Industrial espionage | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

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...

German authorities said they have issued arrest warrants against three citizens on suspicion of spying for China. The full names of the defendants were not disclosed by the Office of the Federal Prosecutor (aka Generalbundesanwalt), but it includes Herwig F., Ina F., and Thomas R. "The suspects are strongly suspected of working for a Chinese secret service since an unspecified date before June 2022," the Generalbundesanwalt  said . Thomas R. is believed to have acted as an agent for China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), gathering information about innovative technologies in Germany that could be used for military purposes. The defendant also sought the help of a married couple, Herwig F. and Ina F., who run a Düsseldorf-based business that established connections with the scientific and research community in Germany. This materialized in the form of an agreement with an unnamed German university to conduct a study for an...

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

Threat hunters have identified a suspicious package in the  NuGet package manager  that's likely designed to target developers working with tools made by a Chinese firm that specializes in industrial- and digital equipment manufacturing. The package in question is  SqzrFramework480 , which ReversingLabs said was first published on January 24, 2024. It has been  downloaded  2,999 times as of writing. The software supply chain security firm said it did not find any other package that exhibited similar behavior. It, however, theorized the campaign could likely be used for orchestrating industrial espionage on systems equipped with cameras, machine vision, and robotic arms. The indication that SqzrFramework480 is seemingly tied to a Chinese firm named Bozhon Precision Industry Technology Co., Ltd. comes from the use of a version of the company's logo for the package's icon. It was uploaded by a Nuget user account called " zhaoyushun1999 ." Present within the...

The difference between cyber crime, cyber espionage, and cyber war is often just a matter of a few keystrokes, as they use the same techniques. Richard Clarke, chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, highlighted this during his keynote at the RSA Europe 2010 conference in London. Cyber Crime Cyber crime is not just a theory; it happens every day. Clarke explained that just two weeks ago, there were arrests of a cyber cartel in the US. However, those arrested were students acting as mules. These mules simply open a bank account and allow money to flow in and out of it, being the lowest level in the cyber crime hierarchy. Clarke elaborated that these cartels are often based in Moldova, Estonia, Belarus, or Russia. After lengthy investigations involving warrants to search computers and servers, crimes are traced back to these countries. However, cooperation from these countries is often nonexistent, making them effective cyber sanctuaries. As long as attacks happen outside their borders an...