cyber espionage | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Threat actors with ties to China have been observed using an updated version of a backdoor called COOLCLIENT in cyber espionage attacks in 2025 to facilitate comprehensive data theft from infected endpoints. The activity has been attributed to Mustang Panda (aka Earth Preta, Fireant, HoneyMyte, Polaris, and Twill Typhoon) with the intrusions primarily directed against government entities located across campaigns across Myanmar, Mongolia, Malaysia, and Russia. Kaspersky, which disclosed details of the updated malware, said it's deployed as a secondary backdoor along with PlugX and LuminousMoth infections. "COOLCLIENT was typically delivered alongside encrypted loader files containing encrypted configuration data, shellcode, and in-memory next-stage DLL modules," the Russian cybersecurity company said . "These modules relied on DLL side-loading as their primary execution method, which required a legitimate signed executable to load a malicious DLL." Betwe...

Indian government entities have been targeted in two campaigns undertaken by a threat actor that operates in Pakistan using previously undocumented tradecraft. The campaigns have been codenamed Gopher Strike and Sheet Attack by Zscaler ThreatLabz, which identified them in September 2025. "While these campaigns share some similarities with the Pakistan-linked Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group, APT36 , we assess with medium confidence that the activity identified during this analysis might originate from a new subgroup or another Pakistan-linked group operating in parallel," researchers Sudeep Singh and Yin Hong Chang said . Sheet Attack gets its name from the use of legitimate services like Google Sheets, Firebase, and email for command-and-control (C2). On the other hand, Gopher Strike is assessed to have leveraged phishing emails as a starting point to deliver PDF documents containing a blurred image that's superimposed by a seemingly harmless pop-up instructi...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an ongoing campaign that's targeting Indian users with a multi-stage backdoor as part of a suspected cyber espionage campaign. The activity , per the eSentire Threat Response Unit (TRU), involves using phishing emails impersonating the Income Tax Department of India to trick victims into downloading a malicious archive, ultimately granting the threat actors persistent access to their machines for continuous monitoring and data exfiltration. The end goal of the sophisticated attack is to deploy a variant of a known banking trojan called Blackmoon (aka KRBanker) and a legitimate enterprise tool called SyncFuture TSM (Terminal Security Management) that's developed by Nanjing Zhongke Huasai Technology Co., Ltd , a Chinese company. The campaign has not been attributed to any known threat actor or group. "While marketed as a legitimate enterprise tool, it is repurposed in this campaign as a powerful, all-in-one espionage framework,...

The Russian nation-state hacking group known as Sandworm has been attributed to what has been described as the "largest cyber attack" targeting Poland's power system in the last week of December 2025. The attack was unsuccessful, the country's energy minister, Milosz Motyka, said last week. "The command of the cyberspace forces has diagnosed in the last days of the year the strongest attack on the energy infrastructure in years," Motyka was quoted as saying. According to a new report by ESET, the attack was the work of Sandworm, which deployed a previously undocumented wiper malware codenamed DynoWiper (aka Win32/KillFiles.NMO). The links to Sandworm are based on overlaps with prior wiper activity associated with the adversary, particularly in the aftermath of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Slovakian cybersecurity company, which identified the use of the wiper as part of the attempted disruptive attack aimed at the...

As many as 3,136 individual IP addresses linked to likely targets of the Contagious Interview activity have been identified, with the campaign claiming 20 potential victim organizations spanning artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency, financial services, IT services, marketing, and software development sectors in Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, and Central America. The new findings come from Recorded Future's Insikt Group, which is tracking the North Korean threat activity cluster under the moniker PurpleBravo . First documented in late 2023, the campaign is also known as CL-STA-0240, DeceptiveDevelopment, DEV#POPPER, Famous Chollima, Gwisin Gang, Tenacious Pungsan, UNC5342, Void Dokkaebi, and WaterPlum. The 3,136 individual IP addresses, primarily concentrated around South Asia and North America, are assessed to have been targeted by the adversary from August 2024 to September 2025. The 20 victim companies are said to be based in Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, In...

The North Korean threat actors associated with the long-running Contagious Interview campaign have been observed using malicious Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) projects as lures to deliver a backdoor on compromised endpoints. The latest finding demonstrates continued evolution of the new tactic that was first discovered in December 2025, Jamf Threat Labs said. "This activity involved the deployment of a backdoor implant that provides remote code execution capabilities on the victim system," security researcher Thijs Xhaflaire said in a report shared with The Hacker News. First disclosed by OpenSourceMalware last month, the attack essentially involves instructing prospective targets to clone a repository on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, and launch the project in VS Code as part of a supposed job assessment. The end goal of these efforts is to abuse VS Code task configuration files to execute malicious payloads staged on Vercel domains, depending on the oper...

In cybersecurity, the line between a normal update and a serious incident keeps getting thinner. Systems that once felt reliable are now under pressure from constant change. New AI tools, connected devices, and automated systems quietly create more ways in, often faster than security teams can react. This week's stories show how easily a small mistake or hidden service can turn into a real break-in. Behind the headlines, the pattern is clear. Automation is being used against the people who built it. Attackers reuse existing systems instead of building new ones. They move faster than most organizations can patch or respond. From quiet code flaws to malware that changes while it runs, attacks are focusing less on speed and more on staying hidden and in control. If you're protecting anything connected—developer tools, cloud systems, or internal networks—this edition shows where attacks are going next, not where they used to be. ⚡ Threat of the Week Critical Fortinet Flaw Comes Under...

Security experts have disclosed details of a new campaign that has targeted U.S. government and policy entities using politically themed lures to deliver a backdoor known as LOTUSLITE . The targeted malware campaign leverages decoys related to the recent geopolitical developments between the U.S. and Venezuela to distribute a ZIP archive ("US now deciding what's next for Venezuela.zip") containing a malicious DLL that's launched using DLL side-loading techniques. It's not known if the campaign managed to successfully compromise any of the targets. The activity has been attributed with moderate confidence to a Chinese state-sponsored group known as Mustang Panda (aka Earth Preta, HoneyMyte, and Twill Typhoon), citing tactical and infrastructure patterns. It's worth noting that the threat actor is known for extensively relying on DLL side-loading to launch its backdoors, including TONESHELL. "This campaign reflects a continued trend of targeted spear...

A threat actor likely aligned with China has been observed targeting critical infrastructure sectors in North America since at least last year. Cisco Talos, which is tracking the activity under the name UAT-8837 , assessed it to be a China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT) actor with medium confidence based on tactical overlaps with other campaigns mounted by threat actors from the region. The cybersecurity company noted that the threat actor is "primarily tasked with obtaining initial access to high-value organizations," based on the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and post-compromise activity observed. "After obtaining initial access — either by successful exploitation of vulnerable servers or by using compromised credentials — UAT-8837 predominantly deploys open-source tools to harvest sensitive information such as credentials, security configurations, and domain and Active Directory (AD) information to create multiple channels of access to their v...

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has disclosed details of new cyber attacks targeting its defense forces with malware known as PLUGGYAPE between October and December 2025. The activity has been attributed with medium confidence to a Russian hacking group tracked as Void Blizzard (aka Laundry Bear or UAC-0190). The threat actor is believed to be active since at least April 2024. Attack chains distributing the malware leverage instant messaging Signal and WhatsApp as vectors, with the threat actors masquerading as charity organizations to convince targets into clicking on a seemingly-harmless link ("harthulp-ua[.]com" or "solidarity-help[.]org") impersonating the foundation and download a password-protected archive.

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a previously undocumented and feature-rich malware framework codenamed VoidLink that's specifically designed for long-term, stealthy access to Linux-based cloud environments According to a new report from Check Point Research, the cloud-native Linux malware framework comprises an array of custom loaders, implants, rootkits, and modular plugins that enable its operators to augment or change its capabilities over time, as well as pivot when objectives change. It was first discovered in December 2025. "The framework includes multiple cloud-focused capabilities and modules, and is engineered to operate reliably in cloud and container environments over extended periods," the cybersecurity company said in an analysis published today. "VoidLink's architecture is extremely flexible and highly modular, centered around a custom Plugin API that appears to be inspired by Cobalt Strike's Beacon Object Files (BOF) appr...

This week made one thing clear: small oversights can spiral fast. Tools meant to save time and reduce friction turned into easy entry points once basic safeguards were ignored. Attackers didn't need novel tricks. They used what was already exposed and moved in without resistance. Scale amplified the damage. A single weak configuration rippled out to millions. A repeatable flaw worked again and again. Phishing crept into apps people rely on daily, while malware blended into routine system behavior. Different victims, same playbook: look normal, move quickly, spread before alarms go off. For defenders, the pressure keeps rising. Vulnerabilities are exploited almost as soon as they surface. Claims and counterclaims appear before the facts settle. Criminal groups adapt faster each cycle. The stories that follow show where things failed—and why those failures matter going forward. ⚡ Threat of the Week Maximum Severity Security Flaw Disclosed in n8n — A maximum-severity vulnerability ...

The Iranian threat actor known as MuddyWater has been attributed to a spear-phishing campaign targeting diplomatic, maritime, financial, and telecom entities in the Middle East with a Rust-based implant codenamed RustyWater . "The campaign uses icon spoofing and malicious Word documents to deliver Rust based implants capable of asynchronous C2, anti-analysis, registry persistence, and modular post-compromise capability expansion," CloudSEK resetter Prajwal Awasthi said in a report published this week. The latest development reflects continued evolution of MuddyWater's tradecraft, which has gradually-but-steadily reduced its reliance on legitimate remote access software as a post-exploitation tool in favor of a diverse custom malware arsenal comprising tools like Phoenix, UDPGangster , BugSleep (aka MuddyRot), and MuddyViper . Also tracked as Mango Sandstorm, Static Kitten, and TA450, the hacking group is assessed to be affiliated with Iran's Ministry of Intelli...

A China-nexus threat actor known as UAT-7290 has been attributed to espionage-focused intrusions against entities in South Asia and Southeastern Europe. The activity cluster, which has been active since at least 2022, primarily focuses on extensive technical reconnaissance of target organizations before initiating attacks, ultimately leading to the deployment of malware families such as RushDrop, DriveSwitch, and SilentRaid, according to a Cisco Talos report published today. "In addition to conducting espionage-focused attacks where UAT-7290 burrows deep inside a victim enterprise's network infrastructure, their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and tooling suggest that this actor also establishes Operational Relay Box (ORBs) nodes," researchers Asheer Malhotra, Vitor Ventura, and Brandon White said . "The ORB infrastructure may then be used by other China-nexus actors in their malicious operations, signifying UAT-7290's dual role as an espionage-motiva...

The Russia-aligned threat actor known as UAC-0184 has been observed targeting Ukrainian military and government entities by leveraging the Viber messaging platform to deliver malicious ZIP archives. "This organization has continued to conduct high-intensity intelligence gathering activities against Ukrainian military and government departments in 2025," the 360 Threat Intelligence Center said in a technical report. Also tracked as Hive0156, the hacking group is primarily known for leveraging war-themed lures in phishing emails to deliver Hijack Loader in attacks targeting Ukrainian entities. The malware loader subsequently acts as a pathway for Remcos RAT infections. The threat actor was first documented by CERT-UA in early January 2024. Subsequent attack campaigns have been found to leverage messaging apps like Signal and Telegram as a delivery vehicle for malware. The latest findings from the Chinese security vendor points to a further evolution of this tactic. ...

The threat actor known as Transparent Tribe has been attributed to a fresh set of attacks targeting Indian governmental, academic, and strategic entities with a remote access trojan (RAT) that grants them persistent control over compromised hosts. "The campaign employs deceptive delivery techniques, including a weaponized Windows shortcut (LNK) file masquerading as a legitimate PDF document and embedded with full PDF content to evade user suspicion," CYFIRMA said in a technical report. Transparent Tribe, also called APT36, is a hacking group that's known for mounting cyber espionage campaigns against Indian organizations. Assessed to be of Pakistani origin, the state-sponsored adversary has been active since at least 2013. The threat actor boasts of an ever-evolving arsenal of RATs to realize its goals. Some of the trojans put to use by Transparent Tribe in recent years include CapraRAT , Crimson RAT , ElizaRAT , and DeskRAT . The latest set of attacks began with ...

The Chinese hacking group known as Mustang Panda (aka HoneyMyte) has leveraged a previously undocumented kernel-mode rootkit driver to deliver a new variant of backdoor dubbed TONESHELL in a cyber attack detected in mid-2025 targeting an unspecified entity in Asia. The findings come from Kaspersky, which observed the new backdoor variant in cyber espionage campaigns mounted by the hacking group targeting government organizations in Southeast and East Asia, primarily Myanmar and Thailand. "The driver file is signed with an old, stolen, or leaked digital certificate and registers as a minifilter driver on infected machines," the Russian cybersecurity company said . "Its end-goal is to inject a backdoor trojan into the system processes and provide protection for malicious files, user-mode processes, and registry keys." The final payload deployed as part of the attack is TONESHELL, an implant with reverse shell and downloader capabilities to fetch next-stage malwa...

Last week's cyber news in 2025 was not about one big incident. It was about many small cracks opening at the same time. Tools people trust every day behave in unexpected ways. Old flaws resurfaced. New ones were used almost immediately. A common theme ran through it all in 2025. Attackers moved faster than fixes. Access meant for work, updates, or support kept getting abused. And damage did not stop when an incident was "over" — it continued to surface months or even years later. This weekly recap brings those stories together in one place. No overload, no noise. Read on to see what shaped the threat landscape in the final stretch of 2025 and what deserves your attention now. ⚡ Threat of the Week MongoDB Vulnerability Comes Under Attack — A newly disclosed security vulnerability in MongoDB has come under active exploitation in the wild, with over 87,000 potentially susceptible instances identified across the world. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2025-14847 (CVSS score: 8.7)...

A China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group has been attributed to a highly-targeted cyber espionage campaign in which the adversary poisoned Domain Name System (DNS) requests to deliver its signature MgBot backdoor in attacks targeting victims in Türkiye, China, and India. The activity, Kaspersky said, was observed between November 2022 and November 2024. It has been linked to a hacking group called Evasive Panda , which is tracked as Bronze Highland, Daggerfly, and StormBamboo. It's assessed to be active since at least 2012. "The group mainly performed adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks on specific victims," Kaspersky researcher Fatih Şensoy said in a deep-dive analysis. "These included techniques such as dropping loaders into specific locations and storing encrypted parts of the malware on attacker-controlled servers, which were resolved as a response to specific website DNS requests." This is not the first time Evasive Panda's DNS pois...

Threat hunters have discerned new activity associated with an Iranian threat actor known as Infy (aka Prince of Persia), nearly five years after the hacking group was observed targeting victims in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Turkey. "The scale of Prince of Persia's activity is more significant than we originally anticipated," Tomer Bar, vice president of security research at SafeBreach, said in a technical breakdown shared with The Hacker News. "This threat group is still active, relevant, and dangerous." Infy is one of the oldest advanced persistent threat (APT) actors in existence, with evidence of early activity dating all the way back to December 2004, according to a report released by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 in May 2016 that was also authored by Bar, along with researcher Simon Conant. The group has also managed to remain elusive, attracting little attention, unlike other Iranian hacking crews such as Charming Kitten , MuddyWater , and OilRig ...