Incident: Unauthorized Emails Sent from FBI Address Due to Software Misconfiguration

Published Date: 2021-11-14

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address happened on the date the article was published, which is November 14, 2021 [121655].
System The software failure incident described in the article involved a software misconfiguration that allowed someone to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners. The specific system that failed in this incident was: 1. Software misconfiguration that allowed unauthorized emails to be sent using the FBI's IT system [121655].
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident was caused by someone taking advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655].
Impacted Organization 1. State and local law enforcement partners were impacted by the software failure incident [121655].
Software Causes 1. Software misconfiguration that allowed someone to send unauthorized emails using an FBI IT system [121655].
Non-software Causes 1. The failure incident was caused by someone taking advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident led to unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address to thousands of organizations, causing confusion and potential panic among recipients [121655]. 2. The incident raised concerns among cybersecurity analysts that organizations might divert resources from addressing actual hacking threats to deal with the phantom threat created by the fake emails [121655]. 3. The fake emails could potentially damage the trust-building efforts of the FBI and DHS with non-government organizations and hinder the sharing of actionable cyber threat data [121655].
Preventions 1. Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for email accounts to prevent unauthorized access and misuse of legitimate email addresses [121655]. 2. Regularly conducting software vulnerability assessments and promptly addressing any identified vulnerabilities to prevent exploitation by malicious actors [121655]. 3. Enhancing employee training on cybersecurity best practices, including recognizing and reporting suspicious activity, to prevent falling victim to phishing scams and social engineering tactics [121655].
Fixes 1. Implementing stricter access controls and authentication measures to prevent unauthorized access to email accounts [121655]. 2. Conducting regular software vulnerability assessments and promptly remediate any identified vulnerabilities to prevent exploitation by malicious actors [121655]. 3. Enhancing email security measures to detect and prevent spoofing or unauthorized use of legitimate email addresses [121655]. 4. Educating users on how to identify and report suspicious emails to prevent falling victim to phishing scams [121655].
References 1. FBI [121655] 2. Spamhaus Project [121655] 3. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) [121655] 4. American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) [121655] 5. Alex Grosjean, senior threat analyst at Spamhaus [121655] 6. Austin Berglas, former head of the FBI New York Cyber Branch [121655]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization: The article mentions a previous incident where Russian-speaking hackers impersonated law enforcement and demanded ransom from individuals by claiming their personal information had been forwarded to the FBI [121655]. (b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization: There is no specific mention in the article about similar incidents happening at multiple organizations.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to the design phase. The incident occurred due to a software misconfiguration that allowed someone to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners. The FBI mentioned that the impacted hardware was taken offline quickly upon discovery of the issue, and they remediated the software vulnerability to address the problem [121655].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system, outside_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident involving unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address was due to a software misconfiguration that allowed someone to take advantage of the vulnerability to send fake emails using the FBI's IT system for communication with state and local law enforcement partners. The FBI quickly remediated the software vulnerability upon discovery of the issue [121655]. (b) outside_system: The incident involved fake emails sent from a legitimate FBI email address to thousands of organizations, which originated from outside the system. The emails were part of a scam where the perpetrator appeared to be gathering email addresses from organizations that are members of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), a nonprofit managing internet infrastructure. The incident raised concerns about diverting resources from actual hacking threats and impacted the trust-building efforts of the FBI and DHS with non-government organizations [121655].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to non-human actions. The incident involved unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address to thousands of organizations, which was attributed to a software misconfiguration that allowed someone to send emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655]. The FBI quickly remediated the software vulnerability and confirmed the integrity of their networks after discovering the issue. (b) Human actions also played a role in the incident as someone took advantage of the software misconfiguration to send the unauthorized emails. However, the root cause of the failure was the software misconfiguration itself, which was a non-human action [121655].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to hardware. The FBI mentioned that someone had taken advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners. The impacted hardware was taken offline quickly upon discovery of the issue [121655]. (b) The software failure incident was also related to software. The FBI mentioned that they quickly remediated the software vulnerability that was exploited to send the unauthorized emails. They confirmed the integrity of their networks after addressing the software vulnerability [121655].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) malicious (a) The software failure incident described in the article is malicious in nature. It involved unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address to thousands of organizations as part of a scam to create a fake cyber threat alert. The incident was described as someone taking advantage of a software misconfiguration to send these fake emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) accidental_decisions (a) The software failure incident described in the article was not due to poor decisions but rather due to someone taking advantage of a software misconfiguration to send fake emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655]. The incident was characterized by unauthorized emails coming from a legitimate FBI email address, which was exploited by the perpetrator to send out fake alerts, rather than being a result of poor decisions made by the organization.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident in the article was not attributed to development incompetence. The incident was described as someone taking advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails using an IT system the FBI uses to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners [121655]. (b) The software failure incident in the article was accidental in nature. The FBI mentioned that someone had taken advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails, which led to the fake alert being sent out to organizations. The incident was not intentional but rather a result of exploiting a vulnerability in the software system [121655].
Duration temporary (a) The software failure incident in the article was temporary. The FBI mentioned that someone had taken advantage of a software misconfiguration to send unauthorized emails using an IT system they use to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners. The impacted hardware was taken offline quickly upon discovery of the issue, and the FBI stated that they quickly remediated the software vulnerability [121655].
Behaviour other (a) crash: The software failure incident in the article did not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions [121655]. (b) omission: The incident did not involve the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) [121655]. (c) timing: The incident did not involve the system performing its intended functions correctly, but too late or too early [121655]. (d) value: The software failure incident in the article did not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly [121655]. (e) byzantine: The incident did not involve the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions [121655]. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in the article can be categorized as a spoofing attack where someone took advantage of a software misconfiguration to send fake emails from a legitimate FBI email address, leading to potential confusion and disruption [121655].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, theoretical_consequence The consequence of the software failure incident described in the articles is primarily categorized under option (d) property. The incident involved unauthorized emails being sent from a legitimate FBI email address due to a software misconfiguration. This led to potential harm to organizations as they might divert resources to address a phantom threat, impacting their operations and potentially their data security [121655].
Domain government (a) The incident involving unauthorized emails sent from a legitimate FBI email address did not directly relate to the production and distribution of information. (b) The transportation industry was not specifically mentioned in the context of the software failure incident. (c) The incident did not involve the extraction of natural resources. (d) The incident did not pertain to sales or the exchange of money for products. (e) The incident was not related to the construction industry. (f) The incident did not involve the manufacturing sector. (g) The incident did not impact utilities such as power, gas, steam, water, or sewage services. (h) The software failure incident did not directly involve the finance industry or the manipulation and movement of money for profit. (i) The incident did not specifically relate to the knowledge industry encompassing education, research, and space exploration. (j) The incident did not directly impact the health industry, including healthcare, health insurance, and food sectors. (k) The incident did not involve the entertainment industry encompassing arts, sports, hospitality, and tourism. (l) The software failure incident was related to the government sector, specifically involving the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security [121655]. (m) The incident was not related to an industry outside of the options provided.

Sources

Back to List