Cyber Attack on Critical Infrastructure;Elaborate on how Operation Sharpshooter happened, what effect Operation Sharpshooter had, and lessons learned from the incident or issue. 2. How did cyber play a role or how might it play a role in a similar future event? ONLY USE THESE REFERENCES plus attachment https://threatpost.com/sharpshooter-global-critical-assets/139843/ https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/operation-sharpshooter-targets-global-defense-critical-infrastructure/ https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/lazarus-operation-sharpshooter-malware/ https://www.securityweek.com/operation-sharpshooter-hits-global-defense-critical-infrastructure-firms

Introduction

Cyber
Attack on Critical Infrastructure is a prevalent issue which was exhibited by a
group called Lazarus. The group was able to dupe internet computer users,
whereby they sent out a job recruitment campaign. They set up the attack
through an email which linked to a word document which was in a Dropbox
account. The word file was structured in a way that it had job titles and various
details of companies which do not exist.
This word document is macro embedded which allows it to download another
file which is known to as Rising Sun which is auto installed and fetches
private data from anyone who tries to access the word file.

In
December 2018, researchers were able to unearth the Operation Sharpshooter,
which was closely associated with North Korean hackers. Researchers, through
their researcher, they were able to determine that the operation has been
taking place for one year. McAfee, a group which offers cybersecurity
solutions, rolled out the inner workings which such a group relied on upon to
obtain some private and vital data from unsuspecting people (Philbrick et al.
2017). McAfee was able to give a deep insight relying on the data that was
availed to them by a government entity.

Through
the insight given by MacAfee, it was understood that the campaign had more
damaging effects than it was first thought. The attack is believed to have been
operational for some time, since some people believe it was in operation in the
year 2017. The operation is aimed at obtaining data illegally from countries
such as Germany, UK, United States, and Turkey; these counties are believed to
be the primary targets due to their ability to set up critical infrastructure.
Institutions such as MacAfee must be involved and well provided with the
required resources to ensure there are data privacy and security hence ensuring
the overall safety of critical infrastructures.

The
campaign masquerades as a job recruitment activity to prove its legitimacy to
the people who come across it. Though it was operational for some time without
recognition, it was discovered that it could gather critical information for
potential exploitation (Merrin et al., 2018). Through its analysis on operation
sharpshooter, MacAfee claimed that the main objective of the operation was to
source nuclear, government, military, financial and energy data and infect them
through a modular backdoor implant commonly known as Rising Sun. This shows
that hackers are still developing new tactics to enhance their dirty data
stealing techniques.

The
hackers, through the malware, were able to enhance info-stealing activities
from the backdoor Trojan Duuzer. Initially, there were suspicions that the
whole operation may have been a deliberate false flag strategy. The doubts
were, however, dismissed due to the new availed evidence. MacAfee, a security
vendor, proved the connection of the operation to the notorious Lazarus Group.

The
phishing emails were found to contain a weaponized document which was
macro-based. The document if opened downloads a Rising Sun malware. MacAfee
also through the analysis they were able to discover that the group was able to
obtain some private information from unsuspecting government departments and
other institutions which hold high-grade information.

The
cyberattacks in current day have therefore been developed and are not easily
recognizable. Due to this, there is a need for formidable measures to be set up
to detect advanced attempts by hackers to attack critical infrastructure.
Governments have to develop effective countermeasures to ensure they curb the
issue of cybercrime. More so, to ensure there are data security and privacy,
there all invitations to download unknown material should be approached with
great care to discourage info-stealing activities.

The post Cyber Attack on Critical Infrastructure;Elaborate on how Operation Sharpshooter happened, what effect Operation Sharpshooter had, and lessons learned from the incident or issue. 2. How did cyber play a role or how might it play a role in a similar future event? ONLY USE THESE REFERENCES plus attachment https://threatpost.com/sharpshooter-global-critical-assets/139843/ https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/operation-sharpshooter-targets-global-defense-critical-infrastructure/ https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/lazarus-operation-sharpshooter-malware/ https://www.securityweek.com/operation-sharpshooter-hits-global-defense-critical-infrastructure-firms appeared first on contentfence.com