Tag: apt

An advanced persistent threat group, TA397, targeted a Turkish defense organization with a sophisticated attack chain. The campaign used a RAR archive containing a decoy PDF, a shortcut file, and an Alternate Data Stream with PowerShell code. The infection process involved creating a scheduled task…

The Head Mare hacktivist group has escalated its campaign against Russian targets using the PhantomCore backdoor. The group employs deceptive ZIP archives containing malicious LNK files and executables disguised as archive files to deploy PhantomCore. This C++-compiled backdoor, which replaces earl…

A large U.S. entity with significant operations in China faced a four-month-long cyber intrusion, likely conducted by a China-based threat actor. The attackers obtained persistent network access, laterally moved across systems, compromised Exchange servers to harvest emails, and deployed exfiltrati…

BlueAlpha, a Russian state-sponsored cyber threat group, has evolved its malware delivery tactics by exploiting Cloudflare Tunnels to conceal GammaDrop staging infrastructure. The group employs HTML smuggling with sophisticated modifications to bypass email security systems and uses DNS fast-fluxin…

BlueAlpha, a Russian state-sponsored cyber threat group, has evolved its malware delivery tactics by exploiting Cloudflare Tunnels to conceal GammaDrop staging infrastructure. The group employs HTML smuggling with sophisticated modifications to bypass email security systems and uses DNS fast-fluxin…

This report details a malicious campaign where the threat actor gained initial access through a resume lure as part of a TA4557/FIN6 operation. The actor employed techniques like abusing legitimate binaries, establishing Cobalt Strike and Pyramid C2, exploiting CVE-2023-27532 for lateral movement, …

APT-C-01, known as Poison Ivy, is a persistent threat group targeting defense, government, technology, and education sectors since 2007. They specialize in phishing attacks, including watering hole and spear-phishing, using personalized bait content. Recent observations show the group creating fake…

ESET researchers have discovered previously unknown Linux backdoors attributed to the China-aligned Gelsemium APT group. The main backdoor, named WolfsBane, is the Linux equivalent of Gelsemium's Gelsevirine backdoor for Windows. Another backdoor, FireWood, is connected to the group's Project Wood …

Earth Kasha, a threat group targeting Japan since 2019, has launched a new campaign with significant updates to their tactics and arsenals. The group has expanded its targets to include Taiwan and India, focusing on advanced technology organizations and government agencies. They now exploit public-…

ESET researchers uncovered two distinct toolsets used by the GoldenJackal APT group to breach air-gapped systems in government organizations. The first toolset, observed in 2019, included GoldenDealer for delivering executables via USB drives, GoldenHowl as a modular backdoor, and GoldenRobo for fi…

The DONOT APT group has launched a campaign targeting Pakistan's manufacturing industry supporting maritime and defense sectors. The attack uses a malicious LNK file disguised as an RTF, which executes PowerShell commands to deliver a lure document and stager malware. The malware establishes persis…

Check Point Research has been tracking ongoing activity of the WIRTE threat actor, associated with Hamas, despite the ongoing conflict in the region. The group continues to target entities in the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia for espionage. WIRTE has expanded its oper…

SentinelLabs researchers identified a North Korea-linked threat actor targeting crypto businesses with new macOS malware as part of a campaign called 'Hidden Risk'. The attackers, linked to BlueNoroff, used fake cryptocurrency news emails and a malicious app disguised as a PDF to deliver multi-stag…

CloudScout is a post-compromise toolset used by Evasive Panda to target a Taiwanese government entity and religious organization between 2022 and 2023. The toolset can retrieve data from various cloud services using stolen web session cookies. It works with MgBot, Evasive Panda's malware framework,…

Lazarus APT launched a sophisticated attack campaign using a decoy MOBA game website to exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome. The exploit allowed remote code execution and bypassed the V8 sandbox. The attackers used social engineering tactics on social media to promote the fake game, w…

SideWinder APT group has expanded its activities, targeting high-profile entities in the Middle East and Africa. The group employs a multi-stage infection chain using spear-phishing emails with malicious attachments. A new post-exploitation toolkit called 'StealerBot' has been discovered, designed …

A new campaign by the Awaken Likho APT group targeting Russian government agencies and industrial enterprises was discovered in June 2024. The group has significantly changed its attack methods, now preferring the MeshCentral platform agent instead of UltraVNC for remote access. The implant is deli…

A sophisticated attack has been uncovered that exploits Visual Studio Code's remote tunnel capabilities for unauthorized access. The attack begins with a .LNK file, disguised as a legitimate setup, which downloads a Python package and executes a malicious script. This script establishes persistence…

The Russian APT group Turla has launched a new campaign using shortcut files to infect systems with a fileless backdoor. The malware employs evasion techniques such as disabling ETW and AMSI, and unhooking. The attack begins with a shortcut file mimicking a PDF, which creates a file executed using …

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the toolset used by the Russia-aligned Gamaredon APT group to conduct cyberespionage activities against Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. The group has been active since 2013 and is currently the most prolific threat actor targeting Ukrainian governmental in…

The report details attempts by threat actors to compromise smartphones and tablets belonging to military personnel by distributing malicious APK files disguised as legitimate software for military systems like GRISELDA and "Eyes". The malware, named HYDRA and a modified version of "Eyes", was desig…

The report details a campaign by the Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) group Stately Taurus, which carried out cyberespionage operations against government entities in Southeast Asia. The group employed a novel technique that leveraged the reverse shell feature of Visual Studio Code to gain …

Group-ib explored the growing threats posed by the Lazarus Group's financially-driven campaign against developers. Group-ib examined their recent Python scripts, including the CivetQ and BeaverTail malware variants, along with their updated versions in Windows and Python releases. Additionally, the…

A long-term intrusion targeting a Vietnamese human rights non-profit organization has been discovered, likely spanning at least four years. The attack shows significant overlaps with techniques used by APT32/OceanLotus, a threat actor known for targeting Vietnamese activists. The intrusion involved…

Proofpoint researchers uncovered an unusual campaign delivering custom malware named "Voldemort". The activity impersonated tax authorities from various countries and targeted dozens of organizations worldwide. The attack chain combines popular and uncommon techniques, including using Google Sheets…

An analysis by Insikt Group revealed a significant surge in cyber threat activities from GreenCharlie, an Iran-linked group associated with Mint Sandstorm, Charming Kitten, and APT42. The group persistently targets US political and governmental entities through sophisticated phishing operations inv…

According to the report, cyber operations related to the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing. The report highlights the potential risks and threats posed by Russian state-sponsored actors, including the deployment of wiper malware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) a…

Earth Baku, an advanced persistent threat actor, has broadened its operations from the Indo-Pacific region to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, targeting countries like Italy, Germany, UAE, and Qatar. The group leverages public-facing applications like IIS servers as entry points, deploying soph…

A report detailing an ongoing cyberattack campaign by the North Korean APT group Kimsuky, which is targeting university staff, researchers, and professors to conduct espionage and gather intelligence for the North Korean government. The group employs phishing tactics, compromised infrastructure, an…

The report provides in-depth details about the malware used by the threat actor MirrorFace in targeted attacks against Japanese organizations. It describes the NOOPDOOR malware's execution flow, obfuscation techniques, functionality, and the tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by the attac…

A government-affiliated Taiwanese research institute specializing in computing technologies experienced a cyber intrusion likely carried out by the Chinese hacking group APT41. The attackers employed ShadowPad malware, Cobalt Strike, and custom tools, exploiting vulnerabilities like CVE-2018-0824 f…

The report details a recent cyber attack campaign attributed to the APT-C-09 (Mozambique) threat group, which has historically targeted Pakistan and surrounding nations. The campaign employed a novel Golang malware payload and Quasar RAT to gather sensitive information. The analysis covers the tech…

This report examines the convergence of tactics employed by Pakistani cyber threat groups, including Transparent Tribe, SideCopy, and RusticWeb, targeting Indian government entities and critical infrastructure. It uncovers overlaps in their infrastructure, tactics, and payloads, suggesting coordina…

This document examines the recent activities of the Silver Fox cybercrime group, which has traditionally targeted financial and tax entities but has now shifted its focus towards impersonating national institutions and security companies. The analysis involves a phishing website, Winos remote contr…

The report details the APT-C-26 (Lazarus) group's recent attack campaign utilizing malicious Python packages hosted on the PyPI repository to deliver payloads targeting multiple platforms including Windows, Linux, and macOS. It analyzes the attack flow, delivery methods, and malware components invo…

A recently discovered threat actor, dubbed 'SneakyChef,' has been conducting an ongoing espionage campaign targeting government agencies across different regions, primarily utilizing the SugarGh0st malware. The group employs decoy documents impersonating government entities and infects victims thro…

This analysis details a malicious campaign dubbed 'FHAPPI' by the researcher, which utilized compromised Geocities Japan accounts to host malware payloads. The campaign leveraged VBScript and PowerShell scripts to execute encoded commands, ultimately delivering the Poison Ivy remote access trojan (…

This technical analysis examines a campaign by the Kimsuky threat group that exploited a vulnerability (CVE-2017-11882) in the Microsoft Office Equation Editor to distribute malware. The attackers used mshta.exe to run a malicious script that downloads additional components, including a keylogger. …

The report describes a malicious campaign where threat actors utilize cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox to distribute malware and collect user information. The attack process starts with a malicious shortcut file (LNK) that executes PowerShell scripts to download decoy documen…

This report details a series of attacks targeting South Korean companies, particularly defense contractors, automobile part manufacturers, and semiconductor manufacturers. The threat actor initially deployed malware strains associated with the Kimsuky group, such as MultiRDP and Meterpreter, but la…

An investigation revealed that the threat group DarkPeony, also known as Operation ControlPlug, employed a novel technique involving MSC (Microsoft Common Console Document) files to initiate their malicious activities. These files, generally unfamiliar, leveraged the Console Taskpad feature to exec…

A group called Hellhounds has continued attacking Russian organizations into 2024 using various techniques to compromise infrastructure. Research shows malware toolkit development began in 2019. The group maintains presence inside critical organizations for years. Although based on open-source proj…

An investigation by Bitdefender Labs uncovered a previously unidentified cyber threat actor called Unfading Sea Haze. This group has systematically targeted high-level organizations across countries in the South China Sea region. The extensive analysis spanned several years, revealing their evolvin…

BlackBerry discovered the Pakistani-based advanced persistent threat group Transparent Tribe (APT36) targeting the Indian government, defense, and aerospace sectors. The group employed cross-platform programming languages, open-source tools, and abused web services for command-and-control and exfil…

A threat actor impersonated a North Korean human rights official on Facebook and approached targets. They shared malicious URLs disguised as documents. Microsoft OneDrive cloud service was used to host the malicious MSC file, which communicated with C2 servers and deployed Reconshark malware associ…

The DoppelGänger campaign is an ongoing influence operation attributed to Russian entities Structura and the Social Design Agency. Its primary goal is to diminish support for Ukraine and foster divisions within supporting nations. It targets audiences in several Western countries through a network …

AhnLab Security Intelligence Center (ASEC) recently confirmed that the Andariel group carried out APT attacks on domestic companies and institutions. The targeted organizations included manufacturing companies, construction firms, and educational institutions. The attackers employed backdoors, keyl…

At the end of 2023, the Solar 4RAYS team was investigating an attack on a Russian telecom company by an Asian advanced persistent threat (APT) group named Obstinate Mogwai (translated as "Stubborn Demon" in English). This group was persistent, repeatedly infiltrating the network until all entry poi…

ESET researchers discovered two previously unknown backdoors – LunarWeb and LunarMail – compromising a European ministry of foreign affairs and its diplomatic missions abroad. LunarWeb, deployed on servers, utilizes HTTP(S) for command and control communications, mimicking legitimate requests to av…

CRIL's analysis revealed SideCopy APT group's sophisticated malware campaign, employing malicious LNK files and a complex infection chain involving HTAs and loader DLLs to deploy malware like ReverseRAT and Action RAT. SideCopy targets Indian universities and government entities, suggesting potenti…

APT42, an Iranian state-sponsored cyber espionage actor, is using enhanced social engineering schemes to gain access to victim networks, including cloud environments. The actor is targeting Western and Middle Eastern NGOs, media organizations, academia, legal services and activists.

The report details a recent cyber attack campaign by the APT-C-28 (ScarCruft) group, known for targeting organizations in Korea and Asia. The campaign utilized a malicious LNK file disguised as a document related to a 'North Korean Human Rights Expert Debate' to deliver the RokRat remote access tro…

An analysis uncovered a suspected malicious campaign targeting entities in Ukraine. The attack employed an old vulnerability from 2017, CVE-2017-8570, as the initial entry vector. The operation utilized a customized loader to deliver the Cobalt Strike Beacon payload. While the specific threat actor…