Financial Security | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

A new tax-themed malware campaign targeting insurance and finance sectors has been observed leveraging GitHub links in phishing email messages as a way to bypass security measures and deliver Remcos RAT, indicating that the method is gaining traction among threat actors. "In this campaign, legitimate repositories such as the open-source tax filing software, UsTaxes, HMRC, and InlandRevenue were used instead of unknown, low-star repositories," Cofense researcher Jacob Malimban said . "Using trusted repositories to deliver malware is relatively new compared to threat actors creating their own malicious GitHub repositories. These malicious GitHub links can be associated with any repository that allows comments." Central to the attack chain is the abuse of GitHub infrastructure for staging the malicious payloads. One variation of the technique, first disclosed by OALABS Research in March 2024, involves threat actors opening a GitHub issue on well-known repositories...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new version of an Android banking trojan called Octo that comes with improved capabilities to conduct device takeover ( DTO ) and perform fraudulent transactions. The new version has been codenamed Octo2 by the malware author, Dutch security firm ThreatFabric said in a report shared with The Hacker News, adding campaigns distributing the malware have been spotted in European countries like Italy, Poland, Moldova, and Hungary. "The malware developers took actions to increase the stability of the remote actions capabilities needed for Device Takeover attacks," the company said . Some of the malicious apps containing Octo2 are listed below - Europe Enterprise (com.xsusb_restore3) Google Chrome (com.havirtual06numberresources) NordVPN (com.handedfastee5) Octo was first flagged by the company in early 2022, describing it as the work of a threat actor who goes by the online aliases Architect and goodluck. It has been assessed...

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Cybersecurity researchers are continuing to warn about North Korean threat actors' attempts to target prospective victims on LinkedIn to deliver malware called RustDoor. The latest advisory comes from Jamf Threat Labs, which said it spotted an attack attempt in which a user was contacted on the professional social network by claiming to be a recruiter for a legitimate decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX) called STON.fi. The malicious cyber activity is part of a multi-pronged campaign unleashed by cyber threat actors backed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to infiltrate networks of interest under the pretext of conducting interviews or coding assignments. The financial and cryptocurrency sectors are among the top targets for the state-sponsored adversaries seeking to generate illicit revenues and meet an ever-evolving set of objectives based on the regime's interests. These attacks manifest in the form of "highly tailored, difficult-to-d...

The Colombian insurance sector is the target of a threat actor tracked as Blind Eagle with the end goal of delivering a customized version of a known commodity remote access trojan (RAT) referred to as Quasar RAT since June 2024. "Attacks have originated with phishing emails impersonating the Colombian tax authority," Zscaler ThreatLabz researcher Gaetano Pellegrino said in a new analysis published last week. The advanced persistent threat (APT), also known as AguilaCiega, APT-C-36, and APT-Q-98, has a track record of focusing on organizations and individuals in South America, particularly related to the government and finance sectors in Colombia and Ecuador. The attack chains, as recently documented by Kaspersky, originate with phishing emails that entice recipients into clicking on malicious links that serve as the launchpad for the infection process. The links, either embedded within a PDF attachment or directly in the email body, point to ZIP archives hosted on ...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Android banking trojan called BlankBot targeting Turkish users with an aim to steal financial information. "BlankBot features a range of malicious capabilities, which include customer injections, keylogging, screen recording and it communicates with a control server over a WebSocket connection," Intel 471 said in an analysis published last week. Discovered on July 24, 2024, BlankBot is said to be undergoing active development, with the malware abusing Android's accessibility services permissions to obtain full control over the infected devices. The names of some of the malicious APK files containing BlankBot are listed below - app-release.apk (com.abcdefg.w568b) app-release.apk (com.abcdef.w568b) app-release-signed (14).apk (com.whatsapp.chma14) app.apk (com.whatsapp.chma14p) app.apk (com.whatsapp.w568bp) showcuu.apk (com.whatsapp.w568b) Like the recently resurfaced Mandrake Android trojan, BlankBot implement...

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has confirmed that it was the target of a security breach that led to the theft of $230 million in cryptocurrency assets. "A cyber attack occurred in one of our [multi-signature] wallets involving a loss of funds exceeding $230 million," the company said in a statement. "This wallet was operated utilizing the services of Liminal's digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure from February 2023." The Mumbai-based company said the attack stemmed from a mismatch between the information that was displayed on Liminal's interface and what was actually signed. It said the payload was replaced to transfer wallet control to an attacker. Crypto custody firm Liminal is one of the six signatories on the wallet and is responsible for transaction verifications. "Our preliminary investigations show that one of the self custody multi-sig smart contract wallets created outside of the Liminal ecosystem has been compromised...

Financial institutions in Latin America are being threatened by a banking trojan called Mekotio (aka Melcoz). That's according to findings from Trend Micro, which said it recently observed a surge in cyber attacks distributing the Windows malware. Mekotio , known to be actively put to use since 2015, is known to target Latin American countries like Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Peru, and Portugal with an aim to steal banking credentials. First documented by ESET in August 2020, it's part of a tetrade of banking trojans targeting the region, such as Guildma, Javali, and Grandoreiro , the latter of which was dismantled by law enforcement earlier this year. "Mekotio shares common characteristics for this type of malware, such as being written in Delphi, using fake pop-up windows, containing backdoor functionality and targeting Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries," the Slovakian cybersecurity firm said at the time. The malware operation suffered a blow in ...

The banking trojan known as  Mispadu  has expanded its focus beyond Latin America (LATAM) and Spanish-speaking individuals to target users in Italy, Poland, and Sweden. Targets of the ongoing campaign include entities spanning finance, services, motor vehicle manufacturing, law firms, and commercial facilities, according to Morphisec. "Despite the geographic expansion, Mexico remains the primary target," security researcher Arnold Osipov  said  in a report published last week. "The campaign has resulted in thousands of stolen credentials, with records dating back to April 2023. The threat actor leverages these credentials to orchestrate malicious phishing emails, posing a significant threat to recipients." Mispadu, also called URSA,  came to light  in 2019, when it was observed carrying out credential theft activities aimed at financial institutions in Brazil and Mexico by displaying fake pop-up windows. The Delphi-based malware is also capable of taki...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated variant of a stealer and malware loader called  BunnyLoader  that modularizes its various functions as well as allow it to evade detection. "BunnyLoader is dynamically developing malware with the capability to steal information, credentials and cryptocurrency, as well as deliver additional malware to its victims," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42  said  in a report published last week. The new version, dubbed BunnyLoader 3.0, was announced by its developer named Player (or Player_Bunny) on February 11, 2024, with rewritten modules for data theft, reduced payload size, and enhanced keylogging capabilities. BunnyLoader was  first documented  by Zscaler ThreatLabz in September 2023, describing it as a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) designed to harvest credentials and facilitate cryptocurrency theft. It was initially offered on a subscription basis for $250 per month. The malware has since undergone frequent upd...

Financial data is much more than just a collection of numbers; it is a crucial component of any business and a prime target for cybercriminals. It's important to understand that financial records can be a veritable treasure trove for digital pirates. A security breach not only puts customers' personal information in jeopardy but also enables fraudsters to drain company funds and exploit clients. Data threats can arise from a variety of sources, ranging from malicious actors with harmful intentions to simple mistakes, such as sending a confidential email to the wrong recipient. The methods used to compromise data are diverse and constantly evolving, including ransomware attacks and inadvertent leaks in cloud storage. Navigating this complex landscape can be daunting, but knowledge is empowering. We're excited to announce that we are hosting an exclusive webinar in collaboration with experts from Win Zip. Titled " Locking Down Financial and Accounting Data — Best Dat...

When Ben Franklin famously wrote, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," he wasn't thinking about cybercrime. Yet, in today's world of phishing, shoulder-surfing, and spyware, his advice is more relevant than ever. Unfortunately, some people will take advantage of any opportunity to rip you off. Just as you take precautions when handling cash, you should be vigilant when using credit or debit cards, whether in person or online. Tips for Protecting Your Account Information and Avoiding Payment Card Scams Prevent Online Intrusions Use updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Only download information from trusted sites, and don't click on pop-up windows or suspicious links in emails. These can be tricks to install spyware, which can record your keystrokes to steal account or other confidential information. Use Secure Websites When purchasing items online, look for safety symbols like the padlock icon in the browser's status bar, an "s" after "http" in the U...

Specialty retailer Genesco Inc. announced on Friday that it experienced a criminal intrusion into the part of its computer network that processes payment card transactions. Some card details might have been compromised. However, the company quickly secured the affected network segment and expressed confidence that customers can now safely use their credit and debit cards in its stores. Nashville, Tennessee-based Genesco stated that the intrusion affected its U.S. Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys, Johnston & Murphy stores, and some Underground Station stores. The company is currently investigating the extent of the compromise with the help of an outside expert. Robert Dennis, Chairman, President, and CEO of Genesco, said, "Since we learned of the intrusion, we have worked diligently with outside experts to protect our customers' information, and we are confident that they are safe shopping with their credit and debit cards at our stores. We recommend that our cust...