USCIS Breach Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (USC3733737112525)

In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the USCIS breach identified under incident ID USC3733737112525.

The analysis begins with a detailed overview of USCIS's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uscis, the number of followers: 175946, the industry type: Government Administration and the number of employees: 4841 employees

After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 778 and after the incident was 709 with a difference of -69 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.

In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on USCIS and their customers.

General Public (U.S. Citizens/Residents) recently reported "Social Security Number (SSN) Lock and Credit Freeze Advisory for Identity Theft Prevention", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.

The article discusses the importance of locking your Social Security Number (SSN) and freezing credit to prevent identity theft, particularly employment fraud and unauthorized credit account openings.

The disruption is felt across the environment, and exposing Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and Potential personally identifiable information (PII) in breaches.

In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like SSN Lock via SSA or E-Verify, Credit Freeze via Credit Bureaus and IRS Identity Protection PIN, and began remediation that includes Monitoring financial accounts, Dark web monitoring (via ID theft protection services) and White glove restoration services for identity recovery, while recovery efforts such as Unlocking SSN for legitimate use (e.g., employment verification) and Temporary lift of credit freeze for authorized credit applications continue, and stakeholders are being briefed through Public advisory via CNET article and SSA and E-Verify user notifications (e.g., lock expiration alerts).

The case underscores how teams are taking away lessons such as Proactive measures like SSN locks and credit freezes can mitigate identity theft risks, SSN locks are particularly effective against employment fraud but require manual management for legitimate use cases and Layered defenses (e.g., SSN lock + credit freeze + IRS PIN) provide stronger protection, and recommending next steps like Lock your SSN via SSA or E-Verify to prevent employment fraud, Freeze credit with all three major bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) to block unauthorized credit accounts and Obtain an IRS Identity Protection PIN to prevent tax fraud, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering General public advisory on SSN locking and credit freezing and Employers using E-Verify may encounter locked SSNs during hiring processes.

Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.

Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Phishing: Spearphishing Link (T1566.002) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating social engineering tactics (e.g., phishing) trick individuals into disclosing SSNs. and Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts (T1078.004) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized access to SSNs via data breaches implies compromise of E-Verify/SSA accounts or systems.. Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Unsecured Credentials: Private Keys/Certificates in Source (T1552.004) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating widespread exposure of SSNs in data breaches enables identity theft suggests SSNs stored insecurely. and Credentials from Web Browsers: Credentials from Password Stores (T1555.003) with moderate confidence (65%), supported by evidence indicating social engineering tactics (e.g., phishing) trick individuals into disclosing SSNs (e.g., via browser-stored credentials).. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Obfuscated Files or Information: Software Packing (T1027.002) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating dark web monitoring for compromised PII implies attackers may encode/exfiltrate SSNs in obfuscated formats. and Valid Accounts: Default Accounts (T1078.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating gaps in automated, real-time fraud detection suggests misuse of default/legacy access in E-Verify/SSA systems.. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol (T1048.003) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating large-scale SSN exposure... through system exploits or external attacks implies bulk data exfiltration.. Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Identity Theft (T1659) with high confidence (95%), supported by evidence indicating high (employment fraud, tax fraud, credit account fraud) and impersonate individuals for fraudulent employment, tax refunds, or benefit claims. and Data Encrypted for Impact (T1486) with lower confidence (30%), supported by evidence indicating dark web monitoring for compromised PII *may* imply ransomware/encryption, but not explicitly confirmed.. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials (T1098.003) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating unauthorized access to SSNs via data breaches suggests long-term abuse of cloud accounts (E-Verify/SSA).. These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.