Alert - Vulnerabilities exploited in VPN products used worldwide (NCSC Alert)

Number: AL19-017
Date: 3 October 2019

AUDIENCE

This Alert is intended for IT professionals and managers of notified organizations.

PURPOSE

An Alert is used to raise awareness of a recently identified cyber threat Cyber threatA threat actor, using the internet, who takes advantage of a known vulnerability in a product for the purposes of exploiting a network and the information the network carries. that may impact cyber information assets, and to provide additional detection DetectionThe monitoring and analyzing of system events in order to identify unauthorized attempts to access system resources. and mitigation advice to recipients. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Cyber securityThe protection of digital information, as well as the integrity of the infrastructure housing and transmitting digital information. More specifically, cyber security includes the body of technologies, processes, practices and response and mitigation measures designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access so as to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability. ("Cyber Centre") is also available to provide additional assistance regarding the content of this Alert to recipients as requested.

ASSESSMENT

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the United Kingdom’s independent authority on Cyber Security, has produced an Alert regarding their ongoing investigation of known vulnerabilities affecting a number of VPN VPNSee virtual private network. products, dated 2 October 2019. The Cyber Centre would like to highlight this Alert as it provides valuable information to system owners and operators responsible for defending their systems and networks from cyber threats. The Cyber Centre previously reported on these vulnerabilities in September 2019; the NCSC report contains additional and updated information.

The NCSC Alert can be found at:

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/alert-vpn-vulnerabilities

Should activity matching the content of either of these Alerts be discovered, recipients are encouraged to contact the Cyber Centre by email (contact@cyber.gc.ca) or by telephone (1-833-CYBER-88 or 1-833-292-3788).

REFERENCES

Cyber Centre Alert on Active Exploitation of VPN Vulnerabilities (AL19-016):

https://cyber.gc.ca/en/alerts-advisories/active-exploitation-vpn-vulnerabilities-0

NOTE TO READERS

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) operates as part of the Communications Security Establishment. We are Canada's national authority on cyber security and we lead the government's response to cyber security events. As Canada's national computer security incident response team, the Cyber Centre works in close collaboration with government departments, critical infrastructure Critical infrastructureProcesses, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets, and services essential to the health, safety, security, or economic well-being of Canadians and the effective functioning of government. Critical infrastructure can be stand-alone or interconnected and interdependent within and across provinces, territories, and national borders. Disruptions of critical infrastructure could result in catastrophic loss of life, adverse economic effects, and significant harm to public confidence. , Canadian businesses and international partners to prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from cyber events. We do this by providing authoritative advice and support, and coordinating information sharing and incident response. The Cyber Centre is outward-facing, welcoming partnerships that help build a stronger, more resilient cyber space in Canada.