The Top Cybersecurity News Stories This Month: June 2023
Apple is in the news again, Hacked info from ChatGPT accounts for sale on the Dark Web, mysterious smart watches delivered to military personnel. The month of June was full of cybersecurity headlines.
Here are the top 5 cybersecurity stories that emerged this month:
1. Someone is sending mysterious smartwatches to the US Military personnel
Source: Security Affairs
The Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army reported that military service members have received unsolicited smartwatches in the mail. Once powered on the smartwatches automatically connected to Wi-Fi and began connecting to cell phones unprompted, gaining access to a huge quantity of user data.
The investigation also found that the smartwatches may also contain malware that could be used to spy on the soldiers and steal sensitive data.
2. Over 130 Organizations, Millions of Individuals Believed to Be Impacted by MOVEit Hack
Source: SecurityWeek
More victims of the MOVEit hack have come to light, with a total of over 130 organizations and 15 million people believed to be affected. The Russia-linked cybercrime group has taken credit for the attack, claiming that it had been the only threat actor to know about the MOVEit zero-day exploit before it was patched.
The hackers claim to have hit many organizations and they have started naming those that have refused to pay up or enter negotiations.
3. LockBit Ransomware Extorts $91 Million from U.S. Companies
Sources: The Hacker News
According to a joint bulletin of global authorities the threat actors behind the LockBit ransomware-as-a-service scheme have extorted $91 million following hundreds of attacks against numerous U.S. organizations since 2020.
The Russia-linked cybercrime operation has attacked many critical infrastructure sectors, including financial services, food and agriculture, education, energy, government and emergency services, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation.
4. Apple Denies Helping US Government Hack Russian iPhones
Source: SecurityWeek
Russian security service FSB claims that Apple has assisted US intelligence agencies, specifically the NSA, with a spying campaign targeting thousands of iOS devices belonging to local users and foreign diplomatic missions in NATO countries, China and Israel.
Apple has denied working with any government to add backdoors to its products after Russia accused the company of helping US intelligence agencies hack iPhones.
In a statement provided to SecurityWeek, an Apple spokesperson said, “We have never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product and never will.”
5. Over 100,000 compromised ChatGPT accounts found for sale on dark web
Source: The Register
Cyber criminals hoping users have shared employer secrets to the chatbot are looking to cash in on the hacked account information. Both Apple and Samsung have banned company use of ChatGPT over security issues. In the case of the latter, employees accidentally leaked secrets.
Since last June the amount of accounts hacked per month has skyrocketed, in conjunction with the popularity of ChatGPT. The amount of stolen accounts steadily climbed from 74 in June 2022 to 26,902 in May 2023, with the total number of accounts being sold numbering higher than 100,000.
For all the the latest cybersecurity news download our free mobile app, Onyxia: Cybersecurity Intel, available on iOS and Google Play stores.
