Joint cyber security advisory on Scattered Spider – Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

Summary

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, together with partners including the US FBI, CISA, the UK NCSC, the RCMP, the Australian Federal Police and ASD’s ACSC, has published a joint advisory on the Scattered Spider cyber‑criminal group. The advisory details recent activity targeting commercial facilities and critical infrastructure as well as the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by these actors. Organisations and service providers are urged to implement the mitigation measures described and routinely test their cyber security business processes to reduce the likelihood and impact of attacks.

Key Points

Scattered Spider is a criminal group that targets large organisations and their contracted IT helpdesks to gain access and persistence.
The advisory is a coordinated release by multiple national cyber agencies, signalling the threat’s seriousness and international reach.
Recent activity has focused on commercial facilities sectors and certain subsectors, potentially affecting critical infrastructure.
The report summarises commonly observed TTPs and lists mitigation recommendations to reduce exposure and impact.
Organisations are specifically urged to test cyber security business processes — including those of third‑party service providers — and to apply the mitigation measures promptly.

Context and relevance

This advisory matters because Scattered Spider has demonstrated effective techniques for abusing helpdesk and vendor trust to breach larger targets. With increasing reliance on outsourced IT support and interconnected services, the advisory’s guidance is directly relevant to security teams, IT managers, and procurement officers who oversee third‑party relationships. Implementing the suggested mitigations aligns with broader trends in strengthening supply‑chain and vendor security across critical infrastructure sectors.

Author style

Punchy: This is not a dry bulletin — it’s a clear red flag. If you run or support large estates, vendor services or critical systems, the details here could save you disruptive incident response and reputational damage. Read the mitigations closely.

Why should I read this?

Quick heads up — Scattered Spider are actively exploiting IT helpdesks to nick access to big organisations. If you care about keeping systems online, customers safe or meeting regulatory expectations, skim the key mitigations and forward this to your IT team. It’s short, practical and worth actioning.

Source

Source: https://cyber.gc.ca/en/news-events/joint-cyber-security-advisory-scattered-spider