WIRTE Leverages AshenLoader Sideloading to Install the AshTag Espionage Backdoor

An advanced persistent threat APT known as WIRTE has been attributed to attacks targeting government and diplomatic entities across the Middle East with a previously undocumented malware suite dubbed AshTag since 2020. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 is tracking the activity cluster under the name Ash...

Hamas-Affiliated WIRTE Employs SameCoin Wiper in Disruptive Attacks Against Israel

A threat actor affiliated with Hamas has expanded its malicious cyber operations beyond espionage to carry out disruptive attacks that exclusively target Israeli entities. The activity, linked to a group called WIRTE , has also targeted the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and...

Stealthy ‘WIRTE’ Gang Targets Middle Eastern Governments

A threat actor tracked as WIRTE has been assaulting Middle East governments since at least 2019 using “living-off-the-land” techniques and malicious Excel 4.0 macros. On Monday, Kaspersky reported that it observed the group in February using Microsoft Excel droppers, which planted hidden...

WIRTE Hacker Group Targets Government, Law, Financial Entities in Middle East

Government, diplomatic entities, military organizations, law firms, and financial institutions primarily located in the Middle East have been targeted as part of a stealthy malware campaign as early as 2019 by making use of malicious Microsoft Excel and Word documents. Russian cybersecurity compa...

WIRTE’s campaign in the Middle East ‘living off the land’ since at least 2019

Overview This February, during our hunting efforts for threat actors using VBS/VBA implants, we came across MS Excel droppers that use hidden spreadsheets and VBA macros to drop their first stage implant. The implant itself is a VBS script with functionality to collect system information and...