Rust Programming | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Cybersecurity experts have released a decryptor for a ransomware strain called FunkSec, allowing victims to recover access to their files for free. "Because the ransomware is now considered dead, we released the decryptor for public download," Gen Digital researcher Ladislav Zezula said . FunkSec , which emerged towards the end of 2024, has claimed 172 victims , according to data from Ransomware.live. The vast majority of targeted entities are located in the U.S., India, and Brazil, with technology, government, and education being the top three sectors attacked by the group. An analysis of FunkSec by Check Point earlier this January found signs that the encryptor was developed with assistance from artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The group has not added any new victims to its data leak site since March 18, 2025, suggesting that the group may no longer be active. It's also believed that the group consisted of inexperienced hackers seeking visibility and recogniti...

A new malware campaign is distributing a novel Rust-based information stealer dubbed EDDIESTEALER using the popular ClickFix social engineering tactic initiated via fake CAPTCHA verification pages. "This campaign leverages deceptive CAPTCHA verification pages that trick users into executing a malicious PowerShell script, which ultimately deploys the infostealer, harvesting sensitive data such as credentials, browser information, and cryptocurrency wallet details," Elastic Security Labs researcher Jia Yu Chan said in an analysis. The attack chains begin with threat actors compromising legitimate websites with malicious JavaScript payloads that serve bogus CAPTCHA check pages, which prompt site visitors to "prove you are not [a] robot" by following a three-step process, a prevalent tactic called ClickFix . This involves instructing the potential victim to open the Windows Run dialog prompt, paste an already copied command into the "verification window"...

Several ransomware actors are using a malware called Skitnet as part of their post-exploitation efforts to steal sensitive data and establish remote control over compromised hosts. "Skitnet has been sold on underground forums like RAMP since April 2024," Swiss cybersecurity company PRODAFT told The Hacker News. "However, since early 2025, we have observed multiple ransomware operators using it in real-world attacks."  "For example, in April 2025, Black Basta leveraged Skitnet in Teams-themed phishing campaigns targeting enterprise environments. With its stealth features and flexible architecture, Skitnet appears to be gaining traction rapidly within the ransomware ecosystem." Skitnet , also called Bossnet , is a multi-stage malware developed by a threat actor tracked by the company under the name LARVA-306. A notable aspect of the malicious tool is that it uses programming languages like Rust and Nim to launch a reverse shell over DNS and evade detecti...

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Google has revealed that its transition to memory-safe languages such as Rust as part of its secure-by-design approach has led to the percentage of memory-safe vulnerabilities discovered in Android dropping from 76% to 24% over a period of six years. The tech giant said focusing on Safe Coding for new features not only reduces the overall security risk of a codebase, but also makes the switch more "scalable and cost-effective." Eventually, this leads to a drop in memory safety vulnerabilities as new memory unsafe development slows down after a certain period of time, and new memory safe development takes over, Google's Jeff Vander Stoep and Alex Rebert said in a post shared with The Hacker News. Perhaps even more interestingly, the number of memory safety vulnerabilities tends to register a drop notwithstanding an increase in the quantity of new memory unsafe code. The paradox is explained by the fact that vulnerabilities decay exponentially, with a study finding ...

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged the discovery of a new post-exploitation red team tool called Splinter in the wild. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 shared its findings after it discovered the program on several customers' systems. "It has a standard set of features commonly found in penetration testing tools and its developer created it using the Rust programming language," Unit 42's Dominik Reichel said . "While Splinter is not as advanced as other well-known post-exploitation tools like Cobalt Strike, it still presents a potential threat to organizations if it is misused." Penetration testing tools are often used for red team operations to flag potential security issues in a company's network. However, such adversary simulation tools can also be weaponized by threat actors to their advantage.  Unit 42 said it has not detected any threat actor activity associated with the Splinter tool set. There is no information as yet on who developed the t...

Cybersecurity researchers have unpacked the inner workings of a new ransomware variant called Cicada3301 that shares similarities with the now-defunct BlackCat (aka ALPHV) operation. "It appears that Cicada3301 ransomware primarily targets small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), likely through opportunistic attacks that exploit vulnerabilities as the initial access vector," cybersecurity company Morphisec said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. Written in Rust and capable of targeting both Windows and Linux/ESXi hosts, Cicada3301 first emerged in June 2024, inviting potential affiliates to join their ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) platform via an advertisement on the RAMP underground forum. A notable aspect of the ransomware is that the executable embeds the compromised user's credentials, which are then used to run PsExec , a legitimate tool that makes it possible to run programs remotely. Cicada3301's similarities with BlackCat also extend t...

The nascent malware known as SSLoad is being delivered by means of a previously undocumented loader called PhantomLoader, according to findings from cybersecurity firm Intezer. "The loader is added to a legitimate DLL, usually EDR or AV products, by binary patching the file and employing self-modifying techniques to evade detection," security researchers Nicole Fishbein and Ryan Robinson said in a report published this week. SSLoad, likely offered to other threat actors under a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) model owing to its different delivery methods, infiltrates systems through phishing emails, conducts reconnaissance, and pushes additional types of malware down to victims. Prior reporting from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 and Securonix has revealed the use of SSLoad to deploy Cobalt Strike, a legitimate adversary simulation software often used for post-exploitation purposes. The malware has been detected since April 2024. The attack chains typically involve the use o...

Targets located in Azerbaijan have been singled out as part of a new campaign that's designed to deploy Rust-based malware on compromised systems. Cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct is tracking the operation under the name Operation Rusty Flag. It has not been associated with any known threat actor or group. "The operation has at least two different initial access vectors," security researchers Simon Kenin, Ron Ben Yizhak, and Mark Vaitzman  said  in an analysis published last week. "One of the lures used in the operation is a modified document that was used by the Storm-0978 group. This could be a deliberate 'false flag.'" The attack chain leverages an LNK file named 1.KARABAKH.jpg.lnk as a launchpad to retrieve a second-stage payload, an MSI installer, hosted on Dropbox. The installer file, for its part, drops an implant written in Rust, an XML file for a scheduled task to execute the implant, and a decoy image file that features watermarks of the ...

A new malware family called  Realst  has become the latest to target Apple macOS systems, with a third of the samples already designed to infect macOS 14 Sonoma, the upcoming major release of the operating system. Written in the Rust programming language, the malware is distributed in the form of bogus blockchain games and is capable of "emptying crypto wallets and stealing stored password and browser data" from both Windows and macOS machines. Realst was first discovered in the wild by security researcher  iamdeadlyz . "Realst Infostealer is distributed via malicious websites advertising fake blockchain games with names such as Brawl Earth, WildWorld, Dawnland, Destruction, Evolion, Pearl, Olymp of Reptiles, and SaintLegend," SentinelOne security researcher Phil Stokes  said  in a report. "Each version of the fake blockchain game is hosted on its own website complete with associated Twitter and Discord accounts." The cybersecurity firm, which identif...

Kaspersky security researchers have disclosed details of a brand-new ransomware family written in Rust, making it the third strain after  BlackCat  and  Hive  to use the programming language. Luna, as it's called, is "fairly simple" and can run on Windows, Linux, and ESXi systems, with the malware banking on a combination of  Curve25519  and  AES  for encryption. "Both the Linux and ESXi samples are compiled using the same source code with some minor changes from the Windows version," the Russian firm  noted  in a report published today. Advertisements for Luna on darknet forums suggest that the ransomware is intended for use only by Russian-speaking affiliates. Its core developers are also believed to be of Russian origin owing to spelling mistakes in the ransom note hard-coded within the binary. "Luna confirms the trend for cross-platform ransomware," the researchers stated, adding how the platform agnostic nature of languages li...

A nascent information-stealing malware sold and distributed on underground Russian underground forums has been written in Rust, signalling a new trend where threat actors are increasingly adopting  exotic programming languages  to bypass security protections, evade analysis, and hamper reverse engineering efforts. Dubbed " Ficker Stealer ," it's notable for being propagated via Trojanized web links and compromised websites, luring in victims to scam landing pages purportedly offering free downloads of  legitimate paid services  like Spotify Music, YouTube Premium, and other Microsoft Store applications. "Ficker is sold and distributed as Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), via underground Russian online forums," BlackBerry's research and intelligence team said in a report published today. "Its creator, whose alias is @ficker, offers several paid packages, with different levels of subscription fees to use their malicious program." First seen in the wi...