Bitter-Linked Hack-for-Hire Campaign Targets Journalists Across MENA Region

An apparent hack-for-hire campaign likely orchestrated by a threat actor with suspected ties to the Indian government targeted journalists, activists, and government officials across the Middle East and North Africa MENA, according to findings from Access Now, Lookout, and SMEX. Two of the target...

ChatGPT Spit Out Sensitive Data When Told to Repeat ‘Poem’ Forever

Plus: A major ransomware crackdown, the arrest of Ukraine’s cybersecurity chief, and a hack-for-hire entrepreneur charged with attempted murder...

Indian Hack-for-Hire Group Targeted U.S., China, and More for Over 10 Years

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. Indian security firm under scrutiny, according to an in-depth analysis from SentinelOne, began as a...

European Bank Customers Targeted in SpyNote Android Trojan Campaign

Various European customers of different banks are being targeted by an Android banking trojan called SpyNote as part of an aggressive campaign detected in June and July 2023. "The spyware is distributed through email phishing or smishing campaigns and the fraudulent activities are executed with a...

Hack-for-Hire Group Targets Travel and Financial Entities with New Janicab Malware Variant

Travel agencies have emerged as the target of a hack-for-hire group dubbed Evilnum as part of a broader campaign aimed at legal and financial investment institutions in the Middle East and Europe. The attacks, which took place during 2020 and 2021 and likely went as far back as 2015, involved a...

Bahamut Cyber Espionage Hackers Targeting Android Users with Fake VPN Apps

The cyber espionage group known as Bahamut has been attributed as behind a highly targeted campaign that infects users of Android devices with malicious apps designed to extract sensitive information. The activity, which has been active since January 2022, entails distributing rogue VPN apps...

Void Balaur Hackers-for-Hire Targeting Russian Businesses and Politics Entities

A hack-for-hire group that was first exposed in 2019 has expanded its focus to set its sights on entities with business or political ties to Russia. Dubbed Void Balaur, the cyber mercenary collective has a history of launching cyberattacks against biotechnology and telecom companies since 2015. A...

Microsoft Uncovers Austrian Company Exploiting Windows and Adobe Zero-Day Exploits

A cyber mercenary that "ostensibly sells general security and information analysis services to commercial customers" used several Windows and Adobe zero-day exploits in limited and highly-targeted attacks against European and Central American entities. The company, which Microsoft describes as a...

Untangling KNOTWEED: European private-sector offensive actor using 0-day exploits

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC and the Microsoft Security Response Center MSRC found a private-sector offensive actor PSOA using multiple Windows and Adobe 0-day exploits, including one for the recently patched CVE-2022-22047, in limited and targeted attacks against European and...

Google cracks down on sites with ties to hack-for-hire groups in UAE, Russia, India

By Deeba Ahmed Currently, over 30 sites have been marked as malicious by Googles Safe Browsing feature. Google TAG Threat Analysis… This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Google cracks down on sites with ties to hack-for-hire groups in UAE, Russia, India...

Google Blocks Dozens of Malicious Domains Operated by Hack-for-Hire Groups

Google's Threat Analysis Group TAG on Thursday disclosed it had acted to block as many as 36 malicious domains operated by hack-for-hire groups from India, Russia, and the U.A.E. In a manner analogous to the surveillanceware ecosystem, hack-for-hire firms equip their clients with capabilities to...

New Hacking-for-Hire Company in India

Citizen Lab has a new report on Dark Basin, a large hacking-for-hire company in India. Key Findings: Dark Basin is a hack-for-hire group that has targeted thousands of individuals and hundreds of institutions on six continents. Targets include advocacy groups and journalists, elected and senior...

Dark Basin Hack-For-Hire Group Targeted Thousands Over 7 Years

A hack-for-hire group, called Dark Basin, has been outed after targeting thousands of individuals and organizations worldwide – including advocacy groups and journalists, elected and senior government officials, and hedge funds — over the course of seven years. Dark Basin conducted commercial...