Beware: New 'RustBucket' Malware Variant Targeting macOS Users

Researchers have pulled back the curtain on an updated version of an Apple macOS malware called RustBucket that comes with improved capabilities to establish persistence and avoid detection by security software. "This variant of RustBucket, a malware family that targets macOS systems, adds persistence capabilities not previously observed," Elastic Security Labs researchers said in a report

New Mockingjay Process Injection Technique Could Let Malware Evade Detection

A new process injection technique dubbed Mockingjay could be exploited by threat actors to bypass security solutions to execute malicious code on compromised systems. "The injection is executed without space allocation, setting permissions or even starting a thread," Security Joes researchers Thiago Peixoto, Felipe Duarte, and Ido Naor said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "The

Anatsa Banking Trojan Targeting Users in US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

A new Android malware campaign has been observed pushing the Anatsa banking trojan to target banking customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since the start of March 2023. "The actors behind Anatsa aim to steal credentials used to authorize customers in mobile banking applications and perform Device-Takeover Fraud (DTO) to initiate fraudulent transactions," ThreatFabric 

Twitter Hacker Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for $120,000 Crypto Scam

A U.K. citizen who took part in the massive July 2020 hack of Twitter has been sentenced to five years in prison in the U.S. Joseph James O'Connor (aka PlugwalkJoe), 24, was awarded the sentence on Friday in the Southern District of New York, a little over a month after he pleaded guilty to the criminal schemes. He was arrested in Spain in July 2021. The infamous Twitter breach allowed the

Cybercrime Group 'Muddled Libra' Targets BPO Sector with Advanced Social Engineering

A threat actor known as Muddled Libra is targeting the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry with persistent attacks that leverage advanced social engineering ploys to gain initial access. "The attack style defining Muddled Libra appeared on the cybersecurity radar in late 2022 with the release of the 0ktapus phishing kit, which offered a prebuilt hosting framework and bundled templates,"

Powerful JavaScript Dropper PindOS Distributes Bumblebee and IcedID Malware

A new strain of JavaScript dropper has been observed delivering next-stage payloads like Bumblebee and IcedID. Cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct is tracking the malware as PindOS, which contains the name in its "User-Agent" string. Both Bumblebee and IcedID serve as loaders, acting as a vector for other malware on compromised hosts, including ransomware. A recent report from Proofpoint 

ScarCruft Hackers Exploit Ably Service for Stealthy Wiretapping Attacks

The North Korean threat actor known as ScarCruft has been observed using an information-stealing malware with previously undocumented wiretapping features as well as a backdoor developed using Golang that exploits the Ably real-time messaging service. "The threat actor sent their commands through the Golang backdoor that is using the Ably service," the AhnLab Security Emergency response Center (

Chinese Hacker Group 'Flea' Targets American Ministries with Graphican Backdoor

Foreign affairs ministries in the Americas have been targeted by a Chinese state-sponsored actor named Flea as part of a recent campaign that spanned from late 2022 to early 2023. The cyber attacks, per Broadcom's Symantec, involved a new backdoor codenamed Graphican. Some of the other targets included a government finance department and a corporation that markets products in the Americas as

Beware: New DoubleFinger Loader Targets Cryptocurrency Wallets with Stealer

A novel multi-stage loader called DoubleFinger has been observed delivering a cryptocurrency stealer dubbed GreetingGhoul in what's an advanced attack targeting users in Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. "DoubleFinger is deployed on the target machine, when the victim opens a malicious PIF attachment in an email message, ultimately executing the first of DoubleFinger's loader stages,"

Researchers Uncover Publisher Spoofing Bug in Microsoft Visual Studio Installer

Security researchers have warned about an "easily exploitable" flaw in the Microsoft Visual Studio installer that could be abused by a malicious actor to impersonate a legitimate publisher and distribute malicious extensions. "A threat actor could impersonate a popular publisher and issue a malicious extension to compromise a targeted system," Varonis researcher Dolev Taler said. "Malicious

Clop Ransomware Gang Likely Aware of MOVEit Transfer Vulnerability Since 2021

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have published a joint advisory regarding the active exploitation of a recently disclosed critical flaw in Progress Software's MOVEit Transfer application to drop ransomware. "The Cl0p Ransomware Gang, also known as TA505, reportedly began exploiting a previously unknown SQL injection

Kimsuky Targets Think Tanks and News Media with Social Engineering Attacks

The North Korean nation-state threat actor known as Kimsuky has been linked to a social engineering campaign targeting experts in North Korean affairs with the goal of stealing Google credentials and delivering reconnaissance malware. "Further, Kimsuky's objective extends to the theft of subscription credentials from NK News," cybersecurity firm SentinelOne said in a report shared with The

Cyclops Ransomware Gang Offers Go-Based Info Stealer to Cybercriminals

Threat actors associated with the Cyclops ransomware have been observed offering an information stealer malware that's designed to capture sensitive data from infected hosts. "The threat actor behind this [ransomware-as-a-service] promotes its offering on forums," Uptycs said in a new report. "There it requests a share of profits from those engaging in malicious activities using its malware."

New Botnet Malware 'Horabot' Targets Spanish-Speaking Users in Latin America

Spanish-speaking users in Latin America have been at the receiving end of a new botnet malware dubbed Horabot since at least November 2020. "Horabot enables the threat actor to control the victim's Outlook mailbox, exfiltrate contacts' email addresses, and send phishing emails with malicious HTML attachments to all addresses in the victim's mailbox," Cisco Talos researcher Chetan Raghuprasad 

Camaro Dragon Strikes with New TinyNote Backdoor for Intelligence Gathering

The Chinese nation-state group known as Camaro Dragon has been linked to yet another backdoor that's designed to meet its intelligence-gathering goals. Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point, which dubbed the Go-based malware TinyNote, said it functions as a first-stage payload capable of "basic machine enumeration and command execution via PowerShell or Goroutines." What the malware lacks in

Evasive QBot Malware Leverages Short-lived Residential IPs for Dynamic Attacks

An analysis of the "evasive and tenacious" malware known as QBot has revealed that 25% of its command-and-control (C2) servers are merely active for a single day. What's more, 50% of the servers don't remain active for more than a week, indicating the use of an adaptable and dynamic C2 infrastructure, Lumen Black Lotus Labs said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "This botnet has adapted

AceCryptor: Cybercriminals' Powerful Weapon, Detected in 240K+ Attacks

A crypter (alternatively spelled cryptor) malware dubbed AceCryptor has been used to pack numerous strains of malware since 2016. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET said it identified over 240,000 detections of the crypter in its telemetry in 2021 and 2022. This amounts to more than 10,000 hits per month. Some of the prominent malware families contained within AceCryptor are SmokeLoader, RedLine

Don't Click That ZIP File! Phishers Weaponizing .ZIP Domains to Trick Victims

A new phishing technique called "file archiver in the browser" can be leveraged to "emulate" a file archiver software in a web browser when a victim visits a .ZIP domain. "With this phishing attack, you simulate a file archiver software (e.g., WinRAR) in the browser and use a .zip domain to make it appear more legitimate," security researcher mr.d0x disclosed last week. Threat actors, in a

Alert: Brazilian Hackers Targeting Users of Over 30 Portuguese Banks

A Brazilian threat actor is targeting more than 30 Portuguese financial institutions with information-stealing malware as part of a long-running campaign that commenced in 2021. "The attackers can steal credentials and exfiltrate users' data and personal information, which can be leveraged for malicious activities beyond financial gain," SentinelOne researchers Aleksandar Milenkoski and Tom

How to Reduce Exposure on the Manufacturing Attack Surface

Digitalization initiatives are connecting once-isolated Operational Technology (OT) environments with their Information Technology (IT) counterparts. This digital transformation of the factory floor has accelerated the connection of machinery to digital systems and data. Computer systems for managing and monitoring digital systems and data have been added to the hardware and software used for

OilAlpha: Emerging Houthi-linked Cyber Threat Targets Arabian Android Users

A hacking group dubbed OilAlpha with suspected ties to Yemen's Houthi movement has been linked to a cyber espionage campaign targeting development, humanitarian, media, and non-governmental organizations in the Arabian peninsula. "OilAlpha used encrypted chat messengers like WhatsApp to launch social engineering attacks against its targets," cybersecurity company Recorded Future said in a

U.S. Offers $10 Million Bounty for Capture of Notorious Russian Ransomware Operator

A Russian national has been charged and indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) for launching ransomware attacks against "thousands of victims" in the country and across the world. Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev (aka Wazawaka, m1x, Boriselcin, and Uhodiransomwar), the 30-year-old individual in question, is alleged to be a "central figure" in the development and deployment of LockBit, Babuk,

China's Mustang Panda Hackers Exploit TP-Link Routers for Persistent Attacks

The Chinese nation-state actor known as Mustang Panda has been linked to a new set of sophisticated and targeted attacks aimed at European foreign affairs entities since January 2023. An analysis of these intrusions, per Check Point researchers Itay Cohen and Radoslaw Madej, has revealed a custom firmware implant designed explicitly for TP-Link routers. "The implant features several malicious

Inside Qilin Ransomware: Affiliates Take Home 85% of Ransom Payouts

Ransomware affiliates associated with the Qilin ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme earn anywhere between 80% to 85% of each ransom payment, according to new findings from Group-IB. The cybersecurity firm said it was able to infiltrate the group in March 2023, uncovering details about the affiliates' payment structure and the inner workings of the RaaS program following a private conversation

CopperStealer Malware Crew Resurfaces with New Rootkit and Phishing Kit Modules

The threat actors behind the CopperStealer malware resurfaced with two new campaigns in March and April 2023 that are designed to deliver two novel payloads dubbed CopperStealth and CopperPhish. Trend Micro is tracking the financially motivated group under the name Water Orthrus. The adversary is also assessed to be behind another campaign known as Scranos, which was detailed by Bitdefender in

New 'MichaelKors' Ransomware-as-a-Service Targeting Linux and VMware ESXi Systems

A new ransomware-as-service (RaaS) operation called MichaelKors has become the latest file-encrypting malware to target Linux and VMware ESXi systems as of April 2023. The development points to cybercriminal actors increasingly setting their eyes on the ESXi, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "This trend is especially noteworthy given the fact that ESXi

U.S. Government Neutralizes Russia's Most Sophisticated Snake Cyber Espionage Tool

The U.S. government on Tuesday announced the court-authorized disruption of a global network compromised by an advanced malware strain known as Snake wielded by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Snake, dubbed the "most sophisticated cyber espionage tool," is the handiwork of a Russian state-sponsored group called Turla (aka Iron Hunter, Secret Blizzard, SUMMIT, Uroburos, Venomous Bear,

New Ransomware Strain 'CACTUS' Exploits VPN Flaws to Infiltrate Networks

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new ransomware strain called CACTUS that has been found to leverage known flaws in VPN appliances to obtain initial access to targeted networks. "Once inside the network, CACTUS actors attempt to enumerate local and network user accounts in addition to reachable endpoints before creating new user accounts and leveraging custom scripts to automate

New Vulnerability in Popular WordPress Plugin Exposes Over 2 Million Sites to Cyberattacks

Users of Advanced Custom Fields plugin for WordPress are being urged to update version 6.1.6 following the discovery of a security flaw. The issue, assigned the identifier CVE-2023-30777, relates to a case of reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) that could be abused to inject arbitrary executable scripts into otherwise benign websites. The plugin, which is available both as a free and pro

Fleckpe Android Malware Sneaks onto Google Play Store with Over 620,000 Downloads

A new Android subscription malware named Fleckpe has been unearthed on the Google Play Store, amassing more than 620,000 downloads in total since 2022. Kaspersky, which identified 11 apps on the official app storefront, said the malware masqueraded as legitimate photo editing apps, camera, and smartphone wallpaper packs. The apps have since been taken down. The operation primarily targets users

Meta Takes Down Malware Campaign That Used ChatGPT as a Lure to Steal Accounts

Meta said it took steps to take down more than 1,000 malicious URLs from being shared across its services that were found to leverage OpenAI's ChatGPT as a lure to propagate about 10 malware families since March 2023. The development comes against the backdrop of fake ChatGPT web browser extensions being increasingly used to steal users' Facebook account credentials with an aim to run

Chinese Hacker Group Earth Longzhi Resurfaces with Advanced Malware Tactics

A Chinese state-sponsored hacking outfit has resurfaced with a new campaign targeting government, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing entities based in Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Fiji after more than six months of no activity. Trend Micro attributed the intrusion set to a cyber espionage group it tracks under the name Earth Longzhi, which is a subgroup within APT41 (aka HOODOO

Apple and Google Join Forces to Stop Unauthorized Location-Tracking Devices

Apple and Google have teamed up to work on a draft industry-wide specification that's designed to tackle safety risks and alert users when they are being tracked without their knowledge or permission using devices like AirTags. "The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across Android and

BouldSpy Android Spyware: Iranian Government's Alleged Tool for Spying on Minority Groups

A new Android surveillanceware possibly used by the Iranian government has been used to spy on over 300 individuals belonging to minority groups. The malware, dubbed BouldSpy, has been attributed with moderate confidence to the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA). Targeted victims include Iranian Kurds, Baluchis, Azeris, and Armenian Christian groups. "The spyware

North Korea's ScarCruft Deploys RokRAT Malware via LNK File Infection Chains

The North Korean threat actor known as ScarCruft started experimenting with oversized LNK files as a delivery route for RokRAT malware as early as July 2022, the same month Microsoft began blocking macros across Office documents by default. "RokRAT has not changed significantly over the years, but its deployment methods have evolved, now utilizing archives containing LNK files that initiate

New Atomic macOS Malware Steals Keychain Passwords and Crypto Wallets

Threat actors are advertising a new information stealer for the Apple macOS operating system called Atomic macOS Stealer (or AMOS) on Telegram for $1,000 per month, joining the likes of MacStealer. "The Atomic macOS Stealer can steal various types of information from the victim's machine, including Keychain passwords, complete system information, files from the desktop and documents folder, and

Zyxel Firewall Devices Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution Attacks — Patch Now

Networking equipment maker Zyxel has released patches for a critical security flaw in its firewall devices that could be exploited to achieve remote code execution on affected systems. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-28771, is rated 9.8 on the CVSS scoring system. Researchers from TRAPA Security have been credited with reporting the flaw. "Improper error message handling in some firewall versions

ViperSoftX InfoStealer Adopts Sophisticated Techniques to Avoid Detection

A significant number of victims in the consumer and enterprise sectors located across Australia, Japan, the U.S., and India have been affected by an evasive information-stealing malware called ViperSoftX. ViperSoftX was first documented by Fortinet in 2020, with cybersecurity company Avast detailing a campaign in November 2022 that leveraged the malware to distribute a malicious Google Chrome

Tonto Team Uses Anti-Malware File to Launch Attacks on South Korean Institutions

South Korean education, construction, diplomatic, and political institutions are at the receiving end of new attacks perpetrated by a China-aligned threat actor known as the Tonto Team. "Recent cases have revealed that the group is using a file related to anti-malware products to ultimately execute their malicious attacks," the AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC) said in a report

Google Gets Court Order to Take Down CryptBot That Infected Over 670,000 Computers

Google on Wednesday said it obtained a temporary court order in the U.S. to disrupt the distribution of a Windows-based information-stealing malware called CryptBot and "decelerate" its growth. The tech giant's Mike Trinh and Pierre-Marc Bureau said the efforts are part of steps it takes to "not only hold criminal operators of malware accountable, but also those who profit from its distribution.

Paperbug Attack: New Politically-Motivated Surveillance Campaign in Tajikistan

A little-known Russian-speaking cyber-espionage group has been linked to a new politically-motivated surveillance campaign targeting high-ranking government officials, telecom services, and public service infrastructures in Tajikistan. The intrusion set, dubbed Paperbug by Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT, has been attributed to a threat actor known as Nomadic Octopus (aka DustSquad). "The

RTM Locker's First Linux Ransomware Strain Targeting NAS and ESXi Hosts

The threat actors behind RTM Locker have developed a ransomware strain that's capable of targeting Linux machines, marking the group's first foray into the open source operating system. "Its locker ransomware infects Linux, NAS, and ESXi hosts and appears to be inspired by Babuk ransomware's leaked source code," Uptycs said in a new report published Wednesday. "It uses a combination of ECDH on

Microsoft Confirms PaperCut Servers Used to Deliver LockBit and Cl0p Ransomware

Microsoft has confirmed that the active exploitation of PaperCut servers is linked to attacks that are designed to deliver Cl0p and LockBit ransomware families. The tech giant's threat intelligence team is attributing a subset of the intrusions to a financially motivated actor it tracks under the name Lace Tempest (formerly DEV-0950), which overlaps with other hacking groups like FIN11, TA505,

Chinese Hackers Spotted Using Linux Variant of PingPull in Targeted Cyberattacks

The Chinese nation-state group dubbed Alloy Taurus is using a Linux variant of a backdoor called PingPull as well as a new undocumented tool codenamed Sword2033. That's according to findings from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, which discovered recent malicious cyber activity carried out by the group targeting South Africa and Nepal. Alloy Taurus is the constellation-themed moniker assigned to a

Charming Kitten's New BellaCiao Malware Discovered in Multi-Country Attacks

The prolific Iranian nation-state group known as Charming Kitten is actively targeting multiple victims in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and India with a novel malware dubbed BellaCiao, adding to its ever-expanding list of custom tools. Discovered by Bitdefender Labs, BellaCiao is a "personalized dropper" that's capable of delivering other malware payloads onto a victim machine based on

Chinese Hackers Using MgBot Malware to Target International NGOs in Mainland China

The advanced persistent threat (APT) group referred to as Evasive Panda has been observed targeting an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in Mainland China with malware delivered via update channels of legitimate applications like Tencent QQ. The attack chains are designed to distribute a Windows installer for MgBot malware, ESET security researcher Facundo Muñoz said in a new

Lazarus Subgroup Targeting Apple Devices with New RustBucket macOS Malware

A financially-motivated North Korean threat actor is suspected to be behind a new Apple macOS malware strain called RustBucket. "[RustBucket] communicates with command and control (C2) servers to download and execute various payloads," Jamf Threat Labs researchers Ferdous Saljooki and Jaron Bradley said in a technical report published last week.  The Apple device management company attributed it

Russian Hackers Tomiris Targeting Central Asia for Intelligence Gathering

The Russian-speaking threat actor behind a backdoor known as Tomiris is primarily focused on gathering intelligence in Central Asia, fresh findings from Kaspersky reveal. "Tomiris's endgame consistently appears to be the regular theft of internal documents," security researchers Pierre Delcher and Ivan Kwiatkowski said in an analysis published today. "The threat actor targets government and

Ransomware Hackers Using AuKill Tool to Disable EDR Software Using BYOVD Attack

Threat actors are employing a previously undocumented "defense evasion tool" dubbed AuKill that's designed to disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) software by means of a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attack. "The AuKill tool abuses an outdated version of the driver used by version 16.32 of the Microsoft utility, Process Explorer, to disable EDR processes before deploying

Hackers Exploit Outdated WordPress Plugin to Backdoor Thousands of WordPress Sites

Threat actors have been observed leveraging a legitimate but outdated WordPress plugin to surreptitiously backdoor websites as part of an ongoing campaign, Sucuri revealed in a report published last week. The plugin in question is Eval PHP, released by a developer named flashpixx. It allows users to insert PHP code pages and posts of WordPress sites that's then executed every time the posts are

Russian Hackers Suspected in Ongoing Exploitation of Unpatched PaperCut Servers

Print management software provider PaperCut said that it has "evidence to suggest that unpatched servers are being exploited in the wild," citing two vulnerability reports from cybersecurity company Trend Micro. "PaperCut has conducted analysis on all customer reports, and the earliest signature of suspicious activity on a customer server potentially linked to this vulnerability is 14th April 01

Kubernetes RBAC Exploited in Large-Scale Campaign for Cryptocurrency Mining

A large-scale attack campaign discovered in the wild has been exploiting Kubernetes (K8s) Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to create backdoors and run cryptocurrency miners. "The attackers also deployed DaemonSets to take over and hijack resources of the K8s clusters they attack," cloud security firm Aqua said in a report shared with The Hacker News. The Israeli company, which dubbed the attack 

Lazarus Group Adds Linux Malware to Arsenal in Operation Dream Job

The notorious North Korea-aligned state-sponsored actor known as the Lazarus Group has been attributed to a new campaign aimed at Linux users. The attacks are part of a persistent and long-running activity tracked under the name Operation Dream Job, ESET said in a new report published today. The findings are crucial, not least because it marks the first publicly documented example of the

Blind Eagle Cyber Espionage Group Strikes Again: New Attack Chain Uncovered

The cyber espionage actor tracked as Blind Eagle has been linked to a new multi-stage attack chain that leads to the deployment of the NjRAT remote access trojan on compromised systems. "The group is known for using a variety of sophisticated attack techniques, including custom malware, social engineering tactics, and spear-phishing attacks," ThreatMon said in a Tuesday report. Blind Eagle, also

Pakistani Hackers Use Linux Malware Poseidon to Target Indian Government Agencies

The Pakistan-based advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Transparent Tribe used a two-factor authentication (2FA) tool used by Indian government agencies as a ruse to deliver a new Linux backdoor called Poseidon. "Poseidon is a second-stage payload malware associated with Transparent Tribe," Uptycs security researcher Tejaswini Sandapolla said in a technical report published this week.

U.S. and U.K. Warn of Russian Hackers Exploiting Cisco Router Flaws for Espionage

U.K. and U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence agencies have warned of Russian nation-state actors exploiting now-patched flaws in networking equipment from Cisco to conduct reconnaissance and deploy malware against select targets. The intrusions, per the authorities, took place in 2021 and targeted a small number of entities in Europe, U.S. government institutions, and about 250 Ukrainian victims

Iranian Government-Backed Hackers Targeting U.S. Energy and Transit Systems

An Iranian government-backed actor known as Mint Sandstorm has been linked to attacks aimed at critical infrastructure in the U.S. between late 2021 to mid-2022. "This Mint Sandstorm subgroup is technically and operationally mature, capable of developing bespoke tooling and quickly weaponizing N-day vulnerabilities, and has demonstrated agility in its operational focus, which appears to align

FIN7 and Ex-Conti Cybercrime Gangs Join Forces in Domino Malware Attacks

A new strain of malware developed by threat actors likely affiliated with the FIN7 cybercrime group has been put to use by the members of the now-defunct Conti ransomware gang, indicating collaboration between the two crews. The malware, dubbed Domino, is primarily designed to facilitate follow-on exploitation on compromised systems, including delivering a lesser-known information stealer that

New Zaraza Bot Credential-Stealer Sold on Telegram Targeting 38 Web Browsers

A novel credential-stealing malware called Zaraza bot is being offered for sale on Telegram while also using the popular messaging service as a command-and-control (C2). "Zaraza bot targets a large number of web browsers and is being actively distributed on a Russian Telegram hacker channel popular with threat actors," cybersecurity company Uptycs said in a report published last week. "Once the

Severe Android and Novi Survey Vulnerabilities Under Active Exploitation

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added two vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The two flaws are listed below - CVE-2023-20963 (CVSS score: 7.8) - Android Framework Privilege Escalation Vulnerability CVE-2023-29492 (CVSS score: TBD) - Novi Survey Insecure Deserialization Vulnerability