Ex-NSA Employee Arrested for Trying to Sell U.S. Secrets to a Foreign Government

A former U.S. National Security Agency NSA employee has been arrested on charges of attempting to sell classified information to a foreign spy, who was actually an undercover agent working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI. Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 30, was employed at the NSA for less tha...

Microsoft Exchange Server Has a Zero-Day Problem

Plus: CIA failures allegedly got US informants killed, a former NSA worker is charged under the Espionage Act, and more...

Cyber Attacks Against Middle East Governments Hide Malware in Windows Logo

An espionage-focused threat actor has been observed using a steganographic trick to conceal a previously undocumented backdoor in a Windows logo in its attacks against Middle Eastern governments. Broadcom's Symantec Threat Hunter Team attributed the updated tooling to a hacking group it tracks...

ZINC weaponizing open-source software

In recent months, Microsoft has detected a wide range of social engineering campaigns using weaponized legitimate open-source software by an actor we track as ZINC. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC observed activity targeting employees in organizations across multiple industries includi...

ZINC weaponizing open-source software

In recent months, Microsoft has detected a wide range of social engineering campaigns using weaponized legitimate open-source software by an actor we track as ZINC. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC observed activity targeting employees in organizations across multiple industries includi...

Chinese Espionage Hackers Target Tibetans Using New LOWZERO Backdoor

A China-aligned advanced persistent threat actor known as TA413 weaponized recently disclosed flaws in Sophos Firewall and Microsoft Office to deploy a never-before-seen backdoor called LOWZERO as part of an espionage campaign aimed at Tibetan entities. Targets primarily consisted of organization...

Researchers Uncover New Metador APT Targeting Telcos, ISPs, and Universities

A previously undocumented threat actor of unknown origin has been linked to attacks targeting telecom, internet service providers, and universities across multiple countries in the Middle East and Africa. "The operators are highly aware of operations security, managing carefully segmented...

U.S. Adds 2 More Chinese Telecom Firms to National Security Threat List

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission FCC has added Pacific Network Corp, along with its subsidiary ComNet USA LLC, and China Unicom Americas Operations Limited, to the list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security. The agency said the...

Russian Sandworm Hackers Impersonate Ukrainian Telecoms to Distribute Malware

A threat cluster linked to the Russian nation-state actor tracked as Sandworm has continued its targeting of Ukraine with commodity malware by masquerading as telecom providers, new findings show. Recorded Future said it discovered new infrastructure belonging to UAC-0113 that mimics operators li...

Russian Gamaredon Hackers Target Ukrainian Government Using Info-Stealing Malware

An ongoing espionage campaign operated by the Russia-linked Gamaredon group is targeting employees of Ukrainian government, defense, and law enforcement agencies with a piece of custom-made information stealing malware. "The adversary is using phishing documents containing lures related to the...

Webworm Hackers Using Modified RATs in Latest Cyber Espionage Attacks

A threat actor tracked under the moniker Webworm is taking advantage of bespoke variants of already existing Windows-based remote access trojans to fly under the radar, some of which are said to be in pre-deployment or testing phases. "The group has developed customized versions of three older...

Asian Governments and Organizations Targeted in Latest Cyber Espionage Attacks

Government and state-owned organizations in a number of Asian countries have been targeted by a distinct group of espionage hackers as part of an intelligence gathering mission that has been underway since early 2021. "A notable feature of these attacks is that the attackers leveraged a wide rang...

Iranian Hackers Target High-Value Targets in Nuclear Security and Genomic Research

Hackers tied to the Iranian government have been targeting individuals specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, nuclear security, and genome research as part of a new social engineering campaign designed to hunt for sensitive information. Enterprise security firm Proofpoint attributed the targeted...

Iranian APT42 Launched Over 30 Espionage Attacks Against Activists and Dissidents

A state-sponsored advanced persistent threat APT actor newly christened APT42 formerly UNC788 has been attributed to over 30 confirmed espionage attacks against individuals and organizations of strategic interest to the Iranian government at least since 2015. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant said the...

Is APT 42 a significant threat in the future?

Threat Level Actor Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary APT42 is an Iranian state-sponsored cyber espionage group. The gang, which has been operating since at least 2015, is distinguished by its highly targeted spear phishing and surveillance operations...

Worok cyber-espionage gang preys on high-profile Asian businesses and governments

Threat Level Actor Report For a detailed threat advisory, download the pdf file here Summary Worok, a newly uncovered cyber-espionage gang, has been targeting governments and high-profile companies in Asia since at least 2020 using a combination of unique and existing harmful tools. This group of...

U.S. Seizes Cryptocurrency Worth $30 Million Stolen by North Korean Hackers

More than $30 million worth of cryptocurrency plundered by the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group from online video game Axie Infinity has been recovered, marking the first time digital assets stolen by the threat actor have been seized. "The seizures represent approximately 10% of the total funds...

Lazarus and the tale of three RATs

By Jung soo An, Asheer Malhotra and Vitor Ventura. Cisco Talos has been tracking a new campaign operated by the Lazarus APT group, attributed to North Korea by the United States government. This campaign involved the exploitation of vulnerabilities in VMWare Horizon to gain an initial foothold in...

Chinese Hackers Target Government Officials in Europe, South America, and Middle East

A Chinese hacking group has been attributed to a new campaign aimed at infecting government officials in Europe, the Middle East, and South America with a modular malware known as PlugX. Cybersecurity firm Secureworks said it identified the intrusions in June and July 2022, once again demonstrati...

Worok Hackers Target High-Profile Asian Companies and Governments

High-profile companies and local governments located primarily in Asia are the subjects of targeted attacks by a previously undocumented espionage group dubbed Worok that has been active since late 2020. "Worok's toolset includes a C++ loader CLRLoad, a PowerShell backdoor PowHeartBeat, and a C...