Iranian Hackers Deploy WezRat Malware in Attacks Targeting Israeli Organizations

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new remote access trojan and information stealer used by Iranian state-sponsored actors to conduct reconnaissance of compromised endpoints and execute malicious commands. Cybersecurity company Check Point has codenamed the malware WezRat , stating it...

Russian Espionage Group Targets Ukrainian Military with Malware via Telegram

A suspected Russian hybrid espionage and influence operation has been observed delivering a mix of Windows and Android malware to target the Ukrainian military under the Telegram persona Civil Defense. Google's Threat Analysis Group TAG and Mandiant are tracking the activity under the name UNC581...

Gophish Framework Used in Phishing Campaigns to Deploy Remote Access Trojans

Russian-speaking users have become the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages an open-source phishing toolkit called Gophish to deliver DarkCrystal RAT aka DCRat and a previously undocumented remote access trojan dubbed PowerRAT. "The campaign involves modular infection chains that are...

What I’ve learned in my first 7-ish years in cybersecurity

When I first interviewed with Joel Esler for my position at Cisco Talos, I remember when the time came for me to ask questions, one thing stood out. I asked what resources were available to me to learn about cybersecurity, because I was totally new to the space. His answer: The people. When I ask...

North Korean Hackers Using New VeilShell Backdoor in Stealthy Cyber Attacks

Threat actors with ties to North Korea have been observed delivering a previously undocumented backdoor and remote access trojan RAT called VeilShell as part of a campaign targeting Cambodia and likely other Southeast Asian countries. The activity, dubbed SHROUDEDSLEEP by Securonix, is believed t...

Singapore Police Arrest Six Hackers Linked to Global Cybercrime Syndicate

The Singapore Police Force SPF has announced the arrest of five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean man for their alleged involvement in illicit cyber activities in the country. The development comes after a group of about 160 law enforcement officials conducted a series of raids on September 9...

Hacktivists Exploits WinRAR Vulnerability in Attacks Against Russia and Belarus

A hacktivist group known as Head Mare has been linked to cyber attacks that exclusively target organizations located in Russia and Belarus. "Head Mare uses more up-to-date methods for obtaining initial access," Kaspersky said in a Monday analysis of the group's tactics and tools. "For instance, t...

North Korean Hackers Deploy New MoonPeak Trojan in Cyber Campaign

A new remote access trojan called MoonPeak has been discovered as being used by a state-sponsored North Korean threat activity cluster as part of a new campaign. Cisco Talos attributed the malicious cyber campaign to a hacking group it tracks as UAT-5394, which it said exhibits some level of...

Gh0st RAT Trojan Targets Chinese Windows Users via Fake Chrome Site

The remote access trojan known as Gh0st RAT has been observed being delivered by an "evasive dropper" called Gh0stGambit as part of a drive-by download scheme targeting Chinese-speaking Windows users. These infections stem from a fake website "chrome-web.com" serving malicious installer packages...

French Authorities Launch Operation to Remove PlugX Malware from Infected Systems

French judicial authorities, in collaboration with Europol, have launched a so-called "disinfection operation" to rid compromised hosts of a known malware called PlugX. The Paris Prosecutor's Office, Parquet de Paris, said the initiative was launched on July 18 and that it's expected to continue...

Unveiling SpiceRAT: SneakyChef's latest tool targeting EMEA and Asia

Cisco Talos discovered a new remote access trojan RAT dubbed SpiceRAT, used by the threat actor SneakyChef in a recent campaign targeting government agencies in EMEA and Asia. We observed that SneakyChef launched a phishing campaign, sending emails delivering SugarGh0st and SpiceRAT with the same...

NiceRAT Malware Targets South Korean Users via Cracked Software

Threat actors have been observed deploying a malware called NiceRAT to co-opt infected devices into a botnet. The attacks, which target South Korean users, are designed to propagate the malware under the guise of cracked software, such as Microsoft Windows, or tools that purport to offer license...

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...

DarkGate Malware Replaces AutoIt with AutoHotkey in Latest Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks involving the DarkGate malware-as-a-service MaaS operation have shifted away from AutoIt scripts to an AutoHotkey mechanism to deliver the last stages, underscoring continued efforts on the part of the threat actors to continuously stay ahead of the detection curve. The updates have...

Researchers Uncover RAT-Dropping npm Package Targeting Gulp Users

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new suspicious package uploaded to the npm package registry that's designed to drop a remote access trojan RAT on compromised systems. The package in question is glup-debugger-log, which targets users of the gulp toolkit by masquerading as a "logger for...

DarkGate again but... Improved?

DarkGate again but... Improved? By Ernesto Fernández Provecho · June 3, 2024 Executive summary During 2023, DarkGate made a comeback with a version full of new features, becoming one of the most preferred Remote Access Trojans RATs by malicious actors. However, this momentum also required...

Mysterious Cyber Attack Took Down 600,000+ Routers in the U.S.

More than 600,000 small office/home office SOHO routers are estimated to have been bricked and taken offline following a destructive cyber attack staged by unidentified cyber actors, disrupting users' access to the internet. The mysterious event, which took place between October 25 and 27, 2023,...

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...

BlackTech Targets Tech, Research, and Gov Sectors New 'Deuterbear' Tool

Technology, research, and government sectors in the Asia-Pacific region have been targeted by a threat actor called BlackTech as part of a recent cyber attack wave. The intrusions pave the way for an updated version of modular backdoor dubbed Waterbear as well as its enhanced successor referred t...

OfflRouter virus causes Ukrainian users to upload confidential documents to VirusTotal

During a threat-hunting exercise, Cisco Talos discovered documents with potentially confidential information originating from Ukraine. The documents contained malicious VBA code, indicating they may be used as lures to infect organizations. The results of the investigation have shown that the...