cyber updates

Dec 17, 2024Ravie LakshmananCyber Espionage / Malware A suspected South Asian cyber espionage threat group known as Bitter targeted a Turkish defense sector organization in November 2024 to deliver two C++-malware families tracked as WmRAT and MiyaRAT. “The attack chain used alternate data streams in a RAR archive to deliver a shortcut (LNK) file that created a scheduled task on the target machine to pull down further payloads,” Proofpoint researchers Nick Attfield, Konstantin Klinger, Pim…

Sep 25, 2024Ravie LakshmananEmail Security / Threat Intelligence Transportation and logistics companies in North America are the target of a new phishing campaign that delivers a variety of information stealers and remote access trojans (RATs). The activity cluster, per Proofpoint, makes use of compromised legitimate email accounts belonging to transportation and shipping companies so as to inject malicious content into existing email conversations. As many as 15 breached email accounts have been identified as used…

Jul 08, 2024NewsroomCyber Espionage / Cloud Security A previously undocumented advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed CloudSorcerer has been observed targeting Russian government entities by leveraging cloud services for command-and-control (C2) and data exfiltration. Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which discovered the activity in May 2024, said the tradecraft adopted by the threat actor bears similarities with that of CloudWizard, but pointed out the differences in the malware source code. The attacks wield an innovative data-gathering program…

Mar 05, 2024NewsroomEmail Security / Network Security The threat actor known as TA577 has been observed using ZIP archive attachments in phishing emails with an aim to steal NT LAN Manager (NTLM) hashes. The new attack chain “can be used for sensitive information gathering purposes and to enable follow-on activity,” enterprise security firm Proofpoint said in a Monday report. At least two campaigns taking advantage of this approach were observed on February 26 and 27,…

The threat actor tracked as TA866 has resurfaced after a nine-month hiatus with a new large-volume phishing campaign to deliver known malware families such as WasabiSeed and Screenshotter. The campaign, observed earlier this month and blocked by Proofpoint on January 11, 2024, involved sending thousands of invoice-themed emails targeting North America bearing decoy PDF files. “The PDFs contained OneDrive URLs that, if clicked, initiated a multi-step infection chain eventually leading to the malware payload, a…

Nov 14, 2023NewsroomCyber Espionage / Threat Intelligence Government entities in the Middle East are the target of new phishing campaigns that are designed to deliver a new initial access downloader dubbed IronWind. The activity, detected between July and October 2023, has been attributed by Proofpoint to a threat actor it tracks under the name TA402, which is also known as Molerats, Gaza Cyber Gang, and shares tactical overlaps with a pro-Hamas hacking crew known as…

Sep 27, 2023THNMalware / Cyber Threat A new malware strain called ZenRAT has emerged in the wild that’s distributed via bogus installation packages of the Bitwarden password manager. “The malware is specifically targeting Windows users and will redirect people using other hosts to a benign web page,” enterprise security firm Proofpoint said in a technical report. “The malware is a modular remote access trojan (RAT) with information stealing capabilities.” ZenRAT is hosted on fake websites…

Sep 20, 2023THNMalware Attack / Cyber Threat Chinese-language speakers have been increasingly targeted as part of multiple email phishing campaigns that aim to distribute various malware families such as Sainbox RAT, Purple Fox, and a new trojan called ValleyRAT. “Campaigns include Chinese-language lures and malware typically associated with Chinese cybercrime activity,” enterprise security firm Proofpoint said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The activity, observed since early 2023, entails sending email messages containing…

Aug 01, 2023THNCyber Attack / Malware Organizations in Italy are the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages a new strain of malware called WikiLoader with an ultimate aim to install a banking trojan, stealer, and spyware referred to as Ursnif (aka Gozi). “It is a sophisticated downloader with the objective of installing a second malware payload,” Proofpoint said in a technical report. “The malware uses multiple mechanisms to evade detection and was likely…

Jul 06, 2023Ravie LakshmananEndpoint Security / Malware The Iranian nation-state actor known as TA453 has been linked to a new set of spear-phishing attacks that infect both Windows and macOS operating systems with malware. “TA453 eventually used a variety of cloud hosting providers to deliver a novel infection chain that deploys the newly identified PowerShell backdoor GorjolEcho,” Proofpoint said in a new report. “When given the opportunity, TA453 ported its malware and attempted to launch…