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Exit Scam: BlackCat Ransomware Group Vanishes After $22 Million Payout

Exit Scam: BlackCat Ransomware Group Vanishes After $22 Million Payout

Mar 06, 2024 Cyber Crime / Ransomware
The threat actors behind the  BlackCat ransomware  have shut down their darknet website and likely pulled an exit scam after uploading a bogus law enforcement seizure banner. "ALPHV/BlackCat did not get seized. They are exit scamming their affiliates," security researcher Fabian Wosar  said . "It is blatantly obvious when you check the source code of the new takedown notice." "There is absolutely zero reason why law enforcement would just put a saved version of the takedown notice up during a seizure instead of the original takedown notice." The U.K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA)  told  Reuters that it had no connection to any disruptions to the BlackCat infrastructure. Recorded Future security researcher Dmitry Smilyanets  posted  screenshots on the social media platform X in which the BlackCat actors claimed that the "feds screwed us over" and that they intended to sell the ransomware's source code for $5 million. The disappearing
MoqHao Android Malware Evolves with Auto-Execution Capability

MoqHao Android Malware Evolves with Auto-Execution Capability

Feb 09, 2024 Mobile Security / Cyber Threat
Threat hunters have identified a new variant of Android malware called  MoqHao  that automatically executes on infected devices without requiring any user interaction. "Typical MoqHao requires users to install and launch the app to get their desired purpose, but this new variant requires no execution," McAfee Labs  said  in a report published this week. "While the app is installed, their malicious activity starts automatically." The campaign's targets include Android users located in France, Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea. MoqHao, also called Wroba and XLoader (not to be confused with the  Windows and macOS malware  of the same name), is an Android-based mobile threat that's associated with a Chinese financially motivated cluster dubbed  Roaming Mantis  (aka Shaoye). Typical  attack chains  commence with package delivery-themed SMS messages bearing fraudulent links that, when clicked from Android devices, lead to the deployment of the malware b
How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

How to Find and Fix Risky Sharing in Google Drive

Mar 06, 2024Data Security / Cloud Security
Every Google Workspace administrator knows how quickly Google Drive becomes a messy sprawl of loosely shared confidential information. This isn't anyone's fault; it's inevitable as your productivity suite is purposefully designed to enable real-time collaboration – both internally and externally.  For Security & Risk Management teams, the untenable risk of any Google Drive footprint lies in the toxic combinations of sensitive data, excessive permissions, and improper sharing. However, it can be challenging to differentiate between typical business practices and potential risks without fully understanding the context and intent.  Material Security, a company renowned for its innovative method of protecting sensitive data within employee mailboxes, has recently launched  Data Protection for Google Drive  to safeguard the sprawl of confidential information scattered throughout Google Drive with a powerful discovery and remediation toolkit. How Material Security helps organ
INTERPOL Arrests 31 in Global Operation, Identifies 1,900+ Ransomware-Linked IPs

INTERPOL Arrests 31 in Global Operation, Identifies 1,900+ Ransomware-Linked IPs

Feb 02, 2024 Cyber Crime / Malware
An INTERPOL-led collaborative operation targeting phishing, banking malware, and ransomware attacks has led to the identification of 1,300 suspicious IP addresses and URLs. The  law enforcement effort , codenamed  Synergia , took place between September and November 2023 in an attempt to blunt the "growth, escalation and professionalization of transnational cybercrime." Involving 60 law enforcement agencies spanning 55 member countries, the exercise paved the way for the detection of more than 1,300 malicious servers, 70% of which have already been taken down in Europe. Hong Kong and Singapore authorities took down 153 and 86 servers, respectively. Servers, as well as electronic devices, were confiscated following over 30 house searches. Seventy suspects have been identified to date, and 31 from Europe, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe have been arrested. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which also contributed to the operation,  said  it identified "more than 500 IP addr
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Telegram Marketplaces Fuel Phishing Attacks with Easy-to-Use Kits and Malware

Telegram Marketplaces Fuel Phishing Attacks with Easy-to-Use Kits and Malware

Jan 31, 2024 Cyber Crime / Hacking News
Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to the "democratization" of the phishing ecosystem owing to the emergence of Telegram as an epicenter for cybercrime, enabling threat actors to mount a mass attack for as little as $230. "This messaging app has transformed into a bustling hub where seasoned cybercriminals and newcomers alike exchange illicit tools and insights creating a dark and well-oiled supply chain of tools and victims' data," Guardio Labs researchers Oleg Zaytsev and Nati Tal  said  in a new report. "Free samples, tutorials, kits, even hackers-for-hire – everything needed to construct a complete end-to-end malicious campaign." The company also described Telegram as a "scammers paradise" and a "breeding ground for modern phishing operations." This is not the first time the popular messaging platform has  come under the radar  for facilitating malicious activities, which are in part driven by its lenient modera
BreachForums Founder Sentenced to 20 Years of Supervised Release, No Jail Time

BreachForums Founder Sentenced to 20 Years of Supervised Release, No Jail Time

Jan 23, 2024 Cyber Crime / Dark Web
Conor Brian Fitzpatrick has been sentenced to time served and 20 years of supervised release for his role as the creator and administrator of BreachForums. Fitzpatrick, who went by the online alias "pompompurin," was arrested in March 2023 in New York and was subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of child pornography. He was later released on a $300,000 bond, and in July 2023, he pleaded guilty to the charges. BreachForums was a major cyber crime marketplace that facilitated the trafficking of stolen data since March 2022. Prior to its shutdown exactly a year later, the website boasted of over 340,000 members. Among the stolen items commonly sold on the platform were bank account information, Social Security numbers, personally identifying information (PII), hacking tools, breached databases, and account login information for compromised online accounts with service providers and merchants. BreachForums also advertised servic
Turkish Hackers Exploiting Poorly Secured MS SQL Servers Across the Globe

Turkish Hackers Exploiting Poorly Secured MS SQL Servers Across the Globe

Jan 09, 2024 Data Security / Cyber Attack
Poorly secured Microsoft SQL (MS SQL) servers are being targeted in the U.S., European Union, and Latin American (LATAM) regions as part of an ongoing financially motivated campaign to gain initial access. "The analyzed threat campaign appears to end in one of two ways, either the selling of 'access' to the compromised host, or the ultimate delivery of ransomware payloads," Securonix researchers Den Iuzvyk, Tim Peck, and Oleg Kolesnikov said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. The campaign, linked to actors of Turkish origin, has been codenamed  RE#TURGENCE  by the cybersecurity firm. Initial access to the servers entails conducting brute-force attacks, followed by the use of  xp_cmdshell configuration option  to run shell commands on the compromised host. This activity mirrors that of a prior campaign dubbed  DB#JAMMER  that came to light in September 2023. This stage paves the way for the retrieval of a PowerShell script from a remote server that's responsible f
Operation RusticWeb: Rust-Based Malware Targets Indian Government Entities

Operation RusticWeb: Rust-Based Malware Targets Indian Government Entities

Dec 22, 2023 Malware / Cyber Threat
Indian government entities and the defense sector have been targeted by a phishing campaign that's engineered to drop Rust-based malware for intelligence gathering. The activity, first detected in October 2023, has been codenamed  Operation RusticWeb  by enterprise security firm SEQRITE. "New Rust-based payloads and encrypted PowerShell commands have been utilized to exfiltrate confidential documents to a web-based service engine, instead of a dedicated command-and-control (C2) server," security researcher Sathwik Ram Prakki  said . Tactical overlaps have been uncovered between the cluster and those widely tracked under the monikers  Transparent Tribe  and SideCopy, both of which are assessed to be linked to Pakistan. SideCopy is also a suspected subordinate element within Transparent Tribe. Last month, SEQRITE  detailed  multiple campaigns undertaken by the threat actor targeting Indian government bodies to deliver numerous trojans such as AllaKore RAT, Ares RAT, an
CISA Sets a Deadline - Patch Juniper Junos OS Flaws Before November 17

CISA Sets a Deadline - Patch Juniper Junos OS Flaws Before November 17

Nov 14, 2023 Cyber Attack / Vulnerability
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has given a November 17, 2023, deadline for federal agencies and organizations to apply mitigations to secure against a number of security flaws in Juniper Junos OS that came to light in August. The agency on Monday  added  five vulnerabilities to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities ( KEV ) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation - CVE-2023-36844  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series PHP External Variable Modification Vulnerability CVE-2023-36845  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series and SRX Series PHP External Variable Modification Vulnerability CVE-2023-36846  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability CVE-2023-36847  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS EX Series Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability CVE-2023-36851  (CVSS score: 5.3) - Juniper Junos OS SRX Series Missing Authentication for Critical
Major Phishing-as-a-Service Syndicate 'BulletProofLink' Dismantled by Malaysian Authorities

Major Phishing-as-a-Service Syndicate 'BulletProofLink' Dismantled by Malaysian Authorities

Nov 13, 2023 Cyber Crime / Dark Web
Malaysian law enforcement authorities have  announced  the takedown of a phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) operation called  BulletProofLink . The Royal Malaysia Police said the effort, which was carried out with assistance from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on November 6, 2023, was based on information that the threat actors behind the platform were based out of the country. To that end, eight individuals aged between 29 and 56, including the syndicate's mastermind, have been arrested across different locations in Sabah, Selangor, Perak, and Kuala Lumpur, New Straits Times  reported . Along with the arrests, authorities confiscated servers, computers, jewelry, vehicles, and cryptocurrency wallets containing approximately $213,000. BulletProofLink , also called BulletProftLink, is known for offering ready-to-use phishing templates on a subscription basis to other actors for conducting credential harvesting campaigns. These
Researchers Expose Prolific Puma's Underground Link Shortening Service

Researchers Expose Prolific Puma's Underground Link Shortening Service

Nov 01, 2023 Cyber Crime / Malware
A threat actor known as  Prolific Puma  has been maintaining a low profile and operating an underground link shortening service that's offered to other threat actors for at least over the past four years. Prolific Puma creates "domain names with an  RDGA  [registered domain generation algorithm] and use these domains to provide a link shortening service to other malicious actors, helping them evade detection while they distribute phishing, scams, and malware," Infoblox  said  in a new analysis pieced together from Domain Name System ( DNS)  analytics. With malicious actors known to use link shorteners for phishing attacks, the adversary plays an important role in the cybercrime supply chain, registering between 35,000 to 75,000 unique domain names since April 2022. Prolific Puma is also a  DNS threat actor  for leveraging DNS infrastructure for nefarious purposes. A notable aspect of the threat actor's operations is the use of an American domain registrar and web
N. Korean Lazarus Group Targets Software Vendor Using Known Flaws

N. Korean Lazarus Group Targets Software Vendor Using Known Flaws

Oct 27, 2023 Cyber Attack / Malware
The North Korea-aligned  Lazarus Group  has been attributed as behind a new campaign in which an unnamed software vendor was compromised through the exploitation of known security flaws in another high-profile software. The attack sequences, according to Kaspersky, culminated in the deployment of malware families such as SIGNBT and  LPEClient , a known hacking tool used by the threat actor for victim profiling and payload delivery. "The adversary demonstrated a high level of sophistication, employing advanced evasion techniques and introducing SIGNBT malware for victim control," security researcher Seongsu Park  said . "The SIGNBT malware used in this attack employed a diverse infection chain and sophisticated techniques." The Russian cybersecurity vendor said the company that developed the exploited software had been a victim of a Lazarus attack several times, indicating an attempt to steal source code or poison the software supply chain, as in the case of the 
Iranian Group Tortoiseshell Launches New Wave of IMAPLoader Malware Attacks

Iranian Group Tortoiseshell Launches New Wave of IMAPLoader Malware Attacks

Oct 26, 2023 Cyber Threat / Malware
The Iranian threat actor known as  Tortoiseshell  has been attributed to a new wave of watering hole attacks that are designed to deploy a malware dubbed IMAPLoader. "IMAPLoader is a .NET malware that has the ability to fingerprint victim systems using native Windows utilities and acts as a downloader for further payloads," the PwC Threat Intelligence team  said  in a Wednesday analysis. "It uses email as a [command-and-control] channel and is able to execute payloads extracted from email attachments and is executed via new service deployments." Active since at least 2018, Tortoiseshell has a history of using strategic website compromises as a ploy to facilitate the distribution of malware. Earlier this May, ClearSky  linked the group  to the breach of eight websites associated with shipping, logistics, and financial services companies in Israel. The threat actor is  aligned  with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC ) and is also tracked by the broade
North Korea's Lazarus Group Launders $900 Million in Cryptocurrency

North Korea's Lazarus Group Launders $900 Million in Cryptocurrency

Oct 06, 2023 Cyber Crime / Cryptocurrency
As much as $7 billion in cryptocurrency has been illicitly laundered through cross-chain crime, with the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group linked to the theft of roughly $900 million of those proceeds between July 2022 and July of this year. "As traditional entities such as  mixers  continue to be subject to seizures and sanctions scrutiny, the crypto crime displacement to chain- or asset-hopping typologies is also on the rise," blockchain analytics firm Elliptic  said  in a new report published this week. Cross-chain crime refers to the conversion of crypto assets from one token or blockchain to another, often in rapid succession, in an attempt to obfuscate their origin, making it a lucrative method for money laundering for crypto thefts and an alternative to traditional approaches like mixers. According to data gathered by Elliptic, the Lazarus Group's use of cross-chain bridges contributed to a majority of the 111% increase in the proportion of funds sent via such s
Classiscam Scam-as-a-Service Raked $64.5 Million During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Classiscam Scam-as-a-Service Raked $64.5 Million During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sep 01, 2023 Cyber Crime / Online Scam
The Classiscam scam-as-a-service program has reaped the criminal actors $64.5 million in illicit earnings since its emergence in 2019. "Classiscam campaigns initially started out on classified sites, on which scammers placed fake advertisements and used social engineering techniques to convince users to pay for goods by transferring money to bank cards," Group-IB  said  in a new report. "Since then, Classiscam campaigns have become highly automated, and can be run on a host of other services, such as online marketplaces and carpooling sites." A majority of victims are based in Europe (62.2%), followed by the Middle East and Africa (18.2%), and the Asia-Pacific (13%). Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, and Romania accounted for the highest number of fraudulent transactions registered in Classiscam chats.  First discovered in 2019, Classiscam is an  umbrella term  for an operation that encompasses 1,366 distinct groups on Telegram. The activities first targeted Russi
FBI Dismantles QakBot Malware, Frees 700,000 Computers, Seizes $8.6 Million

FBI Dismantles QakBot Malware, Frees 700,000 Computers, Seizes $8.6 Million

Aug 30, 2023 Malware / Cyber Crime
A coordinated law enforcement effort codenamed  Operation Duck Hunt  has felled  QakBot , a notorious Windows malware family that's estimated to have compromised over 700,000 computers globally and facilitated financial fraud as well as ransomware. To that end, the U.S. Justice Department (DoJ)  said  the malware is "being deleted from victim computers, preventing it from doing any more harm," adding it seized more than $8.6 million in cryptocurrency in illicit profits. The cross-border exercise involved the participation of France, Germany, Latvia, Romania, the Netherlands, the U.K., and the U.S., alongside technical assistance from cybersecurity company Zscaler. The dismantling has been hailed as "the largest U.S.-led financial and technical disruption of a botnet infrastructure leveraged by cybercriminals." No arrests were announced. QakBot, also known as QBot and Pinkslipbot, started its life as a banking trojan in 2007 before morphing into a general-pu
Two LAPSUS$ Hackers Convicted in London Court for High-Profile Tech Firm Hacks

Two LAPSUS$ Hackers Convicted in London Court for High-Profile Tech Firm Hacks

Aug 25, 2023 Cyber Crime / Data Breach
Two U.K. teenagers have been convicted by a jury in London for being part of the notorious LAPSUS$ (aka Slippy Spider) transnational gang and for orchestrating a series of brazen, high-profile hacks against major tech firms and demanding a ransom in exchange for not leaking the stolen information. This includes Arion Kurtaj (aka White, Breachbase, WhiteDoxbin, and TeaPotUberHacker), an 18-year-old from Oxford, and an unnamed minor, who began collaborating in July 2021 after having met online, BBC  reported  this week. Both the defendants were initially arrested and released under investigation in January 2022, only to be  re-arrested and charged  by the City of London Police in April 2022. Kurtaj was subsequently granted bail and moved to a hotel in Bicester after he was doxxed in an online cybercrime forum. He, however, continued his hacking spree, targeting companies like  Uber ,  Revolut , and  Rockstar Games , as a result of which he was  arrested again  in September. Another a
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