Alert: Phishing Campaigns Deliver New SideTwist Backdoor and Agent Tesla Variant

The Iranian threat actor tracked as APT34 has been linked to a new phishing attack that leads to the deployment of a variant of a backdoor called SideTwist. “APT34 has a high level of attack technology, can design different intrusion methods for different types of targets, and has supply chain attack capability,” NSFOCUS Security Labs said in a report published last week. APT34, also known by

Ukraine's CERT Thwarts APT28's Cyberattack on Critical Energy Infrastructure

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) on Tuesday said it thwarted a cyber attack against an unnamed critical energy infrastructure facility in the country. The intrusion, per the agency, started with a phishing email containing a link to a malicious ZIP archive that activates the infection chain. “Visiting the link will download a ZIP archive containing three JPG images (

New Python Variant of Chaes Malware Targets Banking and Logistics Industries

Banking and logistics industries are under the onslaught of a reworked variant of a malware called Chaes. "It has undergone major overhauls: from being rewritten entirely in Python, which resulted in lower detection rates by traditional defense systems, to a comprehensive redesign and an enhanced communication protocol," Morphisec said in a new detailed technical write-up shared with The Hacker

Way Too Vulnerable: Join this Webinar to Understand and Strengthen Identity Attack Surface

In today's digital age, it's not just about being online but how securely your organization operates online. Regardless of size or industry, every organization heavily depends on digital assets. The digital realm is where business takes place, from financial transactions to confidential data storage. While organizations have quickly adopted tools like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA),

Hackers Exploit MinIO Storage System Vulnerabilities to Compromise Servers

An unknown threat actor has been observed weaponizing high-severity security flaws in the MinIO high-performance object storage system to achieve unauthorized code execution on affected servers. Cybersecurity and incident response firm Security Joes said the intrusion leveraged a publicly available exploit chain to backdoor the MinIO instance. The comprises CVE-2023-28432 (CVSS score: 7.5) and 

Everything You Wanted to Know About AI Security but Were Afraid to Ask

There’s been a great deal of AI hype recently, but that doesn’t mean the robots are here to replace us. This article sets the record straight and explains how businesses should approach AI. From musing about self-driving cars to fearing AI bots that could destroy the world, there has been a great deal of AI hype in the past few years. AI has captured our imaginations, dreams, and occasionally,

Beware of MalDoc in PDF: A New Polyglot Attack Allowing Attackers to Evade Antivirus

Cybersecurity researchers have called attention to a new antivirus evasion technique that involves embedding a malicious Microsoft Word file into a PDF file. The sneaky method, dubbed MalDoc in PDF by JPCERT/CC, is said to have been employed in an in-the-wild attack in July 2023. "A file created with MalDoc in PDF can be opened in Word even though it has magic numbers and file structure of PDF,"

Threat Actors Targeting Microsoft SQL Servers to Deploy FreeWorld Ransomware

Threat actors are exploiting poorly secured Microsoft SQL (MS SQL) servers to deliver Cobalt Strike and a ransomware strain called FreeWorld. Cybersecurity firm Securonix, which has dubbed the campaign DB#JAMMER, said it stands out for the way the toolset and infrastructure is employed. “Some of these tools include enumeration software, RAT payloads, exploitation and credential stealing software

Classiscam Scam-as-a-Service Raked $64.5 Million During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Classiscam scam-as-a-service program has reaped the criminal actors $64.5 million in illicit earnings since its emergence in 2019. "Classiscam campaigns initially started out on classified sites, on which scammers placed fake advertisements and used social engineering techniques to convince users to pay for goods by transferring money to bank cards," Group-IB said in a new report. "Since

SapphireStealer Malware: A Gateway to Espionage and Ransomware Operations

An open-source .NET-based information stealer malware dubbed SapphireStealer is being used by multiple entities to enhance its capabilities and spawn their own bespoke variants. “Information-stealing malware like SapphireStealer can be used to obtain sensitive information, including corporate credentials, which are often resold to other threat actors who leverage the access for additional

Numbers Don't Lie: Exposing the Harsh Truths of Cyberattacks in New Report

How often do cyberattacks happen? How frequently do threat actors target businesses and governments around the world? The BlackBerry® Threat Research and Intelligence Team recently analyzed 90 days of real-world data to answer these questions. Full results are in the latest BlackBerry Global Threat Intelligence Report, but read on for a teaser of several interesting cyber attack statistics.

Earth Estries' Espionage Campaign Targets Governments and Tech Titans Across Continents

A hacking outfit nicknamed Earth Estries has been attributed to a new, ongoing cyber espionage campaign targeting government and technology industries based in the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Germany, and the U.S. "The threat actors behind Earth Estries are working with high-level resources and functioning with sophisticated skills and experience in cyber espionage and illicit

China-Linked BadBazaar Android Spyware Targeting Signal and Telegram Users

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered malicious Android apps for Signal and Telegram distributed via the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store that are engineered to deliver the BadBazaar spyware on infected devices. Slovakian company ESET attributed the campaign to a China-linked actor called GREF. "Most likely active since July 2020 and since July 2022, respectively, the campaigns

Kroll Suffers Data Breach: Employee Falls Victim to SIM Swapping Attack

Risk and financial advisory solutions provider Kroll on Friday disclosed that one of its employees fell victim to a "highly sophisticated" SIM swapping attack. The incident, which took place on August 19, 2023, targeted the employee's T-Mobile account, the company said. "Specifically, T-Mobile, without any authority from or contact with Kroll or its employee, transferred that employee's phone

Learn How Your Business Data Can Amplify Your AI/ML Threat Detection Capabilities

In today's digital landscape, your business data is more than just numbers—it's a powerhouse. Imagine leveraging this data not only for profit but also for enhanced AI and Machine Learning (ML) threat detection. For companies like Comcast, this isn't a dream. It's reality. Your business comprehends its risks, vulnerabilities, and the unique environment in which it operates. No generic,

Navigating Legacy Infrastructure: A CISO's Actionable Strategy for Success

Every company has some level of tech debt. Unless you’re a brand new start-up, you most likely have a patchwork of solutions that have been implemented throughout the years, often under various leadership teams with different priorities and goals. As those technologies age, they can leave your organization vulnerable to cyber threats. While replacing legacy technologies can be costly, those

Urgent FBI Warning: Barracuda Email Gateways Vulnerable Despite Recent Patches

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning that Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliances patched against a recently disclosed critical flaw continue to be at risk of potential compromise from suspected Chinese hacking groups. It also deemed the fixes as "ineffective" and that it "continues to observe active intrusions and considers all affected Barracuda ESG

WinRAR Security Flaw Exploited in Zero-Day Attacks to Target Traders

A recently patched security flaw in the popular WinRAR archiving software has been exploited as a zero-day since April 2023, new findings from Group-IB reveal. The vulnerability, cataloged as CVE-2023-38831, allows threat actors to spoof file extensions, thereby making it possible to launch malicious scripts contained within an archive that masquerades as seemingly innocuous image or text files.

Tornado Cash Founders Charged in Billion-Dollar Crypto Laundering Scandal

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Wednesday unsealed an indictment against two founders of the now-sanctioned Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer service, charging them with laundering more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds. Both the individuals, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations, and

North Korean Affiliates Suspected in $40M Cryptocurrency Heist, FBI Warns

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday warned that threat actors affiliated with North Korea may attempt to cash out stolen cryptocurrency worth more than $40 million. The law enforcement agency attributed the blockchain activity to an adversary the U.S. government tracks as TraderTraitor, which is also known by the name Jade Sleet. An investigation undertaken by the FBI found

Syrian Threat Actor EVLF Unmasked as Creator of CypherRAT and CraxsRAT Android Malware

A Syrian threat actor named EVLF has been outed as the creator of malware families CypherRAT and CraxsRAT. "These RATs are designed to allow an attacker to remotely perform real-time actions and control the victim device's camera, location, and microphone," Cybersecurity firm Cyfirma said in a report published last week. CypherRAT and CraxsRAT are said to be offered to other cybercriminals as

CISOs Tout SaaS Cybersecurity Confidence, But 79% Admit to SaaS Incidents, New Report Finds

A new State of SaaS Security Posture Management Report from SaaS cybersecurity provider AppOmni indicates that Cybersecurity, IT, and business leaders alike recognize SaaS cybersecurity as an increasingly important part of the cyber threat landscape. And at first glance, respondents appear generally optimistic about their SaaS cybersecurity. Over 600 IT, cybersecurity, and business leaders at

New Variant of XLoader macOS Malware Disguised as 'OfficeNote' Productivity App

A new variant of an Apple macOS malware called XLoader has surfaced in the wild, masquerading its malicious features under the guise of an office productivity app called "OfficeNote." "The new version of XLoader is bundled inside a standard Apple disk image with the name OfficeNote.dmg," SentinelOne security researchers Dinesh Devadoss and Phil Stokes said in a Monday analysis. "The application

HiatusRAT Malware Resurfaces: Taiwan Firms and U.S. Military Under Attack

The threat actors behind the HiatusRAT malware have returned from their hiatus with a new wave of reconnaissance and targeting activity aimed at Taiwan-based organizations and a U.S. military procurement system. Besides recompiling malware samples for different architectures, the artifacts are said to have been hosted on new virtual private servers (VPSs), Lumen Black Lotus Labs said in a report

WoofLocker Toolkit Hides Malicious Codes in Images to Run Tech Support Scams

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed an updated version of an advanced fingerprinting and redirection toolkit called WoofLocker that's engineered to conduct tech support scams. The sophisticated traffic redirection scheme was first documented by Malwarebytes in January 2020, leveraging JavaScript embedded in compromised websites to perform anti-bot and web traffic filtering checks to serve

New Juniper Junos OS Flaws Expose Devices to Remote Attacks - Patch Now

Networking hardware company Juniper Networks has released an "out-of-cycle" security update to address multiple flaws in the J-Web component of Junos OS that could be combined to achieve remote code execution on susceptible installations. The four vulnerabilities have a cumulative CVSS rating of 9.8, making them Critical in severity. They affect all versions of Junos OS on SRX and EX Series. "By

14 Suspected Cybercriminals Arrested Across Africa in Coordinated Crackdown

A coordinated law enforcement operation across 25 African countries has led to the arrest of 14 suspected cybercriminals, INTERPOL announced Friday. The exercise, conducted in partnership with AFRIPOL, enabled investigators to identify 20,674 cyber networks that were linked to financial losses of more than $40 million. "The four-month Africa Cyber Surge II operation was launched in April 2023

Over 120,000 Computers Compromised by Info Stealers Linked to Users of Cybercrime Forums

A "staggering" 120,000 computers infected by stealer malware have credentials associated with cybercrime forums, many of them belonging to malicious actors. The findings come from Hudson Rock, which analyzed data collected from computers compromised between 2018 to 2023. "Hackers around the world infect computers opportunistically by promoting results for fake software or through YouTube

Identity Threat Detection and Response: Rips in Your Identity Fabric

Why SaaS Security Is a Challenge In today's digital landscape, organizations are increasingly relying on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications to drive their operations. However, this widespread adoption has also opened the doors to new security risks and vulnerabilities. The SaaS security attack surface continues to widen. It started with managing misconfigurations and now requires a

Multiple Flaws in CyberPower and Dataprobe Products Put Data Centers at Risk

Multiple security vulnerabilities impacting CyberPower's PowerPanel Enterprise Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) platform and Dataprobe's iBoot Power Distribution Unit (PDU) could be potentially exploited to gain unauthenticated access to these systems and inflict catastrophic damage in target environments. The nine vulnerabilities, from CVE-2023-3259 through CVE-2023-3267, carry

Researchers Uncover Years-Long Cyber Espionage on Foreign Embassies in Belarus

A hitherto undocumented threat actor operating for nearly a decade and codenamed MoustachedBouncer has been attributed to cyber espionage attacks aimed at foreign embassies in Belarus. "Since 2020, MoustachedBouncer has most likely been able to perform adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks at the ISP level, within Belarus, in order to compromise its targets," ESET security researcher Matthieu

Researchers Shed Light on APT31's Advanced Backdoors and Data Exfiltration Tactics

The Chinese threat actor known as APT31 (aka Bronze Vinewood, Judgement Panda, or Violet Typhoon) has been linked to a set of advanced backdoors that are capable of exfiltrating harvested sensitive information to Dropbox. The malware is part of a broader collection of more than 15 implants that have been put to use by the adversary in attacks targeting industrial organizations in Eastern Europe

CISA Adds Microsoft .NET Vulnerability to KEV Catalog Due to Active Exploitation

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a recently patched security flaw in Microsoft's .NET and Visual Studio products to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. Tracked as CVE-2023-38180 (CVSS score: 7.5), the high-severity flaw relates to a case denial-of-service (DoS) impacting .NET and Visual Studio. It

New Attack Alert: Freeze[.]rs Injector Weaponized for XWorm Malware Attacks

Malicious actors are using a legitimate Rust-based injector called Freeze[.]rs to deploy a commodity malware called XWorm in victim environments. The novel attack chain, detected by Fortinet FortiGuard Labs on July 13, 2023, is initiated via a phishing email containing a booby-trapped PDF file. It has also been used to introduce Remcos RAT by means of a crypter called SYK Crypter, which was

Cybercriminals Increasingly Using EvilProxy Phishing Kit to Target Executives

Threat actors are increasingly using a phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) toolkit dubbed EvilProxy to pull off account takeover attacks aimed at high-ranking executives at prominent companies. According to Proofpoint, an ongoing hybrid campaign has leveraged the service to target thousands of Microsoft 365 user accounts, sending approximately 120,000 phishing emails to hundreds of organizations

China-Linked Hackers Strike Worldwide: 17 Nations Hit in 3-Year Cyber Campaign

Hackers associated with China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) have been linked to attacks in 17 different countries in Asia, Europe, and North America from 2021 to 2023. Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future attributed the intrusion set to a nation-state group it tracks under the name RedHotel (previously Threat Activity Group-22 or TAG-22), which overlaps with a cluster of activity broadly

Continuous Security Validation with Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS)

Validate security continuously across your full stack with Pen Testing as a Service. In today's modern security operations center (SOC), it's a battle between the defenders and the cybercriminals. Both are using tools and expertise – however, the cybercriminals have the element of surprise on their side, and a host of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that have evolved. These external

U.K. Electoral Commission Breach Exposes Voter Data of 40 Million Britons

The U.K. Electoral Commission on Tuesday disclosed a "complex" cyber attack on its systems that went undetected for over a year, allowing the threat actors to access years worth of voter data belonging to 40 million people. "The incident was identified in October 2022 after suspicious activity was detected on our systems," the regulator said. "It became clear that hostile actors had first

QakBot Malware Operators Expand C2 Network with 15 New Servers

The operators associated with the QakBot (aka QBot) malware have set up 15 new command-and-control (C2) servers as of late June 2023. The findings are a continuation of the malware's infrastructure analysis from Team Cymru, and arrive a little over two months after Lumen Black Lotus Labs revealed that 25% of its C2 servers are only active for a single day. "QakBot has a history of taking an

Researchers Uncover New High-Severity Vulnerability in PaperCut Software

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new high-severity security flaw in PaperCut print management software for Windows that could result in remote code execution under specific circumstances. Tracked as CVE-2023-39143 (CVSS score: 8.4), the flaw impacts PaperCut NG/MF prior to version 22.1.3. It has been described as a combination of a path traversal and file upload vulnerability. "CVE-

Malicious npm Packages Found Exfiltrating Sensitive Data from Developers

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new bunch of malicious packages on the npm package registry that are designed to exfiltrate sensitive developer information. Software supply chain firm Phylum, which first identified the "test" packages on July 31, 2023, said they "demonstrated increasing functionality and refinement," hours after which they were removed and re-uploaded under different

New Version of Rilide Data Theft Malware Adapts to Chrome Extension Manifest V3

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of malware called Rilide that targets Chromium-based web browsers to steal sensitive data and steal cryptocurrency. "It exhibits a higher level of sophistication through modular design, code obfuscation, adoption to the Chrome Extension Manifest V3, and additional features such as the ability to exfiltrate stolen data to a Telegram channel

Microsoft Flags Growing Cybersecurity Concerns for Major Sporting Events

Microsoft is warning of the threat malicious cyber actors pose to stadium operations, warning that the cyber risk surface of live sporting events is "rapidly expanding." "Information on athletic performance, competitive advantage, and personal information is a lucrative target," the company said in a Cyber Signals report shared with The Hacker News. "Sports teams, major league and global

Researchers Discover Bypass for Recently Patched Critical Ivanti EPMM Vulnerability

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a bypass for a recently fixed actively exploited vulnerability in some versions of Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM), prompting Ivanti to urge users to update to the latest version of the software. Tracked as CVE-2023-35082 (CVSS score: 10.0) and discovered by Rapid7, the issue "allows unauthenticated attackers to access the API in older unsupported

Top Industries Significantly Impacted by Illicit Telegram Networks

In recent years the rise of illicit activities conducted within online messaging platforms has become a growing concern for countless industries. One of the most notable platforms that has been host to many malicious actors and nefarious activities has been Telegram. Thanks to its accessibility, popularity, and user anonymity, Telegram has attracted a large number of threat actors driven by

Researchers Uncover AWS SSM Agent Misuse as a Covert Remote Access Trojan

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new post-exploitation technique in Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows the AWS Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) to be run as a remote access trojan on Windows and Linux environments "The SSM agent, a legitimate tool used by admins to manage their instances, can be re-purposed by an attacker who has achieved high privilege access on an endpoint with

Iranian Company Cloudzy Accused of Aiding Cybercriminals and Nation-State Hackers

Services offered by an obscure Iranian company known as Cloudzy are being leveraged by multiple threat actors, including cybercrime groups and nation-state crews. "Although Cloudzy is incorporated in the United States, it almost certainly operates out of Tehran, Iran – in possible violation of U.S. sanctions – under the direction of someone going by the name Hassan Nozari," Halcyon said in a new

Norwegian Entities Targeted in Ongoing Attacks Exploiting Ivanti EPMM Vulnerability

Advanced persistent threat (APT) actors exploited a recently disclosed critical flaw impacting Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) as a zero-day since at least April 2023 in attacks directed against Norwegian entities, including a government network. The disclosure comes as part of a new joint advisory released by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Norwegian

Researchers Expose Space Pirates' Cyber Campaign Across Russia and Serbia

The threat actor known as Space Pirates has been linked to attacks against at least 16 organizations in Russia and Serbia over the past year by employing novel tactics and adding new cyber weapons to its arsenal. "The cybercriminals' main goals are still espionage and theft of confidential information, but the group has expanded its interests and the geography of its attacks," Positive

China's APT31 Suspected in Attacks on Air-Gapped Systems in Eastern Europe

A nation-state actor with links to China is suspected of being behind a series of attacks against industrial organizations in Eastern Europe that took place last year to siphon data stored on air-gapped systems. Cybersecurity company Kaspersky attributed the intrusions with medium to high confidence to a hacking crew called APT31, which is also tracked under the monikers Bronze Vinewood,

Patchwork Hackers Target Chinese Research Organizations Using EyeShell Backdoor

Threat actors associated with the hacking crew known as Patchwork have been spotted targeting universities and research organizations in China as part of a recently observed campaign. The activity, according to KnownSec 404 Team, entailed the use of a backdoor codenamed EyeShell. Patchwork, also known by the names Operation Hangover and Zinc Emerson, is suspected to be a threat group that

Webinar: Riding the vCISO Wave: How to Provide vCISO Services

Demand for Virtual CISO services is soaring. According to Gartner, the use of vCISO services among small and mid-size businesses and non-regulated enterprises was expected to grow by a whopping 1900% in just one year, from only 1% in 2021 to 20% in 2022! Offering vCISO services can be especially attractive for MSPs and MSSPs. By addressing their customers’ needs for proactive cyber resilience,

STARK#MULE Targets Koreans with U.S. Military-themed Document Lures

An ongoing cyber attack campaign has set its sights on Korean-speaking individuals by employing U.S. Military-themed document lures to trick them into running malware on compromised systems. Cybersecurity firm Securonix is tracking the activity under the name STARK#MULE. The scale of the attacks is currently not known, and it's not clear if any of these attack attempts turned out to be

A Data Exfiltration Attack Scenario: The Porsche Experience

As part of Checkmarx's mission to help organizations develop and deploy secure software, the Security Research team started looking at the security posture of major car manufacturers. Porsche has a well-established Vulnerability Reporting Policy (Disclosure Policy)[1], it was considered in scope for our research, so we decided to start there, and see what we could find. What we found is an

BlueBravo Deploys GraphicalProton Backdoor Against European Diplomatic Entities

The Russian nation-state actor known as BlueBravo has been observed targeting diplomatic entities throughout Eastern Europe with the goal of delivering a new backdoor called GraphicalProton, exemplifying the continuous evolution of the threat. The phishing campaign is characterized by the use of legitimate internet services (LIS) for command-and-control (C2) obfuscation, Recorded Future said in

Cybersecurity Agencies Warn Against IDOR Bugs Exploited for Data Breaches

Cybersecurity agencies in Australia and the U.S. have published a joint cybersecurity advisory warning against security flaws in web applications that could be exploited by malicious actors to orchestrate data breach incidents and steal confidential data. This includes a specific class of bugs called Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR), a type of access control flaw that occurs when an

GameOver(lay): Two Severe Linux Vulnerabilities Impact 40% of Ubuntu Users

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed two high-severity security flaws in the Ubuntu kernel that could pave the way for local privilege escalation attacks. Cloud security firm Wiz, in a report shared with The Hacker News, said the easy-to-exploit shortcomings have the potential to impact 40% of Ubuntu users. "The impacted Ubuntu versions are prevalent in the cloud as they serve as the default

New SEC Rules Require U.S. Companies to Reveal Cyber Attacks Within 4 Days

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday approved new rules that require publicly traded companies to publicize details of a cyber attack within four days of identifying that it has a "material" impact on their finances, marking a major shift in how computer breaches are disclosed. "Whether a company loses a factory in a fire — or millions of files in a cybersecurity

Fenix Cybercrime Group Poses as Tax Authorities to Target Latin American Users

Tax-paying individuals in Mexico and Chile have been targeted by a Mexico-based cybercrime group that goes by the name Fenix to breach targeted networks and steal valuable data. A key hallmark of the operation entails cloning official portals of the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) in Mexico and the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) in Chile and redirecting potential victims to

New AI Tool 'FraudGPT' Emerges, Tailored for Sophisticated Attacks

Following the footsteps of WormGPT, threat actors are advertising yet another cybercrime generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool dubbed FraudGPT on various dark web marketplaces and Telegram channels. "This is an AI bot, exclusively targeted for offensive purposes, such as crafting spear phishing emails, creating cracking tools, carding, etc.," Netenrich security researcher Rakesh Krishnan