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Friday, March 29, 2024

Red Cross: Hackers Gained Access by Exploiting an Unpatched Critical Vulnerability

The breach included personal data such as names, locations, and contact information of more than 515,000 people from across the world.

Released by the International Committee of the Red Cross:

Nearly a month has passed since we determined that servers hosting personal data belonging to more than 515,000 people worldwide were hacked in a sophisticated cyber-attack. We are now in a position to share some findings of our analysis of this data breach.

We feel it is our responsibility as a humanitarian organization accountable to our partners and the people we serve to share what information we can about this hack.

What should I do if I think my data might have been accessed in the cyber-attack?

If you haven’t heard from us and are concerned, we encourage you to reach out to your local Red Cross or Red Crescent society or the ICRC office in your country. Here is a list of contact details. We also developed a question and answers article for people who have been affected with more information. We know you entrusted us with personal information and details about often traumatic events in your lives. This is not a responsibility we take lightly. We want you to know we are doing everything we can to restore the services that we offer across the world. We will work hard to maintain your trust so we can continue to serve you.

What made this attack highly sophisticated and targeted?

The hackers made use of considerable resources to access our systems and used tactics that most detection tools would not have picked up. The following information demonstrates the sophisticated and targeted nature of the attack:

  • The attackers used a very specific set of advanced hacking tools designed for offensive security. These tools are primarily used by advanced persistent threat* groups, are not available publicly and therefore out of reach to other actors.
  • The attackers used sophisticated obfuscation techniques to hide and protect their malicious programs. This requires a high level of skills only available to a limited number of actors.
  • We determined the attack to be targeted because the attackers created a piece of code designed purely for execution on the targeted ICRC servers. The tools used by the attacker explicitly referred to a unique identifier on the targeted servers (its MAC address).
  • The anti-malware tools we had installed on the targeted servers were active and did detect and block some of the files used by the attackers. But most of the malicious files deployed were specifically crafted to bypass our anti-malware solutions, and it was only when we installed advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) agents as part of our planned enhancement programme that this intrusion was detected.

When did we find out about this attack?

A specialist cyber security company hired by ICRC to support us in protecting our systems detected an anomaly on ICRC servers that contained information relating to the global Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s Restoring Family Links services. We then did a deep data dive and determined on 18th of January that hackers had been inside these systems and had access to the data on them.

How long were the hackers inside our systems?

In this case, we detected an anomaly in our system within 70 days of the breach occurring and we immediately initiated a deep dive. On that basis, we could determine on 18 January that our servers had been compromised. Our analysis shows that the breach occurred on 9 November 2021.

A breach this large and complex typically takes time to detect. For example, we understand that the average time to identify a data breach is 212 days**.

How did the hackers get into our systems?

The hackers were able to enter our network and access our systems by exploiting an unpatched critical vulnerability*** in an authentication module (CVE-2021-40539). This vulnerability allows malicious cyber actors to place web shells and conduct post-exploitation activities such as compromising administrator credentials, conducting lateral movement, and exfiltrating registry hives and Active Directory files. Once inside our network, the hackers were able to deploy offensive security tools which allowed them to disguise themselves as legitimate users or administrators. This in turn allowed them to access the data, despite this data being encrypted.

What went wrong with our defences?

The patching process is an extensive activity for any large enterprise. Annually, we implement tens of thousands of patches across all our systems. The timely application of critical patches is essential to our cybersecurity, but unfortunately, we did not apply this patch in time before the attack took place.

We have a multi-level cyber defence system at the ICRC that includes endpoint monitoring, scanning software and other tools. In this instance our analysis after the attack revealed that our vulnerability management processes and tools did not stop this breach. We have made immediate changes in both areas. Furthermore, we are speeding up the activities already planned as part of our latest cyber security enhancement programme launched in February 2021 in response to constantly evolving threats.

Who do we think is behind this attack?

We cannot ascertain who is behind this attack or why it was carried out, and we will not speculate about this. We have not had any contact with the hackers and no ransom ask has been made. In line with our standing practice to engage with any actor who can facilitate or impede our humanitarian work, we are willing to communicate directly and confidentially with whoever may be responsible for this operation to impress upon them the need to respect our humanitarian action. We also reiterate our call to the hackers not to share, sell, leak or otherwise use this data.

Who are we working with on this?

We have partnered with our key technology partners and highly specialised firms to help us with this. From the outset of the crisis, the ICRC headquarters in Geneva has been in close dialogue with the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) of Switzerland. Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies are in contact with the competent national authorities.

What information was accessed?

The breach included personal data such as names, locations, and contact information of more than 515,000 people from across the world. The people affected include missing people and their families, detainees and other people receiving services from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as a result of armed conflict, natural disasters or migration. We do not believe it is in the best interest of the people whose data this is to share further details about who they are, where they are or where they came from.

Were data sets copied and exported?

We must presume so. We know that the hackers were inside our systems and therefore had the capacity to copy and export it. To our knowledge the information has not been published or traded at this time. We are confident in our initial analysis that no data was deleted in the breach. This is important because it is allowing us to set up interim systems to get back to work reconnecting loved ones.

Has the data been made available to others, including on the dark web?

Right now, we do not have any conclusive evidence that this information from the data breach has been published or is being traded. Our cybersecurity team has looked into any reported allegation of data being available on the dark web.

How confident are we that the hackers are no longer in our systems?

We took the compromised servers offline as soon as we determined that they had been hacked. We are confident that this incident did not affect other servers because we segment our systems and we are continually monitoring the overall environment for any signs of malicious activity with advanced tools.

What are we doing now?

We are coordinating with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies and our ICRC delegations on the ground to inform individuals and families whose data was breached. This process is complex and will take time. Those most at risk are our top priority. Some of this is being done through phone calls, hotlines, public announcements, letters and in some cases it requires teams to travel to remote communities to inform people in-person. We are making every effort to contact people who can be difficult to reach, such as migrants. We also have developed workaround solutions enabling Red Cross and Red Crescent teams worldwide to continue providing basic tracing services for the people impacted by this breach while we rebuild a new digital environment for the Central Tracing Agency.

What changes will be made to the Central Tracing Agency online environment before going live?

Security enhancements include a new two-factor authentication process and using an advanced threat detection solution. Successful, externally conducted penetration tests on all applications and systems are a prerequisite for the services to be resumed.

Why are we not giving out further technical information about the hack or our systems?

We take cyber security very seriously and have been investing substantially in this over many years. These investments must continue in the face of an ever-evolving threat landscape. To ensure the security of our applications and in line with industry best practice, we will not disclose technical architecture or security details.

Red Cross: Hackers Gained Access by Exploiting an Unpatched Critical Vulnerability Homeland Security Today
Homeland Security Today
The Government Technology & Services Coalition's Homeland Security Today (HSToday) is the premier news and information resource for the homeland security community, dedicated to elevating the discussions and insights that can support a safe and secure nation. A non-profit magazine and media platform, HSToday provides readers with the whole story, placing facts and comments in context to inform debate and drive realistic solutions to some of the nation’s most vexing security challenges.
Homeland Security Today
Homeland Security Todayhttp://www.hstoday.us
The Government Technology & Services Coalition's Homeland Security Today (HSToday) is the premier news and information resource for the homeland security community, dedicated to elevating the discussions and insights that can support a safe and secure nation. A non-profit magazine and media platform, HSToday provides readers with the whole story, placing facts and comments in context to inform debate and drive realistic solutions to some of the nation’s most vexing security challenges.

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