Christina Lekati<p>Microsoft published a new blog with an analysis of the TTPs of the Octo Tempest group (also known as 0ktapus or Scattered Spider), a financially motivated threat actor that relies heavily on <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/socialengineering" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>socialengineering</span></a> for initial access.</p><p>This group is reportedly the one behind the Okta, MGM Resorts & Caesars this year, as well as the MailChimp & Twilio attacks last year.</p><p>"Octo Tempest commonly launches social engineering attacks targeting technical administrators, such as support and help desk personnel, who have permissions that could enable the threat actor to gain initial access to accounts. The threat actor performs research on the organization & identifies targets to effectively impersonate victims, mimicking idiolect on phone calls & understanding personal identifiable information to trick technical administrators into performing password resets & resetting MFA"</p><p>"Octo Tempest leverages tradecraft that many organizations don’t have in their typical threat models, such as SMS phishing, SIM swapping, and advanced social engineering techniques."</p><p>In reality, most organizations don't have a social engineering security protocol for most types of social engineering attacks beyond <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/phishing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>phishing</span></a> and *some* vishing attacks/tactics. There is a lot of work to be done...</p><p>The blog:</p><p><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/10/25/octo-tempest-crosses-boundaries-to-facilitate-extortion-encryption-and-destruction/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">microsoft.com/en-us/security/b</span><span class="invisible">log/2023/10/25/octo-tempest-crosses-boundaries-to-facilitate-extortion-encryption-and-destruction/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/cybersecurity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cybersecurity</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/cybersecuritynews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cybersecuritynews</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/threatintelligence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>threatintelligence</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/scatteredspider" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scatteredspider</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/threatactors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>threatactors</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/infosec" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>infosec</span></a></p>