Novel ‘Victory’ Backdoor Spotted in Chinese APT Campaign

An ongoing surveillance operation has been uncovered that targets a Southeast Asian government, researchers said – using a previously unknown espionage malware. According to Check Point Research, the attack involves spear-phishing emails with malicious Word documents to gain initial access, along...

A week in security (May 31 – June 6)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we looked at an interesting trend in facial recognition technology—hint: its a slow fade, the latest ransomware attacks on JBS and Steamship Authority, Cobalt Strike, a Coronavirus phishing campaign, WhatsApp’s decision to not limit app functionalities for...

Cyberattack Suspected in Cox TV and Radio Outages

A reported ransomware attack on Cox Media Group CMG has crippled streaming and other internal operations of dozens of radio and television stations scattered across America’s 20 broadcast markets. CMG has won’t comment on the reported attack and hasn’t responded to a request for comment. A member...

Researchers Uncover Hacking Operations Targeting Government Entities in South Korea

A North Korean threat actor active since 2012 has been behind a new espionage campaign targeting high-profile government officials associated with its southern counterpart to install an Android and Windows backdoor for collecting sensitive information. Cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes attributed t...

Kimsuky APT continues to target South Korean government using AppleSeed backdoor

This blog post was authored by Hossein Jazi. The Kimsuky APT—also known as Thallium, Black Banshee, and Velvet Chollima—is a North Korean threat actor that has been active since 2012. The group conducts cyber espionage operations to target government entities mainly in South Korea. On December...

Sophisticated Spearphishing Campaign Targets Government Organizations, IGOs, and NGOs

Summary This Joint Cybersecurity Advisory uses the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge ATT &CK® framework, Version 9. See the ATT&CK for Enterprise for all referenced threat actor tactics and techniques. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA and the...

Nobelium Phishing Campaign Poses as USAID

The cybercriminal group behind the notorious SolarWinds attack is at it again with a sophisticated mass email campaign aimed at delivering malicious URLs with payloads enabling network persistence so the actors can conduct further nefarious activities. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC...

Fujitsu SaaS Hack Sends Govt. of Japan Scrambling

Threat actors have stolen files from several official government agencies of Japan by hacking into Fujitsu’s software-as-a-service SaaS platform and gaining access to its systems. The Japan-based tech giant temporarily disabled ProjectWEB enterprise after learning of the attack, which is known to...

Biden’s Cybersecurity EO: The Wrong Issues

It’s no secret that foreign adversaries are making a concerted effort to target U.S. government agencies and companies. As technology advances and foreign superpowers gain influence, the game is shifting beneath our feet here in the U.S. Motivated in part by the extent and consequences of the...

Re-Checking Your Pulse: Updates on Chinese APT Actors Compromising Pulse Secure VPN Devices

On April 20, 2021, Mandiant published detailed results of our investigations into compromised Pulse Secure devices by suspected Chinese espionage operators. This blog post is intended to provide an update on our findings, give additional recommendations to network defenders, and discuss potential...

New Disk Wiping Malware Targets Israel

Apostle seems to be a new strain of malware that destroys data. In a post published Tuesday, SentinelOne researchers said they assessed with high confidence that based on the code and the servers Apostle reported to, the malware was being used by a newly discovered group with ties to the Iranian...

WhatsApp Sues Indian Government Over New Internet Regulations

WhatsApp on Wednesday fired a legal salvo against the Indian government to block new regulations that would require messaging apps to trace the "first originator" of messages shared on the platform, thus effectively breaking encryption protections. "Requiring messaging apps to 'trace' chats is th...

Colonial Pipeline attack spurs new rules for critical infrastructure

Following a devastating cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, the Transportation Security Administration—which sits within the government’s Department of Homeland Security—will issue its first-ever cybersecurity directive for pipeline companies in the United States, according to exclusive reporti...

Calling for cybersecurity in infrastructure modernization

Yesterday, Rapid7 sent a group letter urging the Biden Administration and Congress to work together to integrate cybersecurity into infrastructure legislation. The letter was signed by 19 companies, industry associations, and nonprofit groups who collaborated on the recommendations. The letter...

Why FIDO2 Is the Answer to Better Security

A groundbreaking increase in security incidents is affecting governments around the world. In light of this, the United States issued a formal order to implement a robust set of security measures designed to improve the security of federal systems...

Why FIDO2 is the Answer to Better Security

A groundbreaking increase in security incidents is affecting governments around the world. In light of this, the United States issued a formal order to implement a robust set of security measures designed to improve the security of federal systems. In his most recent executive order, President...

Unsuccessful Conti Ransomware Attack Still Packs Costly Punch

Ireland’s department of health services continues to grapple with a ransomware attack that occurred last week by the Conti gang. Officials state the attack will cost tens of millions to repair, even though attackers were not successful in their attempt to encrypt systems on Ireland’s Department o...

U.S. Pipeline Ransomware Attackers Go Dark After Servers and Bitcoin Are Seized

Just as Colonial Pipeline restored all of its systems to operational status in the wake of a crippling ransomware incident a week ago, DarkSide, the cybercrime syndicate behind the attack, claimed it lost control of its infrastructure, citing a law enforcement seizure. All the dark web sites...

CISA Publishes Eviction Guidance for Networks Affected by SolarWinds and AD/M365 Compromise

CISA has released an analysis report, AR21-134A Eviction Guidance for Networks Affected by the SolarWinds and Active Directory/M365 Compromise. The report provides detailed steps for affected organizations to evict the adversary from compromised on-premises and cloud environments. Additionally,...

Colonial Pipeline Shells Out $5M in Extortion Payout, Report

Colonial Pipeline Co., operator of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, reportedly paid $5 million to criminals behind a ransomware attack that has sent fuel prices spiking up and down the East Coast. Sources familiar with the payout told Bloomberg that representatives of Colonial Pipeline paid the...