Massive, Decades-Long Cyberespionage Framework Uncovered

CANCUN–Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have uncovered a cyberespionage group that has been operating for at least 15 years and has worked with and supported the attackers behind Stuxnet, Flame and other highly sophisticated operations. The attackers, known as the Equation Group, used two of the zero...

U.S. Officials Say Chinese Cyberespionage 'Needs to Stop'

The top cybersecurity officials in the United States on Wednesday said that China is harming the potential for an open Internet through its policies of censorship, and also said the country’s continued cyberespionage operations are damaging the two countries’ relationship. In a piece co-authored ...

Pro-Syria Cyberespionage Campaign Uses Social Engineering

It’s a tried-and-true plotline for many a corny movie: the lonely soldier on the front lines falling for a girl who turns out to be the enemy. If you apply a 2015 reality to that scenario, you have the lonely soldier Skyping with an alluring woman who turns out to be an enemy hacker dropping cust...

Regin Cyberespionage Malware Platform Modules Disclosed

The Regin malware platform used to steal secrets from government agencies, banks and GSM network operators caught the attention of security experts who called it one of the most advanced attack platforms that has been studied, surpassing Flame, Duqu, even Stuxnet. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab sai...

Skeleton Key Malware Bypasses Active Directory Authentication

Enterprise Active Directory administrators need to be on the lookout for anomalous privileged user activity after the discovery of malware capable of bypassing single-factor authentication on AD that was used as part of a larger cyberespionage campaign against a global company based in London...

Regin Cyberespionage Malware Platform Targets GSM Networks

Researchers have uncovered a complex espionage platform reminiscent of Duqu that has been used since at least 2008 not only to spy on and extract email and documents from government agencies, research institutions and banks, but also one that targets GSM network operators in order to launch...

Cyberespionage: 'This Isn't a Problem That Can Be Solved'

WASHINGTON–Gentlemen may not read each other’s mail, as Henry Stimson famously said so long ago, but in today’s world they certainly steal it and there’s precious little in the way of gentlemanly conduct happening in the realm of cyberespionage. It’s every man—or country—for himself in this...

Operation DeathClick APT Malvertising Campaign

Advanced persistent threat groups are using malvertising in order to compromise the networks of their adversaries in what appears to be an example of high-level, nation-state attackers borrowing tactics from the typically less sophisticated cybercriminal arsenals. Attackers are also borrowing fro...

Sandworm APT Team Found Using Windows Zero Day Vulnerability

UPDATE–A cyberespionage team, possibly based in Russia, has been using a Windows zero day vulnerability to target a variety of organizations in several countries, including the United States, Poland, Ukraine and western Europe. The vulnerability, which will be patched today by Microsoft, is...

China Putter Panda APT Attacks Linked to PLA Unit 61486

With indictments still fresh against a handful of Chinese nationals accused of hacking American companies and stealing intellectual property, another branch of the People’s Liberation Army and allegedly one of its officers have been outed for cyberespionage against U.S. and European aerospace and...

Iranian Campaign Snooped on U.S. and Israeli Officials

Iranian spies have carried out an intelligence gathering campaign since at least 2011 by targeting U.S. military, diplomats, D.C. journalists, and government emissaries, just to name a few, a via social media. According to iSIGHT Partners, a cyber threat intelligence firm, attackers have long bee...

The U.S., China and Glass Houses

That was quite a show the government put on Monday. The dramatic press conference featuring Attorney General Eric Holder, the coordinated press leaks ahead of the announcement, the strong statements about the sanctity of American commerce and how the United States will prosecute those who conduct...

Iranian Hackers Target US Defense Contractors

An Iranian hacking group has moved from politically motivated website defacements to a new specialty – cyberespionage. The group known as the Ajax Security Team has been outed as the perpetrators of a number of espionage operations against U.S.-based defense contractors in addition to targeting...

2014 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report DBIR

The attention given to the Target data breach elevated concerns about point-of-sale hacks and got us reacquainted with RAM scrapers and other threats to retailers big and small. And while it’s been a noteworthy highlight to the annual Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report for the past few...

Icefog Cyberespionage Campaign Hit 3 US Oil, Gas Companies

When the curtain was peeled back on the Icefog targeted espionage campaign in September, a new type of operator was unveiled, one that took the persistence out of advanced persistent threats APT. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab noted in uncovering Icefog that the attacks against the defense supply...

Dennis Fisher and Mike Mimoso Discuss The Week's NSA News and Icefog

Mike Mimoso and Dennis Fisher look back at the news of the last couple of weeks, including some new NSA PR efforts and the Icefog cyberespionage campaign. Download: digitalunderground127.mp3...

APT Groups Using G20 Summit as Lure in Targeted Attacks

As political and financial leaders from around the world gear up for the upcoming G20 Summit, attackers have been making their plans, as well. A spate of known cyberespionage groups have been using the summit as a lure for new waves of attacks, and security researchers say one of the groups is...

NetTraveler Attackers Using PRISM Program as Bait

Never let it be said that attackers don’t keep up with the news. The crew behind the NetTraveler cyberespionage attacks is now using the news about the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program as bait in a new spear-phishing campaign. Security researcher Brandon Dixon of 9bplus came across a malicious...

Data Sharing, Cooperation Key to Critical Infrastructure Security

WASHINGTON–The topic of critical infrastructure security may be the prettiest girl at the dance right now for both politicians and technology companies, but the problem of attackers going after these targets is one that security people have been dealing with for some time. But that doesn’t mean...

NetTraveler Espionage Malware Campaign Ties to Gh0st RAT

A new cyberespionage malware campaign with ties to China going back to the Titan Rain and Gh0stNet attacks has been targeting diplomats, military contractors and government agencies in 40 countries. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab today unveiled details on NetTraveler, a data exfiltration tool, whic...