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

YouTube Videos Distributing Aurora Stealer Malware via Highly Evasive Loader

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the inner workings of a highly evasive loader named "in2al5d p3in4er" (read: invalid printer) that's used to deliver the Aurora information stealer malware. "The in2al5d p3in4er loader is compiled with Embarcadero RAD Studio and targets endpoint workstations using advanced anti-VM (virtual machine) technique," cybersecurity firm Morphisec said in a report

Israeli Spyware Vendor QuaDream to Shut Down Following Citizen Lab and Microsoft Expose

Israeli spyware vendor QuaDream is allegedly shutting down its operations in the coming days, less than a week after its hacking toolset was exposed by Citizen Lab and Microsoft. The development was reported by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, citing unnamed sources, adding the company "hasn't been fully active for a while" and that it "has been in a difficult situation for several

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

Vice Society Ransomware Using Stealthy PowerShell Tool for Data Exfiltration

Threat actors associated with the Vice Society ransomware gang have been observed using a bespoke PowerShell-based tool to fly under the radar and automate the process of exfiltrating data from compromised networks. "Threat actors (TAs) using built-in data exfiltration methods like [living off the land binaries and scripts] negate the need to bring in external tools that might be flagged by

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

Webinar: Tips from MSSPs to MSSPs – Building a Profitable vCISO Practice

In today's fast-paced and ever-changing digital landscape, businesses of all sizes face a myriad of cybersecurity threats. Putting in place the right people, technological tools and services, MSSPs are in a great position to ensure their customers' cyber resilience.  The growing need of SMEs and SMBs for structured cybersecurity services can be leveraged by MSPs and MSSPs to provide strategic

S3 Ep130: Open the garage bay doors, HAL [Audio + Text]

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't... errr, no, hang on a minute, I can do that easily! Worldwide! Right now!

WhatsApp Introduces New Device Verification Feature to Prevent Account Takeover Attacks

Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp on Thursday announced a new account verification feature that ensures that malware running on a user's mobile device doesn't impact their account. "Mobile device malware is one of the biggest threats to people's privacy and security today because it can take advantage of your phone without your permission and use your WhatsApp to send unwanted messages,"

New Python-Based "Legion" Hacking Tool Emerges on Telegram

An emerging Python-based credential harvester and a hacking tool named Legion is being marketed via Telegram as a way for threat actors to break into various online services for further exploitation. Legion, according to Cado Labs, includes modules to enumerate vulnerable SMTP servers, conduct remote code execution (RCE) attacks, exploit unpatched versions of Apache, and brute-force cPanel and

Lazarus Hacker Group Evolves Tactics, Tools, and Targets in DeathNote Campaign

The North Korean threat actor known as the Lazarus Group has been observed shifting its focus and rapidly evolving its tools and tactics as part of a long-running campaign called DeathNote. While the nation-state adversary is known for persistently singling out the cryptocurrency sector, recent attacks have also targeted automotive, academic, and defense sectors in Eastern Europe and other parts

Cybercriminals Turn to Android Loaders on Dark Web to Evade Google Play Security

Malicious loader programs capable of trojanizing Android applications are being traded on the criminal underground for up to $20,000 as a way to evade Google Play Store defenses. "The most popular application categories to hide malware and unwanted software include cryptocurrency trackers, financial apps, QR-code scanners, and even dating apps," Kaspersky said in a new report based on messages

Estonian National Charged in U.S. for Acquiring Electronics and Metasploit Pro for Russian Military

An Estonian national has been charged in the U.S. for purchasing U.S.-made electronics on behalf of the Russian government and military. The 45-year-old individual, Andrey Shevlyakov, was arrested on March 28, 2023, in Tallinn. He has been indicted with 18 counts of conspiracy and other charges. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison. Court documents allege that Shevlyakov operated

Over 1 Million WordPress Sites Infected by Balada Injector Malware Campaign

Over one million WordPress websites are estimated to have been infected by an ongoing campaign to deploy malware called Balada Injector since 2017. The massive campaign, per GoDaddy's Sucuri, "leverages all known and recently discovered theme and plugin vulnerabilities" to breach WordPress sites. The attacks are known to play out in waves once every few weeks. "This campaign is easily identified

CISA Warns of 5 Actively Exploited Security Flaws: Urgent Action Required

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Friday added five security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation in the wild. This includes three high-severity flaws in the Veritas Backup Exec Agent software (CVE-2021-27876, CVE-2021-27877, and CVE-2021-27878) that could lead to the execution of privileged commands

Taiwanese PC Company MSI Falls Victim to Ransomware Attack

Taiwanese PC company MSI (short for Micro-Star International) officially confirmed it was the victim of a cyber attack on its systems. The company said it "promptly" initiated incident response and recovery measures after detecting "network anomalies." It also said it alerted law enforcement agencies of the matter. That said, MSI did not disclose any specifics about when the attack took place

Researchers Uncover Thriving Phishing Kit Market on Telegram Channels

In yet another sign that Telegram is increasingly becoming a thriving hub for cybercrime, researchers have found that threat actors are using the messaging platform to peddle phishing kits and help set up phishing campaigns. "To promote their 'goods,' phishers create Telegram channels through which they educate their audience about phishing and entertain subscribers with polls like, 'What type

FBI Cracks Down on Genesis Market: 119 Arrested in Cybercrime Operation

A joint international law enforcement operation has dismantled Genesis Market, an illegal online marketplace that specialized in the sale of stolen credentials associated with email, bank accounts, and social media platforms. Coinciding with the infrastructure seizure, the major crackdown, which involved authorities from 17 countries, culminated in 119 arrests and 208 property searches in 13

Google Mandates Android Apps to Offer Easy Account Deletion In-App and Online

Google is enacting a new data deletion policy for Android apps that allow account creation to also offer users with a setting to delete their accounts in an attempt to provide more transparency and control over their data. "For apps that enable app account creation, developers will soon need to provide an option to initiate account and data deletion from within the app and online," Bethel

Hack and enter! The “secure” garage doors that anyone can open from anywhere – what you need to know

Grab a message/Play it back/You've just performed/A big phat hack...

CryptoClippy: New Clipper Malware Targeting Portuguese Cryptocurrency Users

Portuguese users are being targeted by a new malware codenamed CryptoClippy that's capable of stealing cryptocurrency as part of a malvertising campaign. The activity leverages SEO poisoning techniques to entice users searching for "WhatsApp web" to rogue domains hosting the malware, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said in a new report published today.  CryptoClippy, a C-based executable, is a type

Google TAG Warns of North Korean-linked ARCHIPELAGO Cyberattacks

A North Korean government-backed threat actor has been linked to attacks targeting government and military personnel, think tanks, policy makers, academics, and researchers in South Korea and the U.S. Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) is tracking the cluster under the name ARCHIPELAGO, which it said is a subset of another threat group tracked by Mandiant under the name APT43. The tech giant

Typhon Reborn Stealer Malware Resurfaces with Advanced Evasion Techniques

The threat actor behind the information-stealing malware known as Typhon Reborn has resurfaced with an updated version (V2) that packs in improved capabilities to evade detection and resist analysis. The new version is offered for sale on the criminal underground for $59 per month, $360 per year, or alternatively, for $540 for a lifetime subscription. "The stealer can harvest and exfiltrate

Cryptocurrency Companies Targeted in Sophisticated 3CX Supply Chain Attack

The adversary behind the supply chain attack targeting 3CX deployed a second-stage implant specifically singling out a small number of cryptocurrency companies. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which has been internally tracking the versatile backdoor under the name Gopuram since 2020, said it observed an increase in the number of infections in March 2023 coinciding with the 3CX breach.

Crypto-Stealing OpcJacker Malware Targets Users with Fake VPN Service

A piece of new information-stealing malware called OpcJacker has been spotted in the wild since the second half of 2022 as part of a malvertising campaign. "OpcJacker's main functions include keylogging, taking screenshots, stealing sensitive data from browsers, loading additional modules, and replacing cryptocurrency addresses in the clipboard for hijacking purposes," Trend Micro researchers

Cacti, Realtek, and IBM Aspera Faspex Vulnerabilities Under Active Exploitation

Critical security flaws in Cacti, Realtek, and IBM Aspera Faspex are being exploited by various threat actors in hacks targeting unpatched systems. This entails the abuse of CVE-2022-46169 (CVSS score: 9.8) and CVE-2021-35394 (CVSS score: 9.8) to deliver MooBot and ShellBot (aka PerlBot), Fortinet FortiGuard Labs said in a report published this week. CVE-2022-46169 relates to a critical

Winter Vivern APT Targets European Government Entities with Zimbra Vulnerability

The advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Winter Vivern is now targeting officials in Europe and the U.S. as part of an ongoing cyber espionage campaign. "TA473 since at least February 2023 has continuously leveraged an unpatched Zimbra vulnerability in publicly facing webmail portals that allows them to gain access to the email mailboxes of government entities in Europe," Proofpoint 

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

New Wi-Fi Protocol Security Flaw Affecting Linux, Android and iOS Devices

A group of academics from Northeastern University and KU Leuven has disclosed a fundamental design flaw in the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi protocol standard, impacting a wide range of devices running Linux, FreeBSD, Android, and iOS. Successful exploitation of the shortcoming could be abused to hijack TCP connections or intercept client and web traffic, researchers Domien Schepers, Aanjhan Ranganathan,

AlienFox Malware Targets API Keys and Secrets from AWS, Google, and Microsoft Cloud Services

A new "comprehensive toolset" called AlienFox is being distributed on Telegram as a way for threat actors to harvest credentials from API keys and secrets from popular cloud service providers. "The spread of AlienFox represents an unreported trend towards attacking more minimal cloud services, unsuitable for crypto mining, in order to enable and expand subsequent campaigns," SentinelOne security

Spyware Vendors Caught Exploiting Zero-Day Vulnerabilities on Android and iOS Devices

A number of zero-day vulnerabilities that were addressed last year were exploited by commercial spyware vendors to target Android and iOS devices, Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has revealed. The two distinct campaigns were both limited and highly targeted, taking advantage of the patch gap between the release of a fix and when it was actually deployed on the targeted devices. The scale of

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

Trojanized TOR Browser Installers Spreading Crypto-Stealing Clipper Malware

Trojanized installers for the TOR anonymity browser are being used to target users in Russia and Eastern Europe with clipper malware designed to siphon cryptocurrencies since September 2022. "Clipboard injectors [...] can be silent for years, show no network activity or any other signs of presence until the disastrous day when they replace a crypto wallet address," Vitaly Kamluk, director of

IcedID Malware Shifts Focus from Banking Fraud to Ransomware Delivery

Multiple threat actors have been observed using two new variants of the IcedID malware in the wild with more limited functionality that removes functionality related to online banking fraud. IcedID, also known as BokBot, started off as a banking trojan in 2017. It's also capable of delivering additional malware, including ransomware. "The well-known IcedID version consists of an initial loader

President Biden Signs Executive Order Restricting Use of Commercial Spyware

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order that restricts the use of commercial spyware by federal government agencies. The order said the spyware ecosystem "poses significant counterintelligence or security risks to the United States Government or significant risks of improper use by a foreign government or foreign person." It also seeks to ensure that the government's use of

20-Year-Old BreachForums Founder Faces Up to 5 Years in Prison

Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the 20-year-old founder and the administrator of the now-defunct BreachForums has been formally charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. If proven guilty, Fitzpatrick, who went by the online moniker "pompompurin," faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison. He was arrested on March 15, 2023. "Cybercrime victimizes and steals financial

U.K. National Crime Agency Sets Up Fake DDoS-For-Hire Sites to Catch Cybercriminals

In what's a case of setting a thief to catch a thief, the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that it has created a network of fake DDoS-for-hire websites to infiltrate the online criminal underground. "All of the NCA-run sites, which have so far been accessed by around several thousand people, have been created to look like they offer the tools and services that enable cyber criminals to

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

Critical WooCommerce Payments Plugin Flaw Patched for 500,000+ WordPress Sites

Patches have been released for a critical security flaw impacting the WooCommerce Payments plugin for WordPress, which is installed on over 500,000 websites. The flaw, if left unresolved, could enable a bad actor to gain unauthorized admin access to impacted stores, the company said in an advisory on March 23, 2023. It impacts versions 4.8.0 through 5.6.1. Put differently, the issue could permit

2023 Cybersecurity Maturity Report Reveals Organizational Unpreparedness for Cyberattacks

In 2022 alone, global cyberattacks increased by 38%, resulting in substantial business loss, including financial and reputational damage. Meanwhile, corporate security budgets have risen significantly because of the growing sophistication of attacks and the number of cybersecurity solutions introduced into the market. With this rise in threats, budgets, and solutions, how prepared are industries

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

Rogue NuGet Packages Infect .NET Developers with Crypto-Stealing Malware

The NuGet repository is the target of a new "sophisticated and highly-malicious attack" aiming to infect .NET developer systems with cryptocurrency stealer malware. The 13 rogue packages, which were downloaded more than 160,000 times over the past month, have since been taken down. "The packages contained a PowerShell script that would execute upon installation and trigger a download of a '

NAPLISTENER: New Malware in REF2924 Group's Arsenal for Bypassing Detection

The threat group tracked as REF2924 has been observed deploying previously unseen malware in its attacks aimed at entities in South and Southeast Asia. The malware, dubbed NAPLISTENER by Elastic Security Labs, is an HTTP listener programmed in C# and is designed to evade "network-based forms of detection." REF2924 is the moniker assigned to an activity cluster linked to attacks against an entity

BreachForums Administrator Baphomet Shuts Down Infamous Hacking Forum

In a sudden turn of events, Baphomet, the current administrator of BreachForums, said in an update on March 21, 2023, that the hacking forum has been officially taken down but emphasized that "it's not the end." "You are allowed to hate me, and disagree with my decision but I promise what is to come will be better for us all," Baphomet noted in a message posted on the BreachForums Telegram

New ShellBot DDoS Malware Variants Targeting Poorly Managed Linux Servers

Poorly managed Linux SSH servers are being targeted as part of a new campaign that deploys different variants of a malware called ShellBot. "ShellBot, also known as PerlBot, is a DDoS Bot malware developed in Perl and characteristically uses IRC protocol to communicate with the C&C server," AhnLab Security Emergency response Center (ASEC) said in a report. ShellBot is installed on servers that

Hackers Steal Over $1.6 Million in Crypto from General Bytes Bitcoin ATMs Using Zero-Day Flaw

Bitcoin ATM maker General Bytes disclosed that unidentified threat actors stole cryptocurrency from hot wallets by exploiting a zero-day security flaw in its software. "The attacker was able to upload his own java application remotely via the master service interface used by terminals to upload videos and run it using 'batm' user privileges," the company said in an advisory published over the

New DotRunpeX Malware Delivers Multiple Malware Families via Malicious Ads

A new piece of malware dubbed dotRunpeX is being used to distribute numerous known malware families such as Agent Tesla, Ave Maria, BitRAT, FormBook, LokiBot, NetWire, Raccoon Stealer, RedLine Stealer, Remcos, Rhadamanthys, and Vidar. "DotRunpeX is a new injector written in .NET using the Process Hollowing technique and used to infect systems with a variety of known malware families," Check

New Cyber Platform Lab 1 Decodes Dark Web Data to Uncover Hidden Supply Chain Breaches

2022 was the year when inflation hit world economies, except in one corner of the global marketplace – stolen data. Ransomware payments fell by over 40% in 2022 compared to 2021. More organisations chose not to pay ransom demands, according to findings by blockchain firm Chainalysis. Nonetheless, stolen data has value beyond a price tag, and in risky ways you may not expect. Evaluating stolen

Researchers Shed Light on CatB Ransomware's Evasion Techniques

The threat actors behind the CatB ransomware operation have been observed using a technique called DLL search order hijacking to evade detection and launch the payload. CatB, also referred to as CatB99 and Baxtoy, emerged late last year and is said to be an "evolution or direct rebrand" of another ransomware strain known as Pandora based on code-level similarities. It's worth noting that the use

Emotet Rises Again: Evades Macro Security via OneNote Attachments

The notorious Emotet malware, in its return after a short hiatus, is now being distributed via Microsoft OneNote email attachments in an attempt to bypass macro-based security restrictions and compromise systems. Emotet, linked to a threat actor tracked as Gold Crestwood, Mummy Spider, or TA542, continues to be a potent and resilient threat despite attempts by law enforcement to take it down. A 

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

Pompompurin Unmasked: Infamous BreachForums Mastermind Arrested in New York

U.S. law enforcement authorities have arrested a 21-year-old New York man in connection with running the infamous BreachForums hacking forum under the online alias "Pompompurin." The development, first reported by Bloomberg Law, comes after News 12 Westchester, earlier this week, said that federal investigators "spent hours inside and outside of a home in Peekskill." "At one point, investigators

FakeCalls Vishing Malware Targets South Korean Users via Popular Financial Apps

An Android voice phishing (aka vishing) malware campaign known as FakeCalls has reared its head once again to target South Korean users under the guise of over 20 popular financial apps. "FakeCalls malware possesses the functionality of a Swiss army knife, able not only to conduct its primary aim but also to extract private data from the victim's device," cybersecurity firm Check Point said.

New GoLang-Based HinataBot Exploiting Router and Server Flaws for DDoS Attacks

A new Golang-based botnet dubbed HinataBot has been observed to leverage known flaws to compromise routers and servers and use them to stage distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. "The malware binaries appear to have been named by the malware author after a character from the popular anime series, Naruto, with file name structures such as 'Hinata-<OS>-<Architecture>,'" Akamai said in a

A New Security Category Addresses Web-borne Threats

In the modern corporate IT environment, which relies on cloud connectivity, global connections and large volumes of data, the browser is now the most important work interface. The browser connects employees to managed resources, devices to the web, and the on-prem environment to the cloud one. Yet, and probably unsurprisingly, this browser prominence has significantly increased the number of

Lookalike Telegram and WhatsApp Websites Distributing Cryptocurrency Stealing Malware

Copycat websites for instant messaging apps like Telegram and WhatApp are being used to distribute trojanized versions and infect Android and Windows users with cryptocurrency clipper malware. "All of them are after victims' cryptocurrency funds, with several targeting cryptocurrency wallets," ESET researchers Lukáš Štefanko and Peter Strýček said in a new analysis. While the first instance of

Winter Vivern APT Group Targeting Indian, Lithuanian, Slovakian, and Vatican Officials

The advanced persistent threat known as Winter Vivern has been linked to campaigns targeting government officials in India, Lithuania, Slovakia, and the Vatican since 2021. The activity targeted Polish government agencies, the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and individuals within the Indian government, SentinelOne said in a report shared with The

Google Uncovers 18 Severe Security Vulnerabilities in Samsung Exynos Chips

Google is calling attention to a set of severe security flaws in Samsung's Exynos chips, some of which could be exploited remotely to completely compromise a phone without requiring any user interaction. The 18 zero-day vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Android smartphones from Samsung, Vivo, Google, wearables using the Exynos W920 chipset, and vehicles equipped with the Exynos Auto T5123