Playbook for the Secure Enterprise

MikeGPT Daily Threat Rundown

Sat, Jan 17, 2026 • 7-minute read

Industry Watch

Healthcare (HIPAA) ELEVATED

Finance (PCI-DSS) 📊 NORMAL

CyberSecurity Latest Rundown

Heroes, your curated look at the current cybersecurity landscape for Jan 17, 2026.

CRITICAL ITEMS

• China-Linked APT Exploits Sitecore Zero-Day in Critical Infrastructure

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T07:18:00

  A threat actor (UAT-8837) linked to China is actively targeting North American critical infrastructure by exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in the Sitecore content management system. The campaign demonstrates sophisticated persistence capabilities aimed at long-term espionage and potential disruption.

  Business impact

  Organizations in critical sectors using Sitecore face immediate risk of state-sponsored intrusion, potentially leading to operational disruption, theft of intellectual property, and national security level incident reporting requirements.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "Do we run Sitecore CMS in our environment, and have we reviewed logs for indicators of compromise associated with threat group UAT-8837?"

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX | Source: thehackernews.com ↗ ↗

• Five Malicious Chrome Extensions Impersonate Workday and NetSuite

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T14:09:00

  Researchers have identified five malicious Chrome extensions masquerading as legitimate HR and ERP tools (like Workday and NetSuite) to hijack user sessions and steal enterprise data. These extensions bypass traditional network perimeter defenses by operating directly within the trusted browser environment.

  Business impact

  Attackers could silently exfiltrate sensitive employee records, payroll data, and financial reports—leading to severe data breaches, identity theft lawsuits, and violations of SOX compliance controls regarding financial data integrity.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "Have we audited our browser extension inventory for 'DataByCloud' or 'SessionBox' variants, and are we blocking unapproved extensions via group policy?"

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX | Source: thehackernews.com ↗ ↗

• Critical WordPress Plugin Flaw Under Active Exploitation

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T15:41:59

  A maximum-severity vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) in the Modular DS WordPress plugin is currently being exploited in the wild, allowing unauthenticated attackers to take full control of affected websites. This flaw permits remote code execution without requiring any user interaction or credentials.

  Business impact

  If exploited, attackers can completely commandeer your corporate website to host malware, steal customer data, or destroy content—resulting in immediate reputational damage, SEO blacklisting, and potential regulatory fines under SOX or HIPAA.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "Do we utilize the Modular DS plugin on any of our web properties, and if so, has the patch for CVE-2026-23550 been applied immediately?"

  CVE: CVE-2026-23550 | Compliance: SOX, HIPAA | Source: aboutdfir.com ↗ ↗

• Mandiant Releases Rainbow Table to Crack NTLM.v1 Passwords

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T21:05:37

  Mandiant has publicly released a rainbow table capable of cracking Microsoft's legacy NTLM.v1 password hashes in under 12 hours to force organizations to abandon this insecure protocol. This tool effectively lowers the barrier for attackers to compromise administrative credentials on networks still using this deprecated authentication method.

  Business impact

  Continued use of NTLM.v1 now guarantees that any intercepted administrative login can be cracked, leading to total network compromise, ransomware deployment, and failure of FISMA/SOX access control audits.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "Is NTLM.v1 completely disabled in our Active Directory environment, and have we verified that no legacy systems are relying on it?"

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX, FISMA | Source: arstechnica.com ↗ ↗

• Chromium Vulnerability: Insufficient Policy Enforcement

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T20:08:24

  Google has assigned CVE-2026-0905 to a vulnerability in Chromium involving insufficient policy enforcement in the network stack. This flaw affects all Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge) and could allow attackers to bypass security restrictions.

  Business impact

  Unpatched browsers could allow malicious websites to circumvent corporate security policies, potentially leading to drive-by downloads or cross-site scripting attacks that compromise user endpoints.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "What is the current patch status of our browser fleet, and have we enforced the update addressing CVE-2026-0905?"

  CVE: CVE-2026-0905 | Compliance: General Enterprise | Source: chromereleases.googleblog.com ↗ ↗

HIGH SEVERITY ITEMS

• Data Breach at Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T15:01:51

  A significant breach at the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has compromised the data of approximately 750,000 individuals. This incident highlights the cascading risk when regulatory bodies themselves are targeted.

  Business impact

  Financial institutions interacting with CIRO should anticipate heightened phishing campaigns leveraging this breach and potential regulatory fallout regarding shared data exposure.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "Have we updated our phishing simulation templates to include lures related to CIRO or investment regulation communications?"

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX, HIPAA | Source: securityaffairs.com ↗ ↗

• Access Broker Sold Access to 50 Company Networks

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T21:16:37

  A Jordanian national has pleaded guilty to acting as an access broker, selling entry to over 50 corporate networks compromised via firewall exploits. This underscores the thriving market for initial access that fuels ransomware operations.

  Business impact

  The commoditization of network access means that unpatched perimeter devices (like firewalls/VPNs) are likely already listed for sale to ransomware gangs, increasing the urgency of vulnerability management.
  Recommended action

  Ask your IT team: "When was the last time we audited our external firewall configurations and patched our edge devices?"

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX | Source: cyberscoop.com ↗ ↗

OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS

• ServiceNow Vulnerability Reveals Agentic AI Access Control Issues

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T19:34:45

  New research into ServiceNow vulnerabilities highlights a growing class of security failures related to "Agentic AI" where automated systems act with excessive permissions. As AI agents handle more workflows, traditional access controls are failing to limit their scope.

  CVE: n/a | Compliance: SOX | Source: aembit.io ↗ ↗

• FortiSIEM Flaw Exploited and Other News

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T16:14:58

  A roundup of recent events includes active exploitation of a FortiSIEM flaw, attacks on the Polish power grid attributed to Russia, and new research into "BodySnatcher" agentic AI hijacking.

  CVE Details: n/a

  Source: securityweek.com ↗ ↗

EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS

• First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF Growth Thesis For 2026

  Date & Time: 2026-01-16T13:37:14 Summary & Significance: Market analysis predicts a "tidal wave" of cybersecurity spending in 2026, driven by macro tailwinds and the need to secure AI implementations. This suggests a continued increase in budget requirements and vendor consolidation. Source: cybersecurityventures.com ↗

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

• Dragos (Specialized Vendor)

  Specialization: Industrial Cybersecurity (OT/ICS)

  Why Dragos Today: Dragos is specifically relevant to the reported China-linked APT activity targeting critical infrastructure sectors. As a leader in industrial cybersecurity, Dragos provides the necessary visibility and threat detection to protect Operational Technology (OT) environments from advanced persistent threats that often start with IT compromises like the Sitecore zero-day.

  Key Capability: OT-specific threat detection and intelligence to identify APT activity within critical infrastructure networks.

  Recommended Actions: 1. Navigate to Dragos Platform → Admin → System Management → Knowledge Packs 2. Navigate to Dragos Platform → Detections → Notifications 3. Navigate to Dragos Platform → Intelligence → WorldView

  Verification Steps: - Validate Sensor Traffic Ingestion - Verify Notification Playbook Availability

  This guidance is based on general platform knowledge. UI paths (e.g., 'Detections' vs 'Alerts') may vary slightly depending on whether you are running Platform version 2.x or 3.x. Verify against current Dragos documentation.

  Learn More About Dragos ↗

DETECTION & RESPONSE KIT

• ⚠️ Disclaimer: Test all detection logic in non-production environments before deployment.

  ⚠️ Disclaimer: Test all detection logic in non-production environments before deployment.

  1. Vendor Platform Configuration - Dragos

  TEXT [copy]

  # Actionable Guidance for Dragos
  # Generated: 2026-01-17 13:08:51
  
  # Step 1: Navigate to Dragos Platform → Admin → System Management → Knowledge Packs
  #   Purpose: Ensure the latest Threat Intelligence and detection algorithms are active. China-linked APT behaviors (like VOLTZITE) are frequently updated in new KPs.
  #   Expected: Confirmation that the latest Knowledge Pack (KP) is 'Applied'. If a newer version is available, the system will prompt for installation to enable detection of recent APT TTPs.
  
  # Step 2: Navigate to Dragos Platform → Detections → Notifications
  #   Purpose: Filter for specific lateral movement indicators associated with IT-to-OT pivots. Apply filters for 'Type: Lateral Movement' and 'Severity: 4 & 5'.
  #   Expected: A filtered list of high-severity notifications. Look specifically for 'RDP from Non-OT Source' or 'SMB Scanning' originating from the DMZ or IT subnets, which indicates potential adversary traversal.
  
  # Step 3: Navigate to Dragos Platform → Intelligence → WorldView
  #   Purpose: Access specific threat reporting for China-linked groups (e.g., VOLTZITE/KOSTOVITE) to identify specific IOCs relevant to the Sitecore compromise timeframe.
  #   Expected: Access to the 'Indicators' tab within the relevant Threat Group report, allowing you to export specific IP addresses or file hashes to cross-reference in the QView query tool.
  
  # Verification Steps:
  #   - Validate Sensor Traffic Ingestion
  #     Expected: Navigate to Admin → Sensors. Status should be 'Online' and 'Throughput' should show active traffic processing (non-zero Mbps) to ensure visibility into the targeted segments.
  #   - Verify Notification Playbook Availability
  #     Expected: Click on a high-severity Notification. The 'Playbook' tab should populate with specific investigation steps (e.g., 'Verify Source IP', 'Check Asset Baseline'), confirming the detection logic is fully operational.
  

  2. YARA Rule for Malicious Chrome Extensions

  rule Chrome_Malicious_Extensions_Jan2026 {
  meta:
      description = "Detects artifacts related to malicious Chrome extensions impersonating HR tools"
      author = "Threat Rundown"
      date = "2026-01-17"
      reference = "https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/five-malicious-chrome-extensions.html"
      severity = "medium"
      tlp = "white"
  strings:
      $s1 = "DataByCloud" ascii wide
      $s2 = "EditThisCookie" ascii wide
      $s3 = "ModHeader" ascii wide
      $s4 = "SessionBox" ascii wide
      $s5 = "oldhjammhkghhahhhdcifmmlefibciph" ascii wide
      $s6 = "drive.google.com" ascii wide
  condition:
      any of ($s*) 
  }
  

  3. SIEM Query — NTLMv1 Authentication Detection

  index=security sourcetype="WinEventLog:Security"
  EventCode=4624 AuthenticationPackageName="NTLM"
  | eval risk_score=case(
      LmPackageName="NTLM V1", 100,
      LmPackageName="NTLM V2", 0,
      1==1, 25)
  | where risk_score >= 100
  | table _time, src_ip, dest_ip, AccountName, WorkstationName, LmPackageName, risk_score
  | sort -_time
  

  4. PowerShell Script — Audit Chrome Extensions

  POWERSHELL [copy]

  $computers = "localhost", "WKSTN01", "WKSTN02"
  $maliciousIDs = @("oldhjammhkghhahhhdcifmmlefibciph") # Example ID from intel
  
  foreach ($computer in $computers) {
      if (Test-Connection -ComputerName $computer -Count 1 -Quiet) {
          Write-Host "Checking $computer for malicious extensions..."
          # This is a simplified check for the default Chrome User Data folder
          $path = "\\$computer\c$\Users\*\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\*"
          $extensions = Get-Item $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  
          foreach ($ext in $extensions) {
              if ($maliciousIDs -contains $ext.Name) {
                  Write-Warning "MALICIOUS EXTENSION DETECTED on $computer: $($ext.Name)"
              }
          }
      }
  }
  

  This rundown should provide a solid overview of the current threat landscape. Thank you to all our cyberheroes for your diligence and hard work. Stay vigilant!