Pakistan-based Transparent Tribe Hackers Targeting Indian Educational Institutions

The Transparent Tribe threat actor has been linked to a set of weaponized Microsoft Office documents in intrusions directed against the Indian education sector to deploy a continuously maintained piece of malware called Crimson RAT. While the suspected Pakistan-based threat group is known to target military and government entities in the country, the activities have since expanded to include the

Iran-Based Hackers Caught Carrying Out Destructive Attacks Under Ransomware Guise

The Iranian nation-state group known as MuddyWater has been observed carrying out destructive attacks on hybrid environments under the guise of a ransomware operation. That's according to new findings from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team, which discovered the threat actor targeting both on-premises and cloud infrastructures in partnership with another emerging activity cluster dubbed DEV-

Cyber Police of Ukraine Busted Phishing Gang Responsible for $4.33 Million Scam

The Cyber Police of Ukraine, in collaboration with law enforcement officials from Czechia, has arrested several members of a cybercriminal gang that set up phishing sites to target European users. Two of the apprehended affiliates are believed to be organizers, with 10 others detained in other territories across the European Union. The suspects are alleged to have created more than 100 phishing

Chinese RedGolf Group Targeting Windows and Linux Systems with KEYPLUG Backdoor

A Chinese state-sponsored threat activity group tracked as RedGolf has been attributed to the use of a custom Windows and Linux backdoor called KEYPLUG. "RedGolf is a particularly prolific Chinese state-sponsored threat actor group that has likely been active for many years against a wide range of industries globally," Recorded Future told The Hacker News. "The group has shown the ability to

Mélofée: Researchers Uncover New Linux Malware Linked to Chinese APT Groups

An unknown Chinese state-sponsored hacking group has been linked to a novel piece of malware aimed at Linux servers. French cybersecurity firm ExaTrack, which found three samples of the previously documented malicious software that date back to early 2022, dubbed it Mélofée. The newest of the three artifacts is designed to drop a kernel-mode rootkit that's based on an open source project

North Korean APT43 Group Uses Cybercrime to Fund Espionage Operations

A new North Korean nation-state cyber operator has been attributed to a series of campaigns orchestrated to gather strategic intelligence that aligns with Pyongyang's geopolitical interests since 2018. Google-owned Mandiant, which is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker APT43, said the group's motives are both espionage- and financially-motivated, leveraging techniques like credential

Pakistan-Origin SideCopy Linked to New Cyberattack on India's Ministry of Defence

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group that has a track record of targeting India and Afghanistan has been linked to a new phishing campaign that delivers Action RAT. According to Cyble, which attributed the operation to SideCopy, the activity cluster is designed to target the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the research and development wing of India's Ministry of

Researchers Uncover Chinese Nation State Hackers' Deceptive Attack Strategies

A recent campaign undertaken by Earth Preta indicates that nation-state groups aligned with China are getting increasingly proficient at bypassing security solutions. The threat actor, active since at least 2012, is tracked by the broader cybersecurity community under Bronze President, HoneyMyte, Mustang Panda, RedDelta, and Red Lich. Attack chains mounted by the group commence with a

German and South Korean Agencies Warn of Kimsuky's Expanding Cyber Attack Tactics

German and South Korean government agencies have warned about cyber attacks mounted by a threat actor tracked as Kimsuky using rogue browser extensions to steal users' Gmail inboxes. The joint advisory comes from Germany's domestic intelligence apparatus, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), and South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS). The intrusions are

Chinese Hackers Exploit Fortinet Zero-Day Flaw for Cyber Espionage Attack

The zero-day exploitation of a now-patched medium-severity security flaw in the Fortinet FortiOS operating system has been linked to a suspected Chinese hacking group. American cybersecurity company Mandiant, which made the attribution, said the activity cluster is part of a broader campaign designed to deploy backdoors onto Fortinet and VMware solutions and maintain persistent access to victim

North Korean UNC2970 Hackers Expands Operations with New Malware Families

A North Korean espionage group tracked as UNC2970 has been observed employing previously undocumented malware families as part of a spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. and European media and technology organizations since June 2022. Google-owned Mandiant said the threat cluster shares "multiple overlaps" with a long-running operation dubbed "Dream Job" that employs job recruitment lures in

Iranian Hackers Target Women Involved in Human Rights and Middle East Politics

Iranian state-sponsored actors are continuing to engage in social engineering campaigns targeting researchers by impersonating a U.S. think tank. "Notably the targets in this instance were all women who are actively involved in political affairs and human rights in the Middle East region," Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The cybersecurity

Lazarus Group Exploits Zero-Day Vulnerability to Hack South Korean Financial Entity

The North Korea-linked Lazarus Group has been observed weaponizing flaws in an undisclosed software to breach a financial business entity in South Korea twice within a span of a year. While the first attack in May 2022 entailed the use of a vulnerable version of a certificate software that's widely used by public institutions and universities, the re-infiltration in October 2022 involved the

Sharp Panda Using New Soul Framework Version to Target Southeast Asian Governments

High-profile government entities in Southeast Asia are the target of a cyber espionage campaign undertaken by a Chinese threat actor known as Sharp Panda since late last year. The intrusions are characterized by the use of a new version of the Soul modular framework, marking a departure from the group's attack chains observed in 2021. Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point said the "

Chinese Hackers Targeting European Entities with New MQsTTang Backdoor

The China-aligned Mustang Panda actor has been observed using a hitherto unseen custom backdoor called MQsTTang as part of an ongoing social engineering campaign that commenced in January 2023. "Unlike most of the group's malware, MQsTTang doesn't seem to be based on existing families or publicly available projects," ESET researcher Alexandre Côté Cyr said in a new report. Attack chains

Dutch Police Arrest 3 Hackers Involved in Massive Data Theft and Extortion Scheme

The Dutch police announced the arrest of three individuals in connection with a "large-scale" criminal operation involving data theft, extortion, and money laundering. The suspects include two 21-year-old men from Zandvoort and Rotterdam and an 18-year-old man without a permanent residence. The arrests were made on January 23, 2023. It's estimated that the hackers stole personal data belonging

New Hacking Cluster 'Clasiopa' Targeting Materials Research Organizations in Asia

Materials research organizations in Asia have been targeted by a previously unknown threat actor using a distinct set of tools. Symantec, by Broadcom Software, is tracking the cluster under the moniker Clasiopa. The origins of the hacking group and its affiliations are currently unknown, but there are hints that suggest the adversary could have ties to India. This includes references to "

Lazarus Group Likely Using New WinorDLL64 Backdoor to Exfiltrate Sensitive Data

A new backdoor associated with a malware downloader named Wslink has been discovered, with the tool likely used by the notorious North Korea-aligned Lazarus Group, new findings reveal. The payload, dubbed WinorDLL64 by ESET, is a fully-featured implant that can exfiltrate, overwrite, and delete files; execute PowerShell commands; and obtain comprehensive information about the underlying machine.

Researchers Warn of ReverseRAT Backdoor Targeting Indian Government Agencies

A spear-phishing campaign targeting Indian government entities aims to deploy an updated version of a backdoor called ReverseRAT. Cybersecurity firm ThreatMon attributed the activity to a threat actor tracked as SideCopy. SideCopy is a threat group of Pakistani origin that shares overlaps with another actor called Transparent Tribe. It is so named for mimicking the infection chains associated

Norway Seizes $5.84 Million in Cryptocurrency Stolen by Lazarus Hackers

Norwegian police agency Økokrim has announced the seizure of 60 million NOK (about $5.84 million) worth of cryptocurrency stolen by the Lazarus Group in March 2022 following the Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge hack. "This case shows that we also have a great capacity to follow the money on the blockchain, even if the criminals use advanced methods," the Oslo-based crime-fighting unit said in a

Google Reveals Alarming Surge in Russian Cyber Attacks Against Ukraine

Russia's cyber attacks against Ukraine surged by 250% in 2022 when compared to two years ago, Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Mandiant disclosed in a new joint report. The targeting, which coincided and has since persisted following the country's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, focused heavily on the Ukrainian government and military entities, alongside critical

Experts Warn of RambleOn Android Malware Targeting South Korean Journalists

Suspected North Korean nation-state actors targeted a journalist in South Korea with a malware-laced Android app as part of a social engineering campaign. The findings come from South Korea-based non-profit Interlab, which coined the new malware RambleOn. The malicious functionalities include the "ability to read and leak target's contact list, SMS, voice call content, location and others from

⚡Top Cybersecurity News Stories This Week — Cybersecurity Newsletter

Hey 👋 there, cyber friends! Welcome to this week's cybersecurity newsletter, where we aim to keep you informed and empowered in the ever-changing world of cyber threats. In today's edition, we will cover some interesting developments in the cybersecurity landscape and share some insightful analysis of each to help you protect yourself against potential attacks. 1. Apple 📱 Devices Hacked with

North Korea's APT37 Targeting Southern Counterpart with New M2RAT Malware

The North Korea-linked threat actor tracked as APT37 has been linked to a piece of new malware dubbed M2RAT in attacks targeting its southern counterpart, suggesting continued evolution of the group's features and tactics. APT37, also tracked under the monikers Reaper, RedEyes, Ricochet Chollima, and ScarCruft, is an element within North Korea's Ministry of State Security (MSS) unlike the

Webinar — A MythBusting Special: 9 Myths about File-based Threats

Bad actors love to deliver threats in files. Persistent and persuasive messages convince unsuspecting victims to accept and open files from unknown sources, executing the first step in a cyber attack.  This continues to happen whether the file is an EXE or a Microsoft Excel document. Far too often, end users have an illusion of security, masked by good faith efforts of other users and (

North Korean Hackers Targeting Healthcare with Ransomware to Fund its Operations

State-backed hackers from North Korea are conducting ransomware attacks against healthcare and critical infrastructure facilities to fund illicit activities, U.S. and South Korean cybersecurity and intelligence agencies warned in a joint advisory. The attacks, which demand cryptocurrency ransoms in exchange for recovering access to encrypted files, are designed to support North Korea's

Webinar: Learn How to Comply with New Cyber Insurance Identity Security Requirements

Have you ever stopped to think about the potential consequences of a cyberattack on your organization? It's getting more intense and destructive every day, and organizations are feeling the heat. That's why more and more businesses are turning to cyber insurance to find some much-needed peace of mind. Imagine, in the unfortunate event of a successful security breach or ransomware attack, the

NewsPenguin Threat Actor Emerges with Malicious Campaign Targeting Pakistani Entities

A previously unknown threat actor dubbed NewsPenguin has been linked to a phishing campaign targeting Pakistani entities by leveraging the upcoming international maritime expo as a lure. "The attacker sent out targeted phishing emails with a weaponized document attached that purports to be an exhibitor manual for PIMEC-23," the BlackBerry Research and Intelligence Team said. PIMEC, short for

Russian Hackers Using Graphiron Malware to Steal Data from Ukraine

A Russia-linked threat actor has been observed deploying a new information-stealing malware in cyber attacks targeting Ukraine. Dubbed Graphiron by Broadcom-owned Symantec, the malware is the handiwork of an espionage group known as Nodaria, which is tracked by the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) as UAC-0056. "The malware is written in Go and is designed to harvest a wide

Russian Hacker Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Linked to Ryuk Ransomware

A Russian national on February 7, 2023, pleaded guilty in the U.S. to money laundering charges and for attempting to conceal the source of funds obtained in connection with Ryuk ransomware attacks. Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov, 30, was arrested in Amsterdam in November 2021 before he was extradited from the Netherlands in August 2022. He is awaiting sentencing on April 11, 2023. "Between at least

CERT-UA Alerts Ukrainian State Authorities of Remcos Software-Fueled Cyber Attacks

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has issued an alert warning of cyber attacks against state authorities in the country that deploy a legitimate remote access software named Remcos. The mass phishing campaign has been attributed to a threat actor it tracks as UAC-0050, with the agency describing the activity as likely motivated by espionage given the toolset employed. The

Microsoft: Iranian Nation-State Group Sanctioned by U.S. Behind Charlie Hebdo Hack

An Iranian nation-state group sanctioned by the U.S. government has been attributed to the hack of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in early January 2023. Microsoft, which disclosed details of the incident, is tracking the activity cluster under its chemical element-themed moniker NEPTUNIUM, which is an Iran-based company known as Emennet Pasargad. In January 2022, the U.S. Federal

PixPirate: New Android Banking Trojan Targeting Brazilian Financial Institutions

A new Android banking trojan has set its eyes on Brazilian financial institutions to commit fraud by leveraging the PIX payments platform. Italian cybersecurity company Cleafy, which discovered the malware between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, is tracking it under the name PixPirate. "PixPirate belongs to the newest generation of Android banking trojan, as it can perform ATS (

Iranian OilRig Hackers Using New Backdoor to Exfiltrate Data from Govt. Organizations

The Iranian nation-state hacking group known as OilRig has continued to target government organizations in the Middle East as part of a cyber espionage campaign that leverages a new backdoor to exfiltrate data. "The campaign abuses legitimate but compromised email accounts to send stolen data to external mail accounts controlled by the attackers," Trend Micro researchers Mohamed Fahmy, Sherif

New Russian-Backed Gamaredon's Spyware Variants Targeting Ukrainian Authorities

The State Cyber Protection Centre (SCPC) of Ukraine has called out the Russian state-sponsored threat actor known as Gamaredon for its targeted cyber attacks on public authorities and critical information infrastructure in the country. The advanced persistent threat, also known as Actinium, Armageddon, Iron Tilden, Primitive Bear, Shuckworm, Trident Ursa, and UAC-0010, has a track record of 

North Korean Hackers Exploit Unpatched Zimbra Devices in 'No Pineapple' Campaign

A new intelligence gathering campaign linked to the prolific North Korean state-sponsored Lazarus Group leveraged known security flaws in unpatched Zimbra devices to compromise victim systems. That's according to Finnish cybersecurity company WithSecure (formerly F-Secure), which codenamed the incident No Pineapple in reference to an error message that's used in one of the backdoors. Targets of

British Cyber Agency Warns of Russian and Iranian Hackers Targeting Key Industries

The U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on Thursday warned of spear-phishing attacks mounted by Russian and Iranian state-sponsored actors for information-gathering operations. "The attacks are not aimed at the general public but targets in specified sectors, including academia, defense, government organizations, NGOs, think tanks, as well as politicians, journalists, and activists," the

North Korean Hackers Turn to Credential Harvesting in Latest Wave of Cyberattacks

A North Korean nation-state group notorious for crypto heists has been attributed to a new wave of malicious email attacks as part of a "sprawling" credential harvesting activity targeting a number of industry verticals, marking a significant shift in its strategy. The state-aligned threat actor is being tracked by Proofpoint under the name TA444, and by the larger cybersecurity community as

Gamaredon Group Launches Cyberattacks Against Ukraine Using Telegram

The Russian state-sponsored cyber espionage group known as Gamaredon has continued its digital onslaught against Ukraine, with recent attacks leveraging the popular messaging app Telegram to strike military and law enforcement sectors in the country. "The Gamaredon group's network infrastructure relies on multi-stage Telegram accounts for victim profiling and confirmation of geographic location,

Iranian Government Entities Under Attack by New Wave of BackdoorDiplomacy Attacks

The threat actor known as BackdoorDiplomacy has been linked to a new wave of attacks targeting Iranian government entities between July and late December 2022. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, which is tracking the activity under its constellation-themed moniker Playful Taurus, said it observed the government domains attempting to connect to malware infrastructure previously identified as associated

Russian Turla Hackers Hijack Decade-Old Malware Infrastructure to Deploy New Backdoors

The Russian cyberespionage group known as Turla has been observed piggybacking on attack infrastructure used by a decade-old malware to deliver its own reconnaissance and backdoor tools to targets in Ukraine. Google-owned Mandiant, which is tracking the operation under the uncategorized cluster moniker UNC4210, said the hijacked servers correspond to a variant of a commodity malware called 

RedZei Chinese Scammers Targeting Chinese Students in the U.K.

Chinese international students in the U.K. have been targeted by persistent Chinese-speaking scammers for over a year as part of an activity dubbed RedZei (aka RedThief). "The RedZei fraudsters have chosen their targets carefully, researched them and realized it was a rich victim group that is ripe for exploitation," cybersecurity researcher Will Thomas (@BushidoToken) said in a write-up

BlueNoroff APT Hackers Using New Ways to Bypass Windows MotW Protection

BlueNoroff, a subcluster of the notorious Lazarus Group, has been observed adopting new techniques into its playbook that enable it to bypass Windows Mark of the Web (MotW) protections. This includes the use of optical disk image (.ISO extension) and virtual hard disk (.VHD extension) file formats as part of a novel infection chain, Kaspersky disclosed in a report published today. "BlueNoroff

Researchers Warn of Kavach 2FA Phishing Attacks Targeting Indian Govt. Officials

A new targeted phishing campaign has zoomed in on a two-factor authentication solution called Kavach that's used by Indian government officials. Cybersecurity firm Securonix dubbed the activity STEPPY#KAVACH, attributing it to a threat actor known as SideCopy based on tactical overlaps with prior attacks. ".LNK files are used to initiate code execution which eventually downloads and runs a

Ukraine's DELTA Military System Users Under Attack from Info Stealing Malware

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) this week disclosed that users of the Delta situational awareness program received phishing emails from a compromised email account belonging to the Ministry of Defense. The attacks, which have been attributed to a threat cluster dubbed UAC-0142, aimed to infect systems with two pieces of data-stealing malware referred to as FateGrab and

Russian Hackers Targeted Petroleum Refinery in NATO Country During Ukraine War

The Russia-linked Gamaredon group attempted to unsuccessfully break into a large petroleum refining company within a NATO member state earlier this year amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. The attack, which took place on August 30, 2022, is just one of multiple intrusions orchestrated by the advanced persistent threat (APT) that's attributed to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Facebook Cracks Down on Spyware Vendors from U.S., China, Russia, Israel, and India

Meta Platforms disclosed that it took down no less than 200 covert influence operations since 2017 spanning roughly 70 countries across 42 languages. The social media conglomerate also took steps to disable accounts and block infrastructure operated by spyware vendors, including in China, Russia, Israel, the U.S. and India, that targeted individuals in about 200 countries. "The global

Trojanized Windows 10 Installer Used in Cyberattacks Against Ukrainian Government Entities

Government entities in Ukraine have been breached as part of a new campaign that leveraged trojanized versions of Windows 10 installer files to conduct post-exploitation activities. Mandiant, which discovered the "socially engineered supply chain" attack around mid-July 2022, said the malicious ISO files were distributed via Ukrainian- and Russian-language Torrent websites. It's tracking the

Researchers Uncover MirrorFace Cyber Attacks Targeting Japanese Political Entities

A Chinese-speaking advanced persistent threat (APT) actor codenamed MirrorFace has been attributed to a spear-phishing campaign targeting Japanese political establishments. The activity, dubbed Operation LiberalFace by ESET, specifically focused on members of an unnamed political party in the nation with the goal of delivering an implant called LODEINFO and a hitherto unseen credential stealer

Hack-for-Hire Group Targets Travel and Financial Entities with New Janicab Malware Variant

Travel agencies have emerged as the target of a hack-for-hire group dubbed Evilnum as part of a broader campaign aimed at legal and financial investment institutions in the Middle East and Europe. The attacks, which took place during 2020 and 2021 and likely went as far back as 2015, involved a revamped variant of a malware called Janicab that leverages a number of public services like WordPress

Researchers Uncover New Drokbk Malware that Uses GitHub as a Dead Drop Resolver

The subgroup of an Iranian nation-state group known as Nemesis Kitten has been attributed as behind a previously undocumented custom malware dubbed Drokbk that uses GitHub as a dead drop resolver to exfiltrate data from an infected computer, or to receive commands. "The use of GitHub as a virtual dead drop helps the malware blend in," Secureworks principal researcher Rafe Pilling said. "All the

MuddyWater Hackers Target Asian and Middle East Countries with Updated Tactics

The Iran-linked MuddyWater threat actor has been observed targeting several countries in the Middle East as well as Central and West Asia as part of a new spear-phishing activity. "The campaign has been observed targeting Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, and the United Arab Emirates," Deep Instinct researcher Simon Kenin said in a technical write-up.

Iranian Hackers Strike Diamond Industry with Data-Wiping Malware in Supply-Chain Attack

An Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Agrius has been attributed as behind a set of data wiper attacks aimed at diamond industries in South Africa, Israel, and Hong Kong. The wiper, referred to as Fantasy by ESET, is believed to have been delivered via a supply-chain attack targeting an Israeli software suite developer as part of a campaign that began in February 2022.

Russian Hackers Spotted Targeting U.S. Military Weapons and Hardware Supplier

A state-sponsored hacking group with links to Russia has been linked to attack infrastructure that spoofs the Microsoft login page of Global Ordnance, a legitimate U.S.-based military weapons and hardware supplier. Recorded Future attributed the new infrastructure to a threat activity group it tracks under the name TAG-53, and is broadly known by the cybersecurity community as Blue Callisto,

Microsoft Alerts Cryptocurrency Industry of Targeted Cyberattacks

Cryptocurrency investment companies are the target of a developing threat cluster that uses Telegram groups to seek out potential victims. Microsoft's Security Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) is tracking the activity under the name DEV-0139, and builds upon a recent report from Volexity that attributed the same set of attacks to North Korea's Lazarus Group. "DEV-0139 joined Telegram groups

Chinese Hackers Target Middle East Telecoms in Latest Cyber Attacks

A malicious campaign targeting the Middle East is likely linked to BackdoorDiplomacy, an advanced persistent threat (APT) group with ties to China. The espionage activity, directed against a telecom company in the region, is said to have commenced on August 19, 2021 through the successful exploitation of ProxyShell flaws in the Microsoft Exchange Server. Initial compromise leveraged binaries

Iranian State Hackers Targeting Key Figures in Activism, Journalism, and Politics

Hackers with ties to the Iranian government have been linked to an ongoing social engineering and credential phishing campaign directed against human rights activists, journalists, researchers, academics, diplomats, and politicians working in the Middle East. At least 20 individuals are believed to have been targeted, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published Monday, attributing the

North Korea Hackers Using New "Dolphin" Backdoor to Spy on South Korean Targets

The North Korea-linked ScarCruft group has been attributed to a previously undocumented backdoor called Dolphin that the threat actor has used against targets located in its southern counterpart. "The backdoor [...] has a wide range of spying capabilities, including monitoring drives and portable devices and exfiltrating files of interest, keylogging and taking screenshots, and stealing

Chinese Cyber Espionage Hackers Using USB Devices to Target Entities in Philippines

A threat actor with a suspected China nexus has been linked to a set of espionage attacks in the Philippines that primarily relies on USB devices as an initial infection vector. Mandiant, which is part of Google Cloud, is tracking the cluster under its uncategorized moniker UNC4191. An analysis of the artifacts used in the intrusions indicates that the campaign dates as far back as September

CISA Warns of Actively Exploited Critical Oracle Fusion Middleware Vulnerability

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a critical flaw impacting Oracle Fusion Middleware to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2021-35587, carries a CVSS score of 9.8 and impacts Oracle Access Manager (OAM) versions 11.1.2.3.0, 12.2.1.3.0, and 12.2.1.4.0. <!--