Disentangling cybercrime from cyberespionage. A threat to the IoT supply chain. What do you do with the hacktivists when they stop being hacktivists? A retired FBI Special Agent is indicted.

CyberWire Daily

DragonSpark conducts "opportunistic" cyberattacks in East Asia. ProxyNotShell and OWASSRF exploit chains target Microsoft Exchange servers. The IoT supply chain is threatened by exploitation of Realtek Jungle SDK vulnerability. CISA adds an entry to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog. A Cisco study finds organizations see positive returns from investment in privacy. What's the hacktivist's postwar future? Joe Carrigan tracks a romance scam targeting seniors. Our guest is Pete Lund of OPSWAT to discuss the security of removable media devices. And a retired G-Man is indicted on multiple charges.

For links to all of today's stories check out our CyberWire daily news briefing:

https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/daily-briefing/12/15

Selected reading.

DragonSpark | Attacks Evade Detection with SparkRAT and Golang Source Code Interpretation (SentinelOne)

Technical Advisory: Proxy*Hell Exploit Chains in the Wild (Bitdefender)

Realtek SDK Vulnerability Attacks Highlight IoT Supply Chain Threats (Unit 42)

CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog (CISA)

2023 Data Privacy Benchmark Study (Cicso)

Hacktivism Is a Risky Career Path (WIRED)

Retired FBI Executive Charged With Concealing $225,000 In Cash Received From An Outside Source (Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia)

Former Special Agent In Charge Of The New York FBI Counterintelligence Division Charged With Violating U.S. Sanctions On Russia (Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York)

Former Senior F.B.I. Official in New York Charged With Aiding Oligarch (New York Times)