China-Linked UNC3886 Targets Singapore Telecom Sector in Cyber Espionage Campaign

The Cyber Security Agency CSA of Singapore on Monday revealed that the China-nexus cyber espionage group known as UNC3886 targeted its telecommunications sector. "UNC3886 had launched a deliberate, targeted, and well-planned campaign against Singapore's telecommunications sector," CSA said. "All...

China-Linked Budworm Targeting Middle Eastern Telco and Asian Government Agencies

Government and telecom entities have been subjected to a new wave of attacks by a China-linked threat actor tracked as Budworm using an updated malware toolset. The intrusions, targeting a Middle Eastern telecommunications organization and an Asian government, took place in August 2023, with the...

Operation Soft Cell: Chinese Hackers Breach Middle East Telecom Providers

Telecommunication providers in the Middle East are the subject of new cyber attacks that commenced in the first quarter of 2023. The intrusion set has been attributed to a Chinese cyber espionage actor associated with a long-running campaign dubbed Operation Soft Cell based on tooling overlaps...

Four EU telco giants will start asking users if they want personalized targeted ads

They say you can't have too much of a good thing. Unfortunately, this applies to ads, too, whether you think they're a good thing or not. Soon, Europes four biggest telecommunication companies--Germany's Deutsche Telekom DK, France's Orange, Spain's Telefonica, and the UK's Vodafone Group--will...

New Chinese Cyberespionage Group Targeting IT Service Providers and Telcos

Telecommunications and IT service providers in the Middle East and Asia are being targeted by a previously undocumented Chinese-speaking threat group dubbed WIP19. The espionage-related attacks are characterized by the use of a stolen digital certificate issued by a Korean company called DEEPSoft...

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...

‘Seedworm’ Attackers Target Telcos in Asia, Middle East

Attackers targeting telcos across the Middle East and Asia for the past six months are linked to Iranian state-sponsored hackers, according to researchers. The cyberespionage campaigns leverage a potent cocktail of spear phishing, known malware and legitimate network utilities that are leveraged ...

Fresh APT Harvester Reaps Telco, Government Data

A previously unseen advanced persistent threat APT group dubbed Harvester by researchers is attacking telcos, IT companies and government-sector targets in a campaign that’s been ongoing since June. According to a Symantec analysis, the group sports a veritable cornucopia of advanced and custom...

Podcast: Ransomware Up x10; Telecoms Uber Walloped

Year-over-year, ransomware spiked more than tenfold in the first half of 2021, researchers report. According to Fortinet’s latest semiannual FortiGuard Labs Global Threat Landscape Report PDF, released on Monday, the telecommunications sector was the most heavily targeted, followed by government,...

'5G is Coming,' But Can the Security Industry Keep Up?

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – With the advent of 5G, the tech community is bracing itself for new applications like self-driving cars and other IoT applications. But what does that mean for the security landscape? At the GSMA Mobile 360 Conference taking place this week in the Netherlands, experts she...

Cisco Service Provider, WebEx Bugs Offer Up Remote Code Execution

Cisco is warning of critical remote code-execution RCE vulnerabilities in the Cisco Prime Infrastructure PI and Evolved Programmable Network EPN Manager, which is used by telcos, mobile carriers, cable companies and ISPs to manage their hardware infrastructure. The vendor also issued estimated...

MuddyWater expands operations

Summary MuddyWater is a relatively new APT that surfaced in 2017. It has focused mainly on governmental targets in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to past telemetry. However, the group behind MuddyWater has been known to target other countries in the Middle East, Europe and the US. We recently...

Canadian Telcos Patch an APT-Ready Flaw in Disability Services

Canadian telcos have patched a widespread local file-disclosure flaw in disability services that allow people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disorder to place calls through a text telephone or other assistive devices. The vulnerability opens the door for widespread attacks on...

A week in security (August 13 – August 19)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we talked about how Process Doppelgänging meets Process Hollowing in the Osiris dropper, provided hints, tips, and links for a safer school year, gave a recap of Black Hat USA 2018, offered some tips for a secure content management system, highlighted a silly...