#1 Trusted Cybersecurity News Platform Followed by 4.50+ million
The Hacker News Logo
Subscribe – Get Latest News
SaaS Security

Search results for spear phishing | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Banking Trojans Target Latin America and Europe Through Google Cloud Run

Banking Trojans Target Latin America and Europe Through Google Cloud Run

Feb 26, 2024 Cyber Attack / Malware
Cybersecurity researchers are warning about a spike in email phishing campaigns that are weaponizing the Google Cloud Run service to deliver various banking trojans such as  Astaroth  (aka Guildma),  Mekotio , and  Ousaban  (aka Javali) to targets across Latin America (LATAM) and Europe. "The infection chains associated with these malware families feature the use of malicious Microsoft Installers (MSIs) that function as droppers or downloaders for the final malware payload(s)," Cisco Talos researchers  disclosed  last week. The high-volume malware distribution campaigns, observed since September 2023, have employed the same storage bucket within Google Cloud for propagation, suggesting potential links between the threat actors behind the distribution campaigns. Google Cloud Run is a  managed compute platform  that enables users to run frontend and backend services, batch jobs, deploy websites and applications, and queue processing workloads without having to manage or sca
Hackers Increasingly Using 'Browser-in-the-Browser' Technique in Ukraine Related Attacks

Hackers Increasingly Using 'Browser-in-the-Browser' Technique in Ukraine Related Attacks

Mar 31, 2022
A Belarusian threat actor known as Ghostwriter (aka UNC1151) has been spotted leveraging the recently disclosed browser-in-the-browser (BitB) technique as part of their credential phishing campaigns exploiting the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The method, which  masquerades  as a legitimate domain by simulating a browser window within the browser, makes it possible to mount convincing social engineering campaigns. "Ghostwriter actors have quickly adopted this new technique, combining it with a previously observed technique, hosting credential phishing landing pages on compromised sites," Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG)  said  in a new report, using it to siphon credentials entered by unsuspected victims to a remote server. Among other groups  using the war as a lure  in phishing and malware campaigns to deceive targets into opening fraudulent emails or links include  Mustang Panda  and  Scarab  as well as nation-state actors from Iran, North Korea, and Russia
How to Accelerate Vendor Risk Assessments in the Age of SaaS Sprawl

How to Accelerate Vendor Risk Assessments in the Age of SaaS Sprawl

Mar 21, 2024SaaS Security / Endpoint Security
In today's digital-first business environment dominated by SaaS applications, organizations increasingly depend on third-party vendors for essential cloud services and software solutions. As more vendors and services are added to the mix, the complexity and potential vulnerabilities within the  SaaS supply chain  snowball quickly. That's why effective vendor risk management (VRM) is a critical strategy in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to protect organizational assets and data integrity. Meanwhile, common approaches to vendor risk assessments are too slow and static for the modern world of SaaS. Most organizations have simply adapted their legacy evaluation techniques for on-premise software to apply to SaaS providers. This not only creates massive bottlenecks, but also causes organizations to inadvertently accept far too much risk. To effectively adapt to the realities of modern work, two major aspects need to change: the timeline of initial assessment must shorte
Popular Mobile Browsers Found Vulnerable To Address Bar Spoofing Attacks

Popular Mobile Browsers Found Vulnerable To Address Bar Spoofing Attacks

Oct 21, 2020
Graphic for illustration Cybersecurity researchers on Tuesday  disclosed details  about an address bar spoofing vulnerability affecting multiple mobile browsers, such as Apple Safari and Opera Touch, leaving the door open for spear-phishing attacks and delivering malware. Other impacted browsers include UCWeb, Yandex Browser, Bolt Browser, and RITS Browser. The flaws were discovered by Pakistani security researcher Rafay Baloch in the summer of 2020 and jointly reported by Baloch and cybersecurity firm  Rapid7  in August before they were addressed by the browser makers over the past few weeks. UCWeb and Bolt Browser remain unpatched as yet, while Opera Mini is expected to receive a fix on November 11, 2020. The issue stems from using malicious executable JavaScript code in an arbitrary website to force the browser to update the address bar while the page is still loading to another address of the attacker's choice. Original PoC demo "The vulnerability occurs due to Saf
cyber security

Automated remediation solutions are crucial for security

websiteWing SecurityShadow IT / SaaS Security
Especially when it comes to securing employees' SaaS usage, don't settle for a longer to-do list. Auto-remediation is key to achieving SaaS security.
Why You Should Enroll In Cyber Security Awareness Training

Why You Should Enroll In Cyber Security Awareness Training

Apr 14, 2015
When it comes to cyber security, even big organizations lack the basic knowledge of how to protect company's data from the outside. Everyday businesses are facing the threat of phishing, ransomware , data breaches and malware attacks that not only results in millions of dollars losses, but also damaged the reputations. A new study shows that five out of six of the most serious IT security threats directly relate to phishing or the aftermath of a successful phishing attack . SEA, short for Syrian Electronic Army , is famous for its advanced phishing attack capabilities and with the help of the same technique they fooled many popular organizations, social media and news media, including Twitter, Microsoft, Skype, Forbes, eBay and Paypal. Where do we lack? According to the annual Verizon Data Breach Investigations report, about 58% of cyber security incidents were caused by employees, either due to failure in handling data or approving malicious data. So, in
US Govt Warns Critical Industries After Ransomware Hits Gas Pipeline Facility

US Govt Warns Critical Industries After Ransomware Hits Gas Pipeline Facility

Feb 19, 2020
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) earlier today issued a warning to all industries operating critical infrastructures about a new ransomware threat that if left unaddressed could have severe consequences. The advisory comes in response to a cyberattack targeting an unnamed natural gas compression facility that employed spear-phishing to deliver ransomware to the company's internal network, encrypting critical data and knocking servers out of operation for almost two days. "A cyber threat actor used a spear-phishing link to obtain initial access to the organization's information technology network before pivoting to its operational technology network. The threat actor then deployed commodity ransomware to encrypt data for impact on both networks," CISA noted in its alert. As ransomware attacks continue to escalate in frequency and scale , the new development is yet another indication that p
Russian Hackers Spotted Targeting U.S. Military Weapons and Hardware Supplier

Russian Hackers Spotted Targeting U.S. Military Weapons and Hardware Supplier

Dec 07, 2022 Password Security / Cyber Threat
A state-sponsored hacking group with links to Russia has been linked to attack infrastructure that spoofs the Microsoft login page of Global Ordnance, a legitimate U.S.-based military weapons and hardware supplier. Recorded Future attributed the new infrastructure to a threat activity group it tracks under the name  TAG-53 , and is broadly known by the cybersecurity community as Blue Callisto , Callisto, COLDRIVER, SEABORGIUM, and TA446. "Based on historical public reporting on overlapping TAG-53 campaigns, it is likely that this credential harvesting activity is enabled in part through phishing," Recorded Future's Insikt Group  said  in a report published this week. The cybersecurity firm said it discovered 38 domains, nine of which contained references to companies like UMO Poland, Sangrail LTD, DTGruelle, Blue Sky Network, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. It's suspected that the t
Chinese Tonto Team Hackers' Second Attempt to Target Cybersecurity Firm Group-IB Fails

Chinese Tonto Team Hackers' Second Attempt to Target Cybersecurity Firm Group-IB Fails

Feb 13, 2023 Cyber Threat Intelligence
The advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as  Tonto Team  carried out an unsuccessful attack on cybersecurity company Group-IB in June 2022. The Singapore-headquartered firm  said  that it detected and blocked malicious phishing emails originating from the group targeting its employees. It's also the second attack aimed at Group-IB, the first of which took place in March 2021. Tonto Team, also called Bronze Huntley,  Cactus Pete , Earth Akhlut, Karma Panda, and UAC-0018, is a suspected Chinese hacking group that has been linked to attacks targeting a wide range of organizations in Asia and Eastern Europe. The actor is known to be active since at least 2009 and is said to  share ties  to the Third Department ( 3PLA ) of the People's Liberation Army's Shenyang TRB ( Unit 65016 ). Attack chains involve spear-phishing lures containing malicious attachments created using the Royal Road Rich Text Format (RTF) exploitation toolkit to drop backdoors like Bisonal, Dexbi
Hackers Who Hit Winter Olympics 2018 Are Still Alive and Kicking

Hackers Who Hit Winter Olympics 2018 Are Still Alive and Kicking

Jun 19, 2018
Remember the ' Olympic Destroyer ' cyber attack? The group behind it is still alive, kicking and has now been found targeting biological and chemical threat prevention laboratories in Europe and Ukraine, and a few financial organisation in Russia. Earlier this year, an unknown group of notorious hackers targeted Winter Olympic Games 2018 , held in South Korea, using a destructive malware that purposely planted sophisticated false flags to trick researchers into mis-attributing the campaign. Unfortunately, the destructive malware was successful to some extent, at least for a next few days, as immediately after the attack various security researchers postmortem the Olympic Destroyer malware and started attributing the attack to different nation-state hacking groups from North Korea, Russia, and China. Later researchers from Russian antivirus vendor Kaspersky Labs uncovered more details about the attack, including the evidence of false attribution artifacts, and conclud
U.S. Charges 9 Iranians With Hacking Universities to Steal Research Data

U.S. Charges 9 Iranians With Hacking Universities to Steal Research Data

Mar 25, 2018
The United States Department of Justice has announced criminal charges and sanctions against 9 Iranians involved in hacking universities, tech companies, and government organisations worldwide to steal scientific research resources and academic papers. According to the FBI officials, the individuals are connected to the Mabna Institute , an Iran-based company created in 2013 whose members were allegedly hired by the Iranian government for gathering intelligence. Though the content of the papers is not yet known, investigators believe it might have helped Iranian scientists to develop nuclear weapons. In past four years, the state-sponsored hacking group has allegedly infiltrated more than 320 universities in 22 countries—144 of which were in the United States—and stolen over 30 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property. The group used spear-phishing attacks to target more than 100,000 e-mail accounts and computer systems of the professors around the world, and suc
Israeli Defense computer hacked in Spear Phishing Attack

Israeli Defense computer hacked in Spear Phishing Attack

Jan 27, 2014
Hackers broke into an Israeli defense ministry computer via an email attachment tainted with malicious software. Reuters reported Israeli Defense is the latest illustrious victim of the Spear Phishing Attack , and hackers penetrated into an Israeli defense ministry computer using a malicious email as a vector. Aviv Raff , Chief Technology officer at Seculert , confirmed that an Email with a malicious attachment that looked like it had been sent by the country's Shin Bet Secret Security Service. The attackers have penetrated into the network of Israeli Defense accessing to 15 computers, one of them managed by the Israel's Civil Administration that monitors Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territory. The Civil Administration is a unit of Israel's Defense Ministry that control the passage of goods between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is clear that the information contained in the infected system represents a precious target for someone that intend to examin
Malaysian flight MH370 tragedy abused by Chinese hackers for Espionage attacks

Malaysian flight MH370 tragedy abused by Chinese hackers for Espionage attacks

Mar 26, 2014
The Mysterious Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 , a Boeing 777-200 aircraft that has gone missing by the time it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Malaysian Prime Minister had also confirmed that the Malaysia Airlines plane had crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean. Cyber Criminals are known to take advantage of major news stories or events where there is a high level of public interest and now Scammers are also targeting tragedy of MH370 to trap innocent Internet users. Just a few days before we warned you about a Facebook malware campaign claimed that the missing Malaysian Airlines ' MH370 has been spotted in the Bermuda Triangle ' with its passengers still alive and invites users to click a link to view breaking news video footage. This week, Security researchers at FireEye have revealed about various ongoing spear phishing and malware attacks by some advanced persistent threat (APT) attackers. According to the researchers, the Chines
U.S. Government Disrupts Russia-Linked Botnet Engaged in Cyber Espionage

U.S. Government Disrupts Russia-Linked Botnet Engaged in Cyber Espionage

Feb 16, 2024 Botnet / Network Security
The U.S. government on Thursday said it disrupted a botnet comprising hundreds of small office and home office (SOHO) routers in the country that was put to use by the Russia-linked APT28 actor to conceal its malicious activities. "These crimes included vast spear-phishing and similar credential harvesting campaigns against targets of intelligence interest to the Russian government, such as U.S. and foreign governments and military, security, and corporate organizations," the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ)  said  in a statement. APT28 , also tracked under the monikers BlueDelta, Fancy Bear, Fighting Ursa, Forest Blizzard (formerly Strontium), FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, Pawn Storm, Sednit, Sofacy, and TA422, is  assessed  to be linked to Unit 26165 of Russia's Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU). It's known to be active since at least 2007. Court documents allege that the attackers pulled off their cyber espionage campaigns by relying on  MooBot , a Mirai
Russian Hackers Target Ukraine with Disinformation and Credential-Harvesting Attacks

Russian Hackers Target Ukraine with Disinformation and Credential-Harvesting Attacks

Feb 21, 2024 Phishing Attack / Information Warfare
Cybersecurity researchers have unearthed a new influence operation targeting Ukraine that leverages spam emails to propagate war-related disinformation. The activity has been linked to Russia-aligned threat actors by Slovak cybersecurity company ESET, which also identified a spear-phishing campaign aimed at a Ukrainian defense company in October 2023 and a European Union agency in November 2023 with an aim to harvest Microsoft login credentials using fake landing pages. Operation Texonto, as the entire campaign has been codenamed, has not been attributed to a specific threat actor, although some elements of it, particularly the spear-phishing attacks, overlap with  COLDRIVER , which has a history of harvesting credentials via bogus sign-in pages. The disinformation operation took place over two waves in November and December 2023, with the email messages bearing PDF attachments and content related to heating interruptions, drug shortages, and food shortages. The November wave tar
Dyre Wolf Banking Malware Stole More Than $1 Million

Dyre Wolf Banking Malware Stole More Than $1 Million

Apr 04, 2015
Security researchers have uncovered an active cyber attack campaign that has successfully stolen more than $1 Million from a variety of targeted enterprise organizations using spear phishing emails, malware and social engineering tricks. The campaign, dubbed " The Dyre Wolf " by researchers from IBM's Security Intelligence division, targets businesses and organizations that use wire transfers to transfer large sums of money, even if the transaction is protected by 2-factor authentication. A MIXTURE OF MALWARE, SOCIAL ENGINEERING & DDoS Nowadays, cybercriminals not only rely on banking Trojans to harvest financial credentials, but also using sophisticated social engineering tactics to attack big corporations that frequently conduct wire transfers to move large sums. " An experienced and resource-backed [cyber criminal] gang operates Dyre ," John Kuhn, Senior Threat Researcher at IBM Managed Security Service, wrote in a blog post published Th
Experts Detail 3 Hacking Teams Working Under the Umbrella of TA410 Group

Experts Detail 3 Hacking Teams Working Under the Umbrella of TA410 Group

Apr 28, 2022
A cyberespionage threat actor known for targeting a variety of critical infrastructure sectors in Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S. has been observed using an upgraded version of a remote access trojan with information stealing capabilities. Calling  TA410  an umbrella group comprised of three teams dubbed FlowingFrog, LookingFrog, and JollyFrog, Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET  assessed  that "these subgroups operate somewhat independently, but that they may share intelligence requirements, an access team that runs their spear-phishing campaigns, and also the team that deploys network infrastructure." TA410 — said to share behavioral and tooling overlaps with  APT10  (aka Stone Panda or TA429) — has a history of targeting U.S.-based organizations in the utilities sector as well as diplomatic entities in the Middle East and Africa. Other identified victims of the hacker collective include a manufacturing company in Japan, a mining business in India, and a charity in Is
Cybersecurity Resources