The Lapsus$ group has been in the news recently for theft of source code form some high-profile targets. These targets have included companies like NVIDIA, Samsung, Vodafone, and Ubisoft. The NVIDIA event was noteworthy as it included a claim that NVIDIA hacked the attackers back in order to encrypt the data that have been taken out of their environment.

Phishing, regular and spear, is a very common method of compromising accounts and gaining access to a network. In many incidents, the initial compromise can be traced back to a compromised account via some sort of phishing message. This happens despite the many hours and dollars spent towards educating users about the dangers of trusting messages sent to them.

Recently a SolarWinds Web Help Desk client reported an attempted attack on their externally facing Web Help Desk instance. The attack was caught by their EDR system which was able to block the attempt. However, the reported attack, after a review, has caused concern with SolarWinds who is now advising their customers to remove public access to avoid possible compromise.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have seen a massive increase in what can only be called cyber warfare. This battle is not just being fought at the state level though. Even APT groups have gotten involved as they take sides in the conflict. One step down from that (and only a very small step) we see the hacktivists jumping into the fray on both sides. Now, we see a new and unexpected form of protest from the open source community.