| Type: | Cyberattack, data breach |
| Cause: | MOVEit vulnerabilities |
| First Reporter: | Progress Software |
| Suspects: | Cl0p |
A wave of cyberattacks and data breaches began in June 2023 after a vulnerability was discovered in MOVEit, a managed file transfer software. Thousands of organisations and almost 100 million individuals were affected.
MOVEit is a managed file transfer software developed by Ipswitch, Inc., a subsidiary of Progress Software. A vulnerability in the software allows attackers to steal files from organizations through SQL injection on public-facing servers. The transfers are facilitated through a custom web shell identified as LemurLoot. Disguised as ASP.NET files used legitimately by MOVEit, LemurLoot can steal Microsoft Azure Storage Blob information.[1]
According to cybersecurity firm Mandiant, the MOVEit vulnerability began being used on May 27, 2023.
On May 31 Progress Software released a patch for the vulnerability and stated the vulnerability “could lead to escalated privileges and potential unauthorized access to the environment”.[2]
On June 3, the Government of Nova Scotia estimated that as many as 100,000 present and past employees were impacted by the breach.[3]
On June 5, various organizations in the United Kingdom, including the BBC, British Airways, Boots, Aer Lingus, and payroll service Zellis were breached.[4]
On June 6, Cl0p claimed responsibility for the attack on its site on the dark web. Cl0p claimed that the data stole from governments had been deleted (this was later disproved).
On June 12, Ernst & Young, Transport for London, and Ofcom separately announced that they had been affected, with Ofcom announcing that personal and confidential information was downloaded.[5]
On June 15, CNN reported that the United States Department of Energy was among multiple United States government organizations affected by the MOVEit vulnerability.[6] The following day, it was reported that the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles and Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services were hit, affecting millions of residents.[7]
According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the breaches are being conducted by Cl0p, a Russian-affiliated cyber gang.[8]
A running total maintained by cybersecurity company Emsisoft showed that more than 2,500 organizations were known to have been impacted as at October 25, 2023 with more than 80 percent of those organizations being US-based.[9]
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA),[10] CrowdStrike,[11] Mandiant,[12] Microsoft,[13] Huntress[14] and Rapid7[15] have assisted with incident response and ongoing investigations.[16] Cyber industry experts have credited the MOVEit team for its response and handling of the incident by quickly providing patches[17] [18] In general, patches for the flaw where rapidly used.[19]