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Threat actors with ties to North Korea have likely become the latest to exploit the recently disclosed critical React2Shell security flaw in React Server Components (RSC) to deliver a previously undocumented remote access trojan dubbed EtherRAT . "EtherRAT leverages Ethereum smart contracts for command-and-control (C2) resolution, deploys five independent Linux persistence mechanisms, and downloads its own Node.js runtime from nodejs.org," Sysdig said in a report published Monday. The cloud security firm said the activity exhibits significant overlap with a long-running campaign codenamed Contagious Interview , which has been observed leveraging the EtherHiding technique to distribute malware since February 2025. Contagious Interview is the name given to a series of attacks in which blockchain and Web3 developers, among others, are targeted through fake job interviews, coding assignments, and video assessments, leading to the deployment of malware. These efforts typi...

Four distinct threat activity clusters have been observed leveraging a malware loader known as CastleLoader , strengthening the previous assessment that the tool is offered to other threat actors under a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model. The threat actor behind CastleLoader has been assigned the name GrayBravo by Recorded Future's Insikt Group, which was previously tracking it as TAG-150 . The malware first emerged in early 2025. GrayBravo is "characterized by rapid development cycles, technical sophistication, responsiveness to public reporting, and an expansive, evolving infrastructure," the Mastercard-owned company said in an analysis published today. Some of the notable tools in the threat actor's toolset include a remote access trojan called CastleRAT and a malware framework referred to as CastleBot, which comprises three components: a shellcode stager/downloader, a loader, and a core backdoor. The CastleBot loader is responsible for injecting the core m...

Canadian organizations have emerged as the focus of a targeted cyber campaign orchestrated by a threat activity cluster known as STAC6565 . Cybersecurity company Sophos said it investigated almost 40 intrusions linked to the threat actor between February 2024 and August 2025. The campaign is assessed with high confidence to share overlaps with a hacking group known as Gold Blade , which is also tracked under the names Earth Kapre, RedCurl, and Red Wolf. The financially motivated threat actor is believed to be active since late 2018 , initially targeting entities in Russia, before expanding its focus to entities in Canada, Germany, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the U.K., and the U.S. The group has a history of using phishing emails to conduct commercial espionage. However, recent attack waves have found RedCurl to have engaged in ransomware attacks using a bespoke malware strain dubbed QWCrypt . One of the notable tools in the threat actor's arsenal is RedLoader, which s...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two new extensions on Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) Marketplace that are designed to infect developer machines with stealer malware. The VS Code extensions masquerade as a premium dark theme and an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered coding assistant, but, in actuality, harbor covert functionality to download additional payloads, take screenshots, and siphon data. The captured information is then sent to an attacker-controlled server. "Your code. Your emails. Your Slack DMs. Whatever's on your screen, they're seeing it too," Koi Security's Idan Dardikman said . "And that's just the start. It also steals your WiFi passwords, reads your clipboard, and hijacks your browser sessions." The names of the extensions are below - BigBlack.bitcoin-black (16 installs) - Removed by Microsoft on December 5, 2025  BigBlack.codo-ai (25 installs) - Removed by Microsoft on December 8, 2025 Microsoft's l...

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a new campaign dubbed JS#SMUGGLER that has been observed leveraging compromised websites as a distribution vector for a remote access trojan named NetSupport RAT . The attack chain, analyzed by Securonix, involves three main moving parts: An obfuscated JavaScript loader injected into a website, an HTML Application (HTA) that runs encrypted PowerShell stagers using "mshta.exe," and a PowerShell payload that's designed to download and execute the main malware. "NetSupport RAT enables full attacker control over the victim host, including remote desktop access, file operations, command execution, data theft, and proxy capabilities," researchers Akshay Gaikwad, Shikha Sangwan, and Aaron Beardslee said . There is little evidence at this stage to tie the campaign to any known threat group or country. The activity has been found to target enterprise users through compromised websites, indicative of a broad-strokes ...