North Korean Hackers Target Brazilian Fintech with Sophisticated Phishing Tactics

Threat actors linked to North Korea have accounted for one-third of all the phishing activity targeting Brazil since 2020, as the country's emergence as an influential power has drawn the attention of cyber espionage groups. "North Korean government-backed actors have targeted the Brazilian...

Arid Viper Launches Mobile Espionage Campaign with AridSpy Malware

The threat actor known as Arid Viper has been attributed to a mobile espionage campaign that leverages trojanized Android apps to deliver a spyware strain dubbed AridSpy. "The malware is distributed through dedicated websites impersonating various messaging apps, a job opportunity app, and a...

Operation Celestial Force employs mobile and desktop malware to target Indian entities

By Gi7w0rm, Asheer Malhotra and Vitor Ventura. Cisco Talos is disclosing a new malware campaign called "Operation Celestial Force" running since at least 2018. It is still active today, employing the use of GravityRAT, an Android-based malware, along with a Windows-based malware loader we track a...

New Cross-Platform Malware 'Noodle RAT' Targets Windows and Linux Systems

A previously undocumented cross-platform malware codenamed Noodle RAT has been put to use by Chinese-speaking threat actors either for espionage or cybercrime for years. While this backdoor was previously categorized as a variant of Gh0st RAT and Rekoobe, Trend Micro security researcher Hara...

Noodle RAT: Reviewing the Backdoor Used by Chinese-Speaking Groups

This blog entry provides an analysis of the Noodle RAT backdoor, which is likely being used by multiple Chinese-speaking groups engaged in espionage and other types of cybercrime...

Noodle RAT: Reviewing the New Backdoor Used by Chinese-Speaking Groups

This blog entry provides an analysis of the Noodle RAT backdoor, which is likely being used by multiple Chinese-speaking groups engaged in espionage and other types of cybercrime...

SPECTR Malware Targets Ukraine Defense Forces in SickSync Campaign

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine CERT-UA has warned of cyber attacks targeting defense forces in the country with a malware called SPECTR as part of an espionage campaign dubbed SickSync. The agency attributed the attacks to a threat actor it tracks under the moniker UAC-0020, whic...

Espionage with a Drone

The US is using a World War II law that bans aircraft photography of military installations to charge someone with doing the same thing with a drone...

Chinese State-Backed Cyber Espionage Targets Southeast Asian Government

An unnamed high-profile government organization in Southeast Asia emerged as the target of a "complex, long-running" Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage operation codenamed Crimson Palace. "The overall goal behind the campaign was to maintain access to the target network for cyberespionage in...

Russian Hackers Target Europe with HeadLace Malware and Credential Harvesting

The Russian GRU-backed threat actor APT28 has been attributed as behind a series of campaigns targeting networks across Europe with the HeadLace malware and credential-harvesting web pages. APT28, also known by the names BlueDelta, Fancy Bear, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, ITG05, Pa...

Cyber Espionage Alert: LilacSquid Targets IT, Energy, and Pharma Sectors

A previously undocumented cyber espionage-focused threat actor named LilacSquid has been linked to targeted attacks spanning various sectors in the United States U.S., Europe, and Asia as part of a data theft campaign since at least 2021. "The campaign is geared toward establishing long-term acce...

LilacSquid: The stealthy trilogy of PurpleInk, InkBox and InkLoader

By Anna Bennett, Nicole Hoffman, Asheer Malhotra, Sean Taylor and Brandon White. Cisco Talos is disclosing a new suspected data theft campaign, active since at least 2021, we attribute to an advanced persistent threat actor APT were calling "LilacSquid." LilacSquids victimology includes a diverse...

The Unusual Espionage Act Case Against a Drone Photographer

In seemingly the first case of its kind, the US Justice Department has charged a Chinese national with using a drone to photograph a Virginia shipyard where the US Navy was assembling nuclear submarines...

Stealthy BLOODALCHEMY Malware Targeting ASEAN Government Networks

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered that the malware known as BLOODALCHEMY used in attacks targeting government organizations in Southern and Southeastern Asia is in fact an updated version of Deed RAT, which is believed to be a successor to ShadowPad. "The origin of BLOODALCHEMY and Deed R...

New Frontiers, Old Tactics: Chinese Espionage Group Targets Africa & Caribbean Govts

The China-linked threat actor known as Sharp Panda has expanded their targeting to include governmental organizations in Africa and the Caribbean as part of an ongoing cyber espionage campaign. "The campaign adopts Cobalt Strike Beacon as the payload, enabling backdoor functionalities like C2...

Inside Operation Diplomatic Specter: Chinese APT Group's Stealthy Tactics Exposed

Governmental entities in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia are the target of a Chinese advanced persistent threat APT group as part of an ongoing cyber espionage campaign dubbed Operation Diplomatic Specter since at least late 2022. "An analysis of this threat actor's activity reveals long-term...

Foxit PDF Reader Flaw Exploited by Hackers to Deliver Diverse Malware Arsenal

Multiple threat actors are weaponizing a design flaw in Foxit PDF Reader to deliver a variety of malware such as Agent Tesla, AsyncRAT, DCRat, NanoCore RAT, NjRAT, Pony, Remcos RAT, and XWorm. "This exploit triggers security warnings that could deceive unsuspecting users into executing harmful...

China-Linked Hackers Adopt Two-Stage Infection Tactic to Deploy Deuterbear RAT

Cybersecurity researchers have shed more light on a remote access trojan RAT known as Deuterbear used by the China-linked BlackTech hacking group as part of a cyber espionage campaign targeting the Asia-Pacific region this year. "Deuterbear, while similar to Waterbear in many ways, shows...

Kimsuky APT Deploying Linux Backdoor Gomir in South Korean Cyber Attacks

The Kimsuky aka Springtail advanced persistent threat APT group, which is linked to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau RGB, has been observed deploying a Linux version of its GoBear backdoor as part of a campaign targeting South Korean organizations. The backdoor, codenamed Gomir, is...

China-Linked Hackers Suspected in ArcaneDoor Cyberattacks Targeting Network Devices

The recently uncovered cyber espionage campaign targeting perimeter network devices from several vendors, including Cisco, may have been the work of China-linked actors, according to new findings from attack surface management firm Censys. Dubbed ArcaneDoor, the activity is said to have commenced...