransomware attacks involve encrypting a victim's data and demanding payment for the decryption key. Although the percentage is lower, the impact of ransomware can be severe, making it essential for organizations to implement strong backup and recovery plans
- Phishing: Phishing attacks deceive individuals into divulging sensitive information by pretending to be a legitimate entity. The low percentage suggests it may not be as common as other attacks, but its potential to cause harm underscores the importance of user education and vigilance against fraudulent communications
Data Breaches
This section outlines recent major data breaches affecting Brazil, focusing on the compromised databases of key institutions and government entities, along with the sale of sensitive personal information.
These breaches emphasize the severe risks posed by unauthorized access to personal and financial data, including the potential for identity theft, financial fraud, and significant operational disruptions.
- The threat actor known as “dk0m” selling access to Brazilian government data, accounts, and sensitive pane on an underground forum. The data included intranet and VPN access logs, crime data, traffic, gas, and electricity information.
- Threat actor “injectioninferno” claiming to possess the FGTS (Guarantee Fund for Length of Service) Database and offering to sell it using an underground forum. The actor has posted a sample of the database showing the different data fields present in the database.
- An underground marketplace user and threat actor “Midia22” is selling access to multiple government databases belonging to Brazil. The actor is offering to sell the access using their telegram channel.
- A threat actor known as '0x0xbase' has posted on the underground forum 'breachforums_v2', claiming to possess a full dump of data from the City Council of Rio dos Indios, Brazil. The dump is said to be 35 GB in size and includes PDF, PNG, and document files. The actor is offering the data for free to the community.
- A threat actor known as “ZeroSevenGroup” posted on the underground forum, claiming to possess confidential data belonging to the Brazilian Nuclear Company NUCLEP. The data includes Employee details and sensitive files regarding Defense Manufacturing, Nuclear Manufacturing and Mining, Military Nuclear Submarines, and proprietary information like schemes from Autocad.
Defacement
Brazil is heavily impacted by Distributed Defacement attacks, which make up 58.4% of all cyberattacks. This highlights Defacement as a major threat, severely disrupting online systems and services in the country.
Trend Analysis
- August 16 - September 6: During this period, there was a notable increase in defacement attacks. This uptick could indicate a recent surge in activity or a reaction to specific events or vulnerabilities that were exploited during this timeframe
- August 1 - August 15: The first half of August saw 8 defacement attacks, maintaining a high level of activity. This suggests that the trend of increased attacks, which started in early August, continued into the latter half of the month
- July 16 - July 31: In the second half of July, there were a smaller number of defacement attacks. While this is lower compared to August, it still represents a significant number of incidents, reflecting ongoing threats and vulnerabilities in the web security landscape
- July 1 - July 15: The first half of July experienced a peak. This period shows a substantial rise in activity, which might be attributed to specific factors such as targeted campaigns or newly discovered vulnerabilities that were exploited aggressively
- June 16 - June 30: In the latter part of June, the number of attacks dropped. This might indicate a relative lull in defacement activity or possibly successful mitigation efforts during this period. ● June 1 - June 15: The first half of June had the lowest count. This suggests that either there was minimal activity or that fewer attacks were detected during this period
Major Defacement Attacks
- Threat actor group “Cyber Fattah Team” posted on their telegram channel about defacing all websites on a web server containing a large number of Brazilian websites
- The threat actor “Dimax66” posted on a telegram channel about defacing websites belonging to different Brazilian companies
- The threat actor group “HelangMerahGroup” targeted multiple Brazilian websites
Conclusion
The threat intelligence report on cyberattacks in Brazil leading up to Independence Day highlights a concerning trend of increasing cyber threats targeting government institutions and critical infrastructure. Defacement attacks were the most prevalent threat vector, emphasizing the need for robust website security measures.
Finance, Government, and Gambling & Betting sectors emerged as particularly vulnerable, underscoring the importance of industry-specific cybersecurity strategies. The significant activity of Team R70 underscores the growing sophistication and persistence of threat actors targeting Brazil.
As Brazil celebrates its Independence Day, this report underscores the urgency for organizations, particularly in high-risk industries, to strengthen their cybersecurity frameworks. Proactive measures, including regular security assessments and heightened vigilance, are essential to mitigate the risks posed by these evolving threats.
By addressing these vulnerabilities and preparing for potential future attacks, Brazilian institutions can better safeguard their digital assets and maintain resilience against persistent cyber threats.
Recommendations and Suggestions
1. Enhance Website Security: Given the high volume of defacement attacks, it is crucial to implement robust website security measures. This includes regular updates to software and plugins, the use of web application firewalls (WAFs), and regular security audits to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities.
2. Strengthen Sector-Specific Defenses: The finance, government, and gambling sectors, which have been heavily targeted, should adopt tailored cybersecurity strategies. This includes deploying advanced threat detection systems, conducting frequent penetration testing, and ensuring compliance with industry-specific security standards.
3. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA across all critical systems and user accounts to enhance access controls and reduce the risk of unauthorized access. This is particularly important for administrative and high-privilege accounts.
4. Increase Training and Awareness: Conduct regular cybersecurity training to recognize and respond to phishing attempts and other social engineering tactics. Awareness programs should be updated frequently to address the latest threat trends.
5. Monitor and Respond to Threat Intelligence: Establish or enhance threat intelligence capabilities to monitor and analyze emerging threats. Collaborate with cybersecurity organizations and share information about attacks to stay informed about the latest tactics used by threat actors like Team R70.
6. Strengthen Incident Response Plans: Develop and regularly update incident response plans to ensure a swift and coordinated response to cyber incidents. Conduct regular drills and simulations to test the effectiveness of these plans.
7. Invest in Advanced Security Solutions: Consider adopting advanced security solutions such as behavioral analytics, AI-driven threat detection, and automated response systems to improve the ability to detect and respond to sophisticated attacks.
8. Review and Enhance Access Controls: Regularly review and update access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive systems and data. Implement least privilege principles to minimize exposure.
9. Backup and Recovery: Ensure that comprehensive backup and recovery procedures are in place. Regularly test backups to verify their integrity and ensure they can be quickly restored in the event of a data breach or ransomware attack.
10. Engage with Cybersecurity Experts: Collaborate with cybersecurity consultants or managed security service providers (MSSPs) to gain expert insights and support in fortifying defenses against targeted attacks.
References
CloudSEK’s flagship digital risk monitoring platform XVigil contains a module called “Underground Intelligence” which provides information about the latest Adversary, Malware, and Vulnerability Intelligence, gathered from a wide range of sources, across the surface web, deep web, and dark web.
● *Intelligence source and information reliability - Wikipedia
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