Why master YARA: from routine to extreme threat hunting cases. Follow-up

On 3rd of September, we were hosting our "Experts Talk. Why master YARA: from routine to extreme threat hunting cases", in which several experts from our Global Research and Analysis Team and invited speakers shared their best practices on YARA usage. At the same time, we also presented our new...

Spam and phishing in Q1 2018

Quarterly highlights Data leaks Early 2018 will be remembered for a series of data leak scandals. The most high-profile saw Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg grilled by US Congress, with many public figures supporting the Delete Facebook campaign. As a result, Zuckerberg promised to get tough and make...

Cybercriminals vs financial institutions in 2018: what to expect

Introduction – key events in 2017 2017 was a year of great changes in the world of cyberthreats facing financial organizations. Firstly, in 2017 we witnessed a continuation of cyberattacks targeting systems running SWIFT — a fundamental part of the world's financial ecosystem. Attackers were able...

KSN Report: Ransomware in 2016-2017

This report has been prepared using depersonalized data processed by Kaspersky Security Network KSN. The metrics are based on the number of distinct users of Kaspersky Lab products with the KSN feature enabled, who encountered ransomware at least once in a given period, as well as research into t...

Cobalt Strike Beacon delivered via GitHub and social media

Introduction In the latter half of 2024, the Russian IT industry, alongside a number of entities in other countries, experienced a notable cyberattack. The attackers employed a range of malicious techniques to trick security systems and remain undetected. To bypass detection, they delivered...

A journey into forgotten Null Session and MS-RPC interfaces, part 2

In the first part of our research, I demonstrated how we revived the concept of no authentication null session after many years. This involved enumerating domain information, such as users, without authentication. I walked you through the entire process, starting with the difference between no-au...

Arcane stealer: We want all your data

At the end of 2024, we discovered a new stealer distributed via YouTube videos promoting game cheats. What's intriguing about this malware is how much it collects. It grabs account information from VPN and gaming clients, and all kinds of network utilities like ngrok, Playit, Cyberduck, FileZilla...

Story of the Year: global IT outages and supply chain attacks

A faulty update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered one of the largest IT outages in history, impacting approximately 8.5 million systems worldwide. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the critical risks posed by global IT disruptions and supply chain weaknesses. With large-scale...

IT threat evolution in Q2 2024. Non-mobile statistics

The statistics presented here are based on detection verdicts by Kaspersky products and services received from users who consented to providing statistical data. Quarterly figures In Q2 2024: Kaspersky solutions blocked over 664 million attacks from various internet sources. The web antivirus...

PseudoManuscrypt: a mass-scale spyware attack campaign

In June 2021, Kaspersky ICS CERT experts identified malware whose loader has some similarities to the Manuscrypt malware, which is part of the Lazarus APT groups arsenal. In 2020, the group used Manuscrypt in attacks on defense enterprises in different countries. These attacks are described in th...

Project CAV3RN continues: Google Apps Script as C2 relay and DNS-based C2 channel selection

Project CAV3RN is a modular espionage framework used against targets in Israel. This report expands on two earlier publications: the first was published in June 2026 as part of our Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Reporting service, and the second was published on Securelist the following month,...

OkoBot: new sophisticated malware framework targets cryptocurrency users

Introduction In January 2026, we identified multiple attacks involving unknown malware that captures the contents of cryptocurrency wallet windows. During the investigation, we reconstructed the complete infection chain, which consisted of four tightly linked stages initiated by the execution of...

Missed incidents, persistent threats, and response gaps: Insights from compromise assessment projects

The following analysis presents the key findings from Kaspersky Compromise Assessment engagements performed in 2025. A compromise assessment is an independent, expert-driven service that examines whether a target network has been compromised. The service combines threat intelligence analysis...

A VBScript campaign distributed through WhatsApp deploying RMM software

In June 2026, we observed a malware campaign distributing malicious VBScript files through direct messages in WhatsApp. The campaign affected users across multiple countries and territories, including Malaysia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Singapore, UK, Spain, Taiwan, Australia, Russia and Vietnam, wi...

Head Mare and Twelve join forces to attack Russian entities

Introduction In September 2024, a series of attacks targeted Russian companies, revealing indicators of compromise and tactics associated with two hacktivist groups: Head Mare and Twelve. Our investigation showed that Head Mare relied heavily on tools previously associated with Twelve...

Using the LockBit builder to generate targeted ransomware

The previous Kaspersky research focused on a detailed analysis of the LockBit 3.0 builder leaked in 2022. Since then, attackers have been able to generate customized versions of the threat according to their needs. This opens up numerous possibilities for malicious actors to make their attacks mo...

What to do if your company was mentioned on Darknet?

Every year is abundant with major data leaks, biggest data breaches and hacks drawing massive media attention such as Medibank and Optus data breach, Twitter data breach, and Uber and Rockstar compromise in 2022 and in T-Mobile, MailChimp and OpenAI in 2023. But are we really conscious of the tru...

Email crypto phishing scams: stealing from hot and cold crypto wallets

The higher the global popularity of cryptocurrencies and the more new ways of storing them, the wider the arsenal of tools used by malicious actors who are after digital money. Scammers tailor the complexity of technology they use and the thoroughness of their efforts to imitate legitimate websit...

Satacom delivers browser extension that steals cryptocurrency

Satacom downloader, also known as LegionLoader, is a renowned malware family that emerged in 2019. It is known to use the technique of querying DNS servers to obtain the base64-encoded URL in order to receive the next stage of another malware family currently distributed by Satacom. The Satacom...

Understanding metrics to measure SOC effectiveness

The security operations center SOC plays a critical role in protecting an organizations assets and reputation by identifying, analyzing, and responding to cyberthreats in a timely and effective manner. Additionally, SOCs also help to improve overall security posture by providing add-on services...

Ransomware and wiper signed with stolen certificates

Introduction On July 17, 2022, Albanian news outlets reported a massive cyberattack that affected Albanian government e-services. A few weeks later, it was revealed that the cyberattacks were part of a coordinated effort likely intended to cripple the countrys computer systems. On September 10,...

DiceyF deploys GamePlayerFramework in online casino development studio

The Hacktivity 2022 security festival was held at the MOM Cultural Center in Budapest, Hungary, over two days, October 6-7th 2022. One of several presentations by our GReAT researchers included an interesting set of APT activity targeting online casino development and operations environments in...

Luna and Black Basta — new ransomware for Windows, Linux and ESXi

Introduction In our crimeware reporting service, we analyze the latest crime-related trends we come across. If we look back at what we covered last month, we will see that ransomware surprise, surprise! definitely stands out. In this blog post, we provide several excerpts from last months reports...

ScarCruft surveilling North Korean defectors and human rights activists

The ScarCruft group also known as APT37 or Temp.Reaper is a nation-state sponsored APT actor we first reported in 2016. ScarCruft is known to target North Korean defectors, journalists who cover North Korea-related news and government organizations related to the Korean Peninsula, between others...

Advanced threat predictions for 2022

Over the past 12 months, the style and severity of APT threats has continued to evolve. Despite their constantly changing nature, there is a lot we can learn from recent APT trends to predict what might lie ahead in the coming year. Based on the collective knowledge and insights of our experts, w...

Threat Predictions for Connected Health in 2018

The landscape in 2017 In 2017, Kaspersky Lab research revealed the extent to which medical information and patient data stored within the connected healthcare infrastructure is left unprotected and accessible online for any motivated cybercriminal to discover. For example, we found open access to...

Mirage Kitten targets Middle East and Africa region with new malware

Introduction Mirage Kitten – also known as UNC1549, Smoke Sandstorm, and Nimbus Manticore – is an advanced persistent threat APT group focused on cyber-espionage operations against aerospace, aviation, defense, and telecommunications sectors across the Middle East and Africa, using highly targete...

Exploits and vulnerabilities in Q1 2026

During Q1 2026, the exploit kits leveraged by threat actors to target user systems expanded once again, incorporating new exploits for the Microsoft Office platform, as well as Windows and Linux operating systems. In this report, we dive into the statistics on published vulnerabilities and...

Hunting for Mythic in network traffic

Post-exploitation frameworks Threat actors frequently employ post-exploitation frameworks in cyberattacks to maintain control over compromised hosts and move laterally within the organization's network. While they once favored closed-source frameworks, such as Cobalt Strike and Brute Ratel C4,...

Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q1 2025

Trends Relative stability from quarter to quarter. The percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked remained unchanged from Q4 2024 at 21.9%. Over the last three quarters, the value has ranged from 22.0% to 21.9%. The quarterly figures are decreasing from year to year. Sinc...

How the Necro Trojan infiltrated Google Play, again

Introduction We sometimes come across modified applications when analyzing suspicious files. These are created in response to user requests for more customization options within the app or for new features that the official versions don't have. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for popular mods to...

Tusk: unraveling a complex infostealer campaign

Summary Kaspersky Global Emergency Response Team GERT has identified a complex campaign, consisting of multiple sub-campaigns orchestrated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals. The sub-campaigns imitate legitimate projects, slightly modifying names and branding and using multiple social media...

In search of the Triangulation: triangle_check utility

In our initial blogpost about "Operation Triangulation", we published a comprehensive guide on how to manually check iOS device backups for possible indicators of compromise using MVT. This process takes time and requires manual search for several types of indicators. To automate this process, we...

OnionPoison: infected Tor Browser installer distributed through popular YouTube channel

While performing regular threat hunting activities, we identified multiple downloads of previously unclustered malicious Tor Browser installers. According to our telemetry, all the victims targeted by these installers are located in China. As the Tor Browser website is blocked in China, individua...

Mass email campaign with a pinch of targeted spam

Most mass malicious mailing campaigns are very primitive and hardly diverse, with the content limited to several sentences offering the user to download archives that supposedly contain some urgent bills or unpaid fines. The email messages may contain no signatures or logos, with typos and other...

Text-based fraud: from 419 scams to vishing

E-mail scammers typically combine social engineering with technical skills to bypass spam filters and persuade the recipient to reply. But there is a specific class of attacks that is technically stuck somewhere in the late 90s/early 00s, in the era of CRT monitors and sluggish internet: we are...

IT threat evolution in Q3 2021. Mobile statistics

IT threat evolution Q3 2021 IT threat evolution in Q3 2021. PC statistics IT threat evolution in Q3 2021. Mobile statistics These statistics are based on detection verdicts of Kaspersky products received from users who consented to provide statistical data. Quarterly figures According to Kaspersk...

Incident response analyst report 2020

Download full report PDF The Incident response analyst report provides insights into incident investigation services conducted by Kaspersky in 2020. We deliver a range of services to help organizations when they are in need: incident response, digital forensics and malware analysis. Data in the...

Transparent Tribe: Evolution analysis, part 2

Background + Key findings Transparent Tribe, also known as PROJECTM or MYTHIC LEOPARD, is a highly prolific group whose activities can be traced as far back as 2013. In the last four years, this APT group has never taken time off. They continue to hit their targets, which typically are Indian...

Microcin is here

In February 2020, we observed a Trojan injected into the system process memory on a particular host. The target turned out to be a diplomatic entity. What initially attracted our attention was the enterprise-grade API-like application programming interface programming style. Such an approach is n...

Netkids

Children today are completely at home in the digital space. They use digital diaries and textbooks at school, communicate via instant messaging, play games on mobile devices not to mention PCs and consoles, and create mini masterpieces on tablets and laptops. This total immersion in the digital...

Phishing with hacked sites

Phishers want their fake pages to cost minimum effort but generate as much income as possible, so they eagerly use various tools and techniques to evade detection, and save time and money. Examples include automation with phishing kits or Telegram bots. Another tactic, popular with scammers big a...

What your SOC will be facing in 2023

As the role of cybersecurity in large businesses increases remarkably year over year, the importance of Security Operations Centers SOCs is becoming paramount. This years Kaspersky Security Bulletin ends with tailored predictions for SOCs – from external and internal points of view. The first par...

Router security in 2021

A router is a gateway from the internet to a home or office — despite being conceived quite the opposite. Routers are forever being hacked and infected, and used to infiltrate local networks. Keeping this gate locked so that no one can stroll right through is no easy task. It is not always clear...

How to recover files encrypted by Yanluowang

Yanluowang is a type of targeted ransomware discovered by the Symantec Threat Hunter team as they were investigating an incident on a large corporate network. Kaspersky experts have found a vulnerability in the Yanluowang encryption algorithm and created a free decryptor to help victims of this...

Applied YARA training Q&A

Introduction On August 31, 2021 we ran a joint webinar between VirusTotal and Kaspersky, with a focus on YARA rules best practices and real world examples. If you didnt have the chance to watch the webinar live, you can see it as a recording on Brighttalk: Applied YARA training. During the webina...

QakBot technical analysis

Main description QakBot, also known as QBot, QuackBot and Pinkslipbot, is a banking Trojan that has existed for over a decade. It was found in the wild in 2007 and since then it has been continually maintained and developed. In recent years, QakBot has become one of the leading banking Trojans...

IT threat evolution in Q2 2026. Mobile statistics

IT threat evolution in Q2 2026. Mobile statistics IT threat evolution in Q2 2026. Non-mobile statistics The mobile section of the quarterly cyberthreat report includes statistics on malware, adware, and potentially unwanted software for Android, as well as descriptions of the most notable threats...

Containers on fire: from container escapes to supply chain attacks

Introduction Modern infrastructures universally rely on containerization to deploy applications, scale services, and build cloud platforms. The use of Docker, Kubernetes, and similar technologies has become the corporate standard for efficient automation. However, as containers grow in popularity...

Exploits and vulnerabilities in Q3 2025

In the third quarter, attackers continued to exploit security flaws in WinRAR, while the total number of registered vulnerabilities grew again. In this report, we examine statistics on published vulnerabilities and exploits, the most common security issues impacting Windows and Linux, and the...