DigiCert's Certificate Revocation, VMware ESXi Vulnerability, and North Korean Espionage

Forecast = Persistent cyber heat dome in effect with no sign of abatement.

In this episode of Storm⚡️Watch, we dive into the latest cybersecurity news and trends. We kick things off with a breaking story about DigiCert's certificate revocation incident. Due to a validation issue affecting about 0.4% of their domain validations, DigiCert is revoking certificates with less than 24 hours' notice. This could impact thousands of SSL certs and potentially cause outages worldwide starting July 30 at 19:30 UTC. Organizations using affected certificates should be prepared for a busy night of renewals.

Our Cyberside Chat focuses on a critical vulnerability in VMware ESXi hypervisors that ransomware operators are actively exploiting. Identified as CVE-2024-37085, this flaw allows attackers to gain full administrative access to ESXi servers without proper validation. Several ransomware groups, including Storm-0506 and Storm-1175, have been using this vulnerability to deploy ransomware like Akira and Black Basta. Microsoft reports that incidents targeting ESXi hypervisors have doubled over the past three years, highlighting the growing threat to these systems.

In our Cyber Spotlight, we examine a global cyber espionage campaign conducted by North Korean hackers. This operation aims to steal classified military intelligence to advance Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The hackers, known as Anadriel or APT45, have targeted defense and engineering companies involved in producing tanks, submarines, naval ships, fighter jets, and missile technologies. The campaign affects not only the US, UK, and South Korea but also entities in Japan and India. This underscores the persistent threat posed by state-sponsored actors from North Korea in their pursuit of military and nuclear ambitions.

We wrap up with our Tag Roundup, highlighting recent trends in cyber threats, and our KEV Roundup, discussing the latest known exploited vulnerabilities cataloged by CISA. These segments provide valuable insights into the current threat landscape and help our listeners stay informed about potential risks to their organizations.

Don't forget to check out the Storm Watch homepage and learn more about GreyNoise for additional cybersecurity resources and updates.

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