---
title: Articles of interest from the week of February 21, 2022
description: Attackers hone their playbooks, become more agile. Plus other cybersecurity-related articles from the week of 2-21-2022.
---

[Network Security News | Ingalls Information Security ](https://resources.iinfosec.com/network-security-news)

# [Articles of interest from the week of February 21, 2022](https://resources.iinfosec.com/network-security-news/2022-02-21)

 Written by [John Frasier](https://resources.iinfosec.com/network-security-news/author/john-frasier) | Feb 21, 2022 5:00:00 AM

#### [Attackers Hone Their Playbooks, Become More Agile](https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/attackers-hone-their-playbooks-become-more-agile)

Cybercriminals and nation-state actors adapted to defenders' tactics and became more efficient in 2021, with attackers relying more on data leaks combined with ransomware to extort increasing sums of money from companies — and in some cases using data leaks without encrypting data to force a company to pay, according to two analyses published this week. (By Robert Lemos, [Dark Reading](https://www.darkreading.com/))

* *

#### [Even When Warned, Some Businesses Ignore Critical Vulnerabilities and Hope for the Best](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/02/18/businesses-critical-vulnerabilities/)

Recent research found the extent to which businesses are leaving themselves open to cyber attacks. When tested, 28% of businesses had critical vulnerabilities – vulnerabilities that could be immediately exploited by cyber attacks. (By [Help Net Security](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/))

#### [Vulnerability in Plugin Exposed Millions of WordPress Site Backups](https://www.securityweek.com/vulnerability-updraftplus-plugin-exposed-millions-wordpress-site-backups)

A high-severity vulnerability in the UpdraftPlus WordPress plugin can allow an attacker to obtain website backups that could contain sensitive information. (By Ionut Arghire, [SecurityWeek](https://www.securityweek.com/))

#### [Squirrelwaffle Loader Exploits Vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers](https://latesthackingnews.com/2022/02/20/squirrelwaffle-malware-loader-exploits-vulnerable-microsoft-exchange-servers/)

Researchers have found a new malware campaign exploiting vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers. The threat actors deploy the Squirrelwaffle malware loader on vulnerable servers to conduct financial fraud via phishing emails. (By Abeerah Hashim, [Latesthackingnews.com](https://latesthackingnews.com/))

#### [Carpet Bombing Attacks on the Rise](https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/carpet-bombing-attacks-on-the-rise/)

Carpet bombing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are on the rise, according to new research by a cloud-oriented security services provider. (By Sarah Coble, [Infosecurity Magazine](https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/))

[View full post](https://resources.iinfosec.com/network-security-news/2022-02-21)

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