Cobalt Strike, a penetration testing tool abused by criminals

If you were to compose a list of tools and software developed by security and privacy defenders that ended up being abused by the bad guys, then Cobalt Strike would unfortunately be near the top of the list. Maybe only Metasploit could give it a run for the first place ranking. Metasploit—probabl...

Data Wiper Malware Disguised As Ransomware Targets Israeli Entities

Researchers on Tuesday disclosed a new espionage campaign that resorts to destructive data-wiping attacks targeting Israeli entities at least since December 2020 that camouflage the malicious activity as ransomware extortions. Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne attributed the attacks to a nation-stat...

Elizabethan England has nothing on modern-day Russia

This post was authored by Warren Mercer and Vitor Ventura The threat landscape is changing. Organizations need to defend against an ever-evolving tranche of threat actors. For a long time, the lines that distinguish state-sponsored and crimeware groups were well-defined. We believe this is... Thi...

‘Agrius’ APT Launches Wiper Attacks Against Israelis

A new attack group called Agrius is launching damaging wiper attacks against Israeli targets, which researchers said are hiding behind ransomware to make their state-sponsored activities appear financially motivated. Sentinel Labs analysts said they have been tracking Agrius’ operations in Israel...

Researchers Uncover Iranian State-Sponsored Ransomware Operation

Iran has been linked to yet another state-sponsored ransomware operation through a contracting company based in the country, according to new analysis. "Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC was operating a state-sponsored ransomware campaign through an Iranian contracting company called...

PortDoor Espionage Malware Takes Aim at Russian Defense Sector

A previously undocumented backdoor malware, dubbed PortDoor, is being used by a probable Chinese advanced persistent threat actor APT to target the Russian defense sector, according to researchers. The Cybereason Nocturnus Team observed the cybercriminals specifically going after the Rubin Design...

EFB Tampering 2. Device Integrity

TL;DR Electronic Flight Bag EFB integrity varies between different airlines and devices Aviation cyber security is becoming increasingly prominent with regulators EFBs often connect to unsecure networks including public Wi-Fi Security measures are not always effective and can be inconsistent Devi...

State-sponsored Threat Groups Target Telcos, Steal 5G Secrets

Chinese-language APTs are targeting telecom companies in cyberespionage campaigns aimed at stealing sensitive data and trade secrets tied to 5G technology, according to researchers. The campaigns, dubbed “Operation Diànxùn”, target and lure victims working in the telecom industry. A typical ploy...

Metasploit Wrap-Up

FortiOS Path Traversal Returning community contributor mekhalleh submitted a module targeting a path traversal vulnerability within the SSL VPN web portal in multiple versions of FortiOS. The flaw is leveraged to read the usernames and passwords of currently logged in users which are stored in...

Talos Takes Ep. #43: What you should know about the Microsoft Exchange Server zero-days

The latest episode of Talos Takes is available now. Download this episode and subscribe to Talos Takes using the buttons below, or visit the Talos Takes page. We put this episode together quickly this week to address the zero-day vulnerabilities Microsoft disclosed earlier this week in Exchange...

URGENT — 4 Actively Exploited 0-Day Flaws Found in Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft has released emergency patches to address four previously undisclosed security flaws in Exchange Server that it says are being actively exploited by a new Chinese state-sponsored threat actor with the goal of perpetrating data theft. Describing the attacks as "limited and targeted,"...

Multiple Microsoft Exchange zero-day vulnerabilities - ProxyLogon Exploit Chain

Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Recent assessments: ccondon-r7 at March 03, 2021 4:10pm UTC reported: Microsoft released details on an active state-sponsored threat campaign attributed to HAFNIUM that is exploiting on-prem Exchange Server installations. Microsoft’s...

Chinese Hackers Targeted India's Power Grid Amid Geopolitical Tensions

Amid heightened border tensions between India and China, cybersecurity researchers have revealed a concerted campaign against India's critical infrastructure, including the nation's power grid, from Chinese state-sponsored groups. The attacks, which coincided with the standoff between the two...

Microsoft: SolarWinds Attackers Downloaded Azure, Exchange Code

Threat actors downloaded some Microsoft Exchange and Azure code repositories during the sprawling SolarWinds supply-chain attack but did not use the company’s internal systems or products to attack other victims. That’s the final verdict this week by the tech giant now that it’s completed a...

Researchers Uncover Android Spying Campaign Targeting Pakistan Officials

Two new Android surveillanceware families have been found to target military, nuclear, and election entities in Pakistan and Kashmir as part of a pro-India, state-sponsored hacking campaign. Dubbed Hornbill and Sunbird, the malware impersonates legitimate or seemingly innocuous services to cover...

ZINC attacks against security researchers

In recent months, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting security researchers by an actor we track as ZINC. The campaign originally came to our attention after Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detected an attack in progress. Observed targeting includes pen testers, private offensive securit...

State-Sponsored Threat Actors Target Security Researchers

This blog was co-authored by Caitlin Condon, VRM Security Research Manager, and Bob Rudis, Senior Director and Chief Security Data Scientist. On Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, Google’s Threat Analysis Group TAG published a blog on a widespread social engineering campaign that targeted security researcher...

Feds Pinpoint Russia as ‘Likely’ Culprit Behind SolarWinds Attack

The U.S. government has identified Russia as the “likely” culprit behind the widespread SolarWinds cyberattack that has so far affected multiple federal agencies and private-sector companies. Cyberespionage is cited as the motivation behind the attack, which the feds characterized as ongoing. In ...

Defending Against State and State-Sponsored Threat Actors

Security threats from states and state-sponsored actors have been around since before the field of cybersecurity was defined. They have now evolved to cyberspace, and present unique challenges for defenders. While there are fundamental differences between activist and criminal activity, and those...

SolarWinds advanced cyberattack: What happened and what to do now

We learned more about the sophisticated attack first disclosed on December 8 when security firm FireEye reported it had been the victim of a state-sponsored adversary that stole Red Team assessment tools. On December 13 there was a new development when IT company SolarWinds announced it had been...