The threat actor known as COLDRIVER has continued to engage in credential theft activities against entities that are of strategic interests to Russia while simultaneously improving its detection evasion capabilities.
The Microsoft Threat Intelligence team is tracking under the cluster as Star Blizzard (formerly SEABORGIUM). It's also called Blue Callisto, BlueCharlie (or TAG-53),
Threat intelligence refers to gathering, processing, and analyzing cyber threats, along with proactive defensive measures aimed at strengthening security. It enables organizations to gain a comprehensive insight into historical, present, and anticipated threats, providing context about the constantly evolving threat landscape.
Importance of threat intelligence in the cybersecurity ecosystem
In an increasingly complex and fast-paced digital landscape, organizations strive to protect themselves from various security threats. However, limited resources often hinder security teams when combatting these threats, making it difficult to keep up with the growing number of security incidents and alerts. Implementing automation throughout security operations helps security teams alleviate
A previously undocumented threat actor has been linked to a cyber attack targeting an aerospace organization in the U.S. as part of what's suspected to be a cyber espionage mission.
The BlackBerry Threat Research and Intelligence team is tracking the activity cluster as AeroBlade. Its origin is currently unknown and it's not clear if the attack was successful.
"The actor used spear-phishing
A suspected Chinese-speaking threat actor has been attributed to a malicious campaign that targets the Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South Korean users with a remote access trojan called SugarGh0st RAT.
The activity, which commenced no later than August 2023, leverages two different infection sequences to deliver the malware, which is a customized variant of Gh0st RAT 
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned the North Korea-linked adversarial collective known as Kimsuky as well as eight foreign-based agents who are alleged to have facilitated sanctions evasion.
The agents, the Treasury said, helped in "revenue generation and missile-related technology procurement that support the DPRK's
Wing Security recently announced that basic third-party risk assessment is now available as a free product. But it raises the questions of how SaaS is connected to third-party risk management (TPRM) and what companies should do to ensure a proper SaaS-TPRM process is in place. In this article we will share 5 tips to manage the third-party risks associated with SaaS, but first...
What
Welcome to a world where Generative AI revolutionizes the field of cybersecurity.
Generative AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to generate or create new data, such as images, text, or sounds. It has gained significant attention in recent years due to its ability to generate realistic and diverse outputs.
When it comes to security operations, Generative AI can
The North Korean threat actors behind macOS malware strains such as RustBucket and KANDYKORN have been observed "mixing and matching" different elements of the two disparate attack chains, leveraging RustBucket droppers to deliver KANDYKORN.
The findings come from cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, which also tied a third macOS-specific malware called ObjCShellz to the RustBucket campaign
A new phishing attack has been observed leveraging a Russian-language Microsoft Word document to deliver malware capable of harvesting sensitive information from compromised Windows hosts.
The activity has been attributed to a threat actor called Konni, which is assessed to share overlaps with a North Korean cluster tracked as Kimsuky (aka APT43).
"This campaign relies on a remote access trojan
Modern security tools continue to improve in their ability to defend organizations’ networks and endpoints against cybercriminals. But the bad actors still occasionally find a way in.
Security teams must be able to stop threats and restore normal operations as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s essential that these teams not only have the right tools but also understand how to effectively
North Korean threat actors have been linked to two campaigns in which they masquerade as both job recruiters and seekers to distribute malware and obtain unauthorized employment with organizations based in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
The activity clusters have been codenamed Contagious Interview and Wagemole, respectively, by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42.
While the first set of attacks
The ransomware strain known as Play is now being offered to other threat actors "as a service," new evidence unearthed by Adlumin has revealed.
"The unusual lack of even small variations between attacks suggests that they are being carried out by affiliates who have purchased the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and are following step-by-step instructions from playbooks delivered with it," the
An Indian hack-for-hire group targeted the U.S., China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Kuwait, and other countries as part of a wide-ranging espionage, surveillance, and disruptive operation for over a decade.
The Appin Software Security (aka Appin Security Group), according to an in-depth analysis from SentinelOne, began as an educational startup offering offensive security training programs, while
Russian cyber espionage actors affiliated with the Federal Security Service (FSB) have been observed using a USB propagating worm called LitterDrifter in attacks targeting Ukrainian entities.
Check Point, which detailed Gamaredon's (aka Aqua Blizzard, Iron Tilden, Primitive Bear, Shuckworm, and Winterflounder) latest tactics, branded the group as engaging in large-scale campaigns that are
Far-right influencers and right-wing lawmakers are using the spread of Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” to call for a TikTok ban and boost decades old conspiracies.
Government entities in the Middle East are the target of new phishing campaigns that are designed to deliver a new initial access downloader dubbed IronWind.
The activity, detected between July and October 2023, has been attributed by Proofpoint to a threat actor it tracks under the name TA402, which is also known as Molerats, Gaza Cyber Gang, and shares tactical overlaps with a pro-Hamas
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered what they say is malicious cyber activity orchestrated by two prominent Chinese nation-state hacking groups targeting 24 Cambodian government organizations.
"This activity is believed to be part of a long-term espionage campaign," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers said in a report last week.
"The observed activity aligns with geopolitical goals of
Cybersecurity researchers have warned about a Windows version of a wiper malware that was previously observed targeting Linux systems in cyber attacks aimed at Israel.
Dubbed BiBi-Windows Wiper by BlackBerry, the wiper is the Windows counterpart of BiBi-Linux Wiper, which has been put to use by a pro-Hamas hacktivist group in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war last month.
"The Windows variant [...
There is a seemingly never-ending quest to find the right security tools that offer the right capabilities for your organization.
SOC teams tend to spend about a third of their day on events that don’t pose any threat to their organization, and this has accelerated the adoption of automated solutions to take the place of (or augment) inefficient and cumbersome SIEMs.
With an estimated 80% of
Cybersecurity researchers are warning of suspected exploitation of a recently disclosed critical security flaw in the Apache ActiveMQ open-source message broker service that could result in remote code execution.
"In both instances, the adversary attempted to deploy ransomware binaries on target systems in an effort to ransom the victim organizations," cybersecurity firm Rapid7 disclosed in a
A threat actor affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has been observed waging a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign targeting financial, government, military, and telecommunications sectors in the Middle East for at least a year.
Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point, which discovered the campaign alongside Sygnia, is tracking the actor under the name Scarred
A pro-Hamas hacktivist group has been observed using a new Linux-based wiper malware dubbed BiBi-Linux Wiper, targeting Israeli entities amidst the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war.
"This malware is an x64 ELF executable, lacking obfuscation or protective measures," Security Joes said in a new report published today. "It allows attackers to specify target folders and can potentially destroy an entire
When organizations start incorporating cybersecurity regulations and cyber incident reporting requirements into their security protocols, it's essential for them to establish comprehensive plans for preparation, mitigation, and response to potential threats.
At the heart of your business lies your operational technology and critical systems. This places them at the forefront of cybercriminal
A former employee of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has pleaded guilty to charges accusing him of attempting to transmit classified defense information to Russia.
Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 31, served as an Information Systems Security Designer for the NSA from June 6, 2022, to July 1, 2022, where he had Top Secret clearance to access sensitive documents. The latest development comes more
An updated version of a sophisticated backdoor framework called MATA has been used in attacks aimed at over a dozen Eastern European companies in the oil and gas sector and defense industry as part of a cyber espionage operation that took place between August 2022 and May 2023.
"The actors behind the attack used spear-phishing mails to target several victims, some were infected with Windows
Government entities in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are the target of a long-running cyber espionage campaign dubbed TetrisPhantom.
"The attacker covertly spied on and harvested sensitive data from APAC government entities by exploiting a particular type of secure USB drive, protected by hardware encryption to ensure the secure storage and transfer of data between computer systems," Kaspersky
A governmental entity in Guyana has been targeted as part of a cyber espionage campaign dubbed Operation Jacana.
The activity, which was detected by ESET in February 2023, entailed a spear-phishing attack that led to the deployment of a hitherto undocumented implant written in C++ called DinodasRAT.
The Slovak cybersecurity firm said it could link the intrusion to a known threat actor or group,
A "multi-year" Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage campaign has been observed targeting South Korean academic, political, and government organizations.
Recorded Future's Insikt Group, which is tracking the activity under the moniker TAG-74, said the adversary has been linked to "Chinese military intelligence and poses a significant threat to academic, aerospace and defense, government,
Tibetan, Uyghur, and Taiwanese individuals and organizations are the targets of a persistent campaign orchestrated by a threat actor codenamed EvilBamboo to gather sensitive information.
"The attacker has created fake Tibetan websites, along with social media profiles, likely used to deploy browser-based exploits against targeted users," Volexity security researchers Callum Roxan, Paul
China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) has accused the U.S. of breaking into Huawei's servers, stealing critical data, and implanting backdoors since 2009, amid mounting geopolitical tensions between the two countries.
In a message posted on WeChat, the government authority said U.S. intelligence agencies have "done everything possible" to conduct surveillance, secret theft, and intrusions on
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
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
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
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
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
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
How do you overcome today's talent gap in cybersecurity? This is a crucial issue — particularly when you find executive leadership or the board asking pointed questions about your security team's ability to defend the organization against new and current threats.
This is why many security leaders find themselves turning to managed security services like MDR (managed detection and response),
Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it's expanding cloud logging capabilities to help organizations investigate cybersecurity incidents and gain more visibility after facing criticism in the wake of a recent espionage attack campaign aimed at its email infrastructure.
The tech giant said it's making the change in direct response to increasing frequency and evolution of nation-state cyber
The U.S. government on Tuesday added two foreign commercial spyware vendors, Cytrox and Intellexa, to an economic blocklist for weaponizing cyber exploits to gain unauthorized access to devices and "threatening the privacy and security of individuals and organizations worldwide."
This includes the companies' corporate holdings in Hungary (Cytrox Holdings Crt), North Macedonia (Cytrox AD), Greece
Cyber attacks using infected USB infection drives as an initial access vector have witnessed a three-fold increase in the first half of 2023,
That's according to new findings from Mandiant, which detailed two such campaigns – SOGU and SNOWYDRIVE – targeting both public and private sector entities across the world.
SOGU is the "most prevalent USB-based cyber espionage attack using USB flash
An unnamed Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency in the U.S. detected anomalous email activity in mid-June 2023, leading to Microsoft's discovery of a new China-linked espionage campaign targeting two dozen organizations.
The details come from a joint cybersecurity advisory released by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation
Charming Kitten, the nation-state actor affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been attributed to a bespoke spear-phishing campaign that delivers an updated version of a fully-featured PowerShell backdoor called POWERSTAR.
"There have been improved operational security measures placed in the malware to make it more difficult to analyze and collect intelligence,"
The newly discovered Chinese nation-state actor known as Volt Typhoon has been observed to be active in the wild since at least mid-2020, with the hacking crew linked to never-before-seen tradecraft to retain remote access to targets of interest.
The findings come from CrowdStrike, which is tracking the adversary under the name Vanguard Panda.
"The adversary consistently employed ManageEngine
The Chinese cyber espionage actor known as Camaro Dragon has been observed leveraging a new strain of self-propagating malware that spreads through compromised USB drives.
"While their primary focus has traditionally been Southeast Asian countries, this latest discovery reveals their global reach and highlights the alarming role USB drives play in spreading malware," Check Point said in new
Why Data Exfiltration Detection is Paramount?
The world is witnessing an exponential rise in ransomware and data theft employed to extort companies. At the same time, the industry faces numerous critical vulnerabilities in database software and company websites. This evolution paints a dire picture of data exposure and exfiltration that every security leader and team is grappling with. This
Governmental entities in the Middle East and Africa have been at the receiving end of sustained cyber-espionage attacks that leverage never-before-seen and rare credential theft and Exchange email exfiltration techniques.
"The main goal of the attacks was to obtain highly confidential and sensitive information, specifically related to politicians, military activities, and ministries of foreign
The threat actor known as Asylum Ambuscade has been observed straddling cybercrime and cyber espionage operations since at least early 2020.
"It is a crimeware group that targets bank customers and cryptocurrency traders in various regions, including North America and Europe," ESET said in an analysis published Thursday. "Asylum Ambuscade also does espionage against government entities in Europe
A new custom backdoor dubbed Stealth Soldier has been deployed as part of a set of highly-targeted espionage attacks in North Africa.
"Stealth Soldier malware is an undocumented backdoor that primarily operates surveillance functions such as file exfiltration, screen and microphone recording, keystroke logging and stealing browser information," cybersecurity company Check Point said in a
A hospital with 2,000 employees in the E.U. deployed Cynet protections across its environment. The hospital was in the process of upgrading several expensive imaging systems that were still supported by Windows XP and Windows 7 machines. Cynet protections were in place on most of the Windows XP and Windows 7 machines during the upgrade process, ensuring that legacy operating systems would not
The infamous Lazarus Group actor has been targeting vulnerable versions of Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) servers as an initial breach route to deploy malware on targeted systems.
The findings come from the AhnLab Security Emergency response Center (ASEC), which detailed the advanced persistent threat's (APT) continued abuse of DLL side-loading techniques to run arbitrary payloads
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has warned of cyber attacks targeting state bodies in the country as part of an espionage campaign.
The intrusion set, attributed to a threat actor tracked by the authority as UAC-0063 since 2021, leverages phishing lures to deploy a variety of malicious tools on infected systems. The origins of the hacking crew are presently unknown.
In
New findings about a hacker group linked to cyber attacks targeting companies in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict area reveal that it may have been around for much longer than previously thought.
The threat actor, tracked as Bad Magic (aka Red Stinger), has not only been linked to a fresh sophisticated campaign, but also to an activity cluster that first came to light in May 2016.
"While the
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,
The suspected Pakistan-aligned threat actor known as SideCopy has been observed leveraging themes related to the Indian military research organization as part of an ongoing phishing campaign.
This involves using a ZIP archive lure pertaining to India's Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) to deliver a malicious payload capable of harvesting sensitive information, Fortinet
Threat hunting is an essential component of your cybersecurity strategy. Whether you're getting started or in an advanced state, this article will help you ramp up your threat intelligence program.
What is Threat Hunting?
The cybersecurity industry is shifting from a reactive to a proactive approach. Instead of waiting for cybersecurity alerts and then addressing them, security organizations are
Three different threat actors leveraged hundreds of elaborate fictitious personas on Facebook and Instagram to target individuals located in South Asia as part of disparate attacks.
"Each of these APTs relied heavily on social engineering to trick people into clicking on malicious links, downloading malware or sharing personal information across the internet," Guy Rosen, chief information
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
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