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The Chinese-speaking threat actor known as Earth Lusca has been observed using a new backdoor dubbed KTLVdoor as part of a cyber attack targeting an unnamed trading company based in China. The previously unreported malware is written in Golang, and thus is a cross-platform weapon capable of targeting both Microsoft Windows and Linux systems. "KTLVdoor is a highly obfuscated malware that masquerades as different system utilities, allowing attackers to carry out a variety of tasks including file manipulation, command execution, and remote port scanning," Trend Micro researchers Cedric Pernet and Jaromir Horejsi said in an analysis published Wednesday. Some of the tools KTLVdoor impersonates include sshd, Java, SQLite, bash, and edr-agent, among others, with the malware distributed in the form of dynamic-link library (.dll) or a shared object (.so). Perhaps the most unusual aspect of the activity cluster is the discovery of more than 50 command-and-control (C&C) s

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a novel malware campaign that leverages Google Sheets as a command-and-control (C2) mechanism. The activity, detected by Proofpoint starting August 5, 2024, impersonates tax authorities from governments in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., with the goal of targeting over 70 organizations worldwide by means of a bespoke tool called Voldemort that's equipped to gather information and deliver additional payloads. Targeted sectors include insurance, aerospace, transportation, academia, finance, technology, industrial, healthcare, automotive, hospitality, energy, government, media, manufacturing, telecom, and social benefit organizations.  The suspected cyber espionage campaign has not been attributed to a specific named threat actor. As many as 20,000 email messages have been sent as part of the attacks. These emails claim to be from tax authorities in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, India, and Japan, alerting recipients about chan

When you connect your organization's Google Drive account to ChatGPT, you grant ChatGPT extensive permissions for not only your personal files, but resources across your entire shared drive. As you might imagine, this introduces an array of cybersecurity challenges. This post outlines how to see ChatGPT activity natively in the Google Workspace admin console, and how Nudge Security can provide full visibility into all genAI integrations. Since launching ChatGPT in 2022, OpenAI has defied expectations with a steady stream of product announcements and enhancements. One such announcement came on May 16, 2024, and for most consumers, it probably felt innocuous. Titled  "Improvements to data analysis in ChatGPT," the post outlines how users can add files directly from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. It's worth mentioning that other genAI tools like Google AI Studio and Claude Enterprise have also added similar capabilities recently. Pretty great, right? Maybe.‍ When you connec

Chinese-speaking users are the target of a "highly organized and sophisticated attack" campaign that is likely leveraging phishing emails to infect Windows systems with Cobalt Strike payloads. "The attackers managed to move laterally, establish persistence and remain undetected within the systems for more than two weeks," Securonix researchers Den Iuzvyk and Tim Peck said in a new report. The covert campaign, codenamed SLOW#TEMPEST and not attributed to any known threat actor, commences with malicious ZIP files that, when unpacked, activates the infection chain, leading to the deployment of the post-exploitation toolkit on compromised systems. Present with the ZIP archive is a Windows shortcut (LNK) file that disguises itself as a Microsoft Word file, "违规远程控制软件人员名单.docx.lnk," which roughly translates to "List of people who violated the remote control software regulations." "Given the language used in the lure files, it's likely th

The China-nexus cyber espionage group tracked as Volt Typhoon has been attributed with moderate confidence to the zero-day exploitation of a recently disclosed high-severity security flaw impacting Versa Director. The attacks targeted four U.S. victims and one non-U.S. victim in the Internet service provider (ISP), managed service provider (MSP) and information technology (IT) sectors as early as June 12, 2024, the Black Lotus Labs team at Lumen Technologies said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. The campaign is believed to be ongoing against unpatched Versa Director systems. The security flaw in question is CVE-2024-39717 (CVSS score: 6.6), a file upload bug affecting Versa Director that was added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog last week by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). "This vulnerability allowed potentially malicious files to be uploaded by users with Provider-Data-Center-Admin or Provider-Data-Ce

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new stealthy piece of Linux malware that leverages an unconventional technique to achieve persistence on infected systems and hide credit card skimmer code. The malware, attributed to a financially motivated threat actor, has been codenamed sedexp by Aon's Stroz Friedberg incident response services team. "This advanced threat, active since 2022, hides in plain sight while providing attackers with reverse shell capabilities and advanced concealment tactics," researchers Zachary Reichert, Daniel Stein, and Joshua Pivirotto said . It's not surprising that malicious actors are constantly improvising and refining their tradecraft, and have turned to novel techniques to evade detection. What makes sedexp noteworthy is its use of udev rules to maintain persistence. Udev, a replacement for the Device File System, offers a mechanism to identify devices based on their properties and configure rules to respond when there is a ch

Chinese-speaking users are the target of an ongoing campaign that distributes a malware known as ValleyRAT. "ValleyRAT is a multi-stage malware that utilizes diverse techniques to monitor and control its victims and deploy arbitrary plugins to cause further damage," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researchers Eduardo Altares and Joie Salvio said . "Another noteworthy characteristic of this malware is its heavy usage of shellcode to execute its many components directly in memory, significantly reducing its file footprint in the victim's system." Details about the campaign first emerged in June 2024, when Zscaler ThreatLabz detailed attacks involving an updated version of the malware. Exactly how the latest iteration of ValleyRAT is distributed is currently not known, although previous campaigns have leveraged email messages containing URLs pointing to compressed executables. "Based on the filenames of the executables we found, they're likely using phis

A previously unknown threat actor has been attributed to a spate of attacks targeting Azerbaijan and Israel with an aim to steal sensitive data. The attack campaign, detected by NSFOCUS on July 1, 2024, leveraged spear-phishing emails to single out Azerbaijani and Israeli diplomats. The activity is being tracked under the moniker Actor240524 . "Actor240524 possesses the ability to steal secrets and modify file data, using a variety of countermeasures to avoid overexposure of attack tactics and techniques," the cybersecurity company said in an analysis published last week. The attack chains commence with the use of phishing emails bearing Microsoft Word documents that, upon opening, urge the recipients to " Enable Content " and run a malicious macro responsible for executing an intermediate loader payload codenamed ABCloader ("MicrosoftWordUpdater.log"). In the next step, ABCloader acts as a conduit to decrypt and load a DLL malware called ABCsync (&

The Russian government and IT organizations are the target of a new campaign that delivers a number of backdoors and trojans as part of a spear-phishing campaign codenamed EastWind . The attack chains are characterized by the use of RAR archive attachments containing a Windows shortcut (LNK) file that, upon opening, activates the infection sequence, culminating in the deployment of malware such as GrewApacha, an updated version of the CloudSorcerer backdoor, and a previously undocumented implant dubbed PlugY. PlugY is "downloaded through the CloudSorcerer backdoor, has an extensive set of commands and supports three different protocols for communicating with the command-and-control server," Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky said . The initial infection vector relies on a booby-trapped LNK file, which employs DLL side-loading techniques to launch a malicious DLL file that uses Dropbox as a communications mechanism to execute reconnaissance commands and download add

Companies in Russia and Moldova have been the target of a phishing campaign orchestrated by a little-known cyber espionage group known as XDSpy . The findings come from cybersecurity firm F.A.C.C.T., which said the infection chains lead to the deployment of a malware called DSDownloader. The activity was observed this month, it added. XDSpy is a threat actor of indeterminate origin that was first uncovered by the Belarusian Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT.BY, in February 2020. A subsequent analysis by ESET attributed the group to information-stealing attacks aimed at government agencies in Eastern Europe and the Balkans since 2011. Attack chains mounted by the adversary are known to leverage spear-phishing emails in order to infiltrate their targets with a main malware module known as XDDown that, in turn, drops additional plugins for gathering system information, enumerating C: drive, monitoring external drives, exfiltrating local files, and gathering passwords. Ove

The threat actor known as Patchwork has been linked to a cyber attack targeting entities with ties to Bhutan to deliver the Brute Ratel C4 framework and an updated version of a backdoor called PGoShell. The development marks the first time the adversary has been observed using the red teaming software, the Knownsec 404 Team said in an analysis published last week. The activity cluster, also called APT-C-09, Dropping Elephant, Operation Hangover, Viceroy Tiger, and Zinc Emerson, is a state-sponsored actor likely of Indian origin. Known for conducting spear-phishing and watering hole attacks against China and Pakistan, the hacking crew is believed to be active since at least 2009, according to data shared by Chinese cybersecurity firm QiAnXin. Last July, Knownsec 404 disclosed details of an espionage campaign aimed at universities and research organizations in China that leveraged a .NET-based implant codenamed EyeShell to fetch and execute commands from an attacker-controlled

Several organizations operating within global shipping and logistics, media and entertainment, technology, and automotive sectors in Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the U.K. have become the target of a "sustained campaign" by the prolific China-based APT41 hacking group. "APT41 successfully infiltrated and maintained prolonged, unauthorized access to numerous victims' networks since 2023, enabling them to extract sensitive data over an extended period," Google-owned Mandiant said in a new report published Thursday. The threat intelligence firm described the adversarial collective as unique among China-nexus actors owing to its use of "non-public malware typically reserved for espionage operations in activities that appear to fall outside the scope of state-sponsored missions." Attack chains involve the use of web shells (ANTSWORD and BLUEBEAM), custom droppers (DUSTPAN and DUSTTRAP), and publicly available tools (SQLULDR2 and PINEGROV

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated variant of a known stealer malware that attackers affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have delivered as part of prior cyber espionage campaigns targeting job seekers. The artifact in question is an Apple macOS disk image (DMG) file named "MiroTalk.dmg" that mimics the legitimate video call service of the same name, but, in reality, serves as a conduit to deliver a native version of BeaverTail, security researcher Patrick Wardle said . BeaverTail refers to a JavaScript stealer malware that was first documented by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 in November 2023 as part of a campaign dubbed Contagious Interview that aims to infect software developers with malware through a supposed job interview process. Securonix is tracking the same activity under the moniker DEV#POPPER . Besides siphoning sensitive information from web browsers and crypto wallets, the malware is capable of delivering addi

A China-linked threat actor called APT17 has been observed targeting Italian companies and government entities using a variant of a known malware referred to as 9002 RAT. The two targeted attacks took place on June 24 and July 2, 2024, Italian cybersecurity company TG Soft said in an analysis published last week. "The first campaign on June 24, 2024 used an Office document, while the second campaign contained a link," the company noted . "Both campaigns invited the victim to install a Skype for Business package from a link of an Italian government-like domain to convey a variant of 9002 RAT." APT17 was first documented by Google-owned Mandiant (then FireEye) in 2013 as part of cyber espionage operations called DeputyDog and Ephemeral Hydra that leveraged zero-day flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer to breach targets of interest. It's also known by the monikers Aurora Panda, Bronze Keystone, Dogfish, Elderwood, Helium, Hidden Lynx, and TEMP.Avenge

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group called Void Banshee has been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in the Microsoft MHTML browser engine as a zero-day to deliver an information stealer called Atlantida . Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which observed the activity in mid-May 2024, said the vulnerability – tracked as CVE-2024-38112 – was used as part of a multi-stage attack chain using specially crafted internet shortcut (URL) files. "Variations of the Atlantida campaign have been highly active throughout 2024 and have evolved to use CVE-2024-38112 as part of Void Banshee infection chains," security researchers Peter Girnus and Aliakbar Zahravi said . "The ability of APT groups like Void Banshee to exploit disabled services such as [Internet Explorer] poses a significant threat to organizations worldwide." The findings dovetail with prior disclosures from Check Point, which told The Hacker News of a campaign leveraging the same shortc

The China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group codenamed APT41 is suspected to be using an "advanced and upgraded version" of a known malware called StealthVector to deliver a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed MoonWalk. The new variant of StealthVector – which is also referred to as DUSTPAN – has been designated DodgeBox by Zscaler ThreatLabz, which discovered the loader strain in April 2024. "DodgeBox is a loader that proceeds to load a new backdoor named MoonWalk," security researchers Yin Hong Chang and Sudeep Singh said . "MoonWalk shares many evasion techniques implemented in DodgeBox and utilizes Google Drive for command-and-control (C2) communication." APT41 is the moniker assigned to a prolific state-sponsored threat actor affiliated with China that's known to be active since at least 2007. It's also tracked by the broader cybersecurity community under the names Axiom, Blackfly, Brass Typhoon (formerly Barium), Bronze Atl

Cybersecurity agencies from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S. have released a joint advisory about a China-linked cyber espionage group called APT40 , warning about its ability to co-opt exploits for newly disclosed security flaws within hours or days of public release. "APT40 has previously targeted organizations in various countries, including Australia and the United States," the agencies said . "Notably, APT40 possesses the ability to quickly transform and adapt vulnerability proofs-of-concept (PoCs) for targeting, reconnaissance, and exploitation operations." The adversarial collective, also known as Bronze Mohawk, Gingham Typhoon (formerly Gadolinium), ISLANDDREAMS, Kryptonite Panda, Leviathan, Red Ladon, TA423, and TEMP.Periscope, is known to be active since at least 2011 , carrying out cyber attacks targeting entities in the Asia-Pacific region. It's assessed to be based in Haikou. In July 2021, the

A previously undocumented advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed CloudSorcerer has been observed targeting Russian government entities by leveraging cloud services for command-and-control (C2) and data exfiltration. Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which discovered the activity in May 2024, said the tradecraft adopted by the threat actor bears similarities with that of CloudWizard , but pointed out the differences in the malware source code. The attacks wield an innovative data-gathering program and a slew of evasion tactics for covering its tracks. "It's a sophisticated cyber espionage tool used for stealth monitoring, data collection, and exfiltration via Microsoft Graph, Yandex Cloud, and Dropbox cloud infrastructure," the Russian security vendor said . "The malware leverages cloud resources as its command and control (C2) servers, accessing them through APIs using authentication tokens. Additionally, CloudSorcerer uses GitHub as its initial C2 server.&q