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Threat hunters have identified a new variant of Android malware called  MoqHao  that automatically executes on infected devices without requiring any user interaction. "Typical MoqHao requires users to install and launch the app to get their desired purpose, but this new variant requires no execution," McAfee Labs  said  in a report published this week. "While the app is installed, their malicious activity starts automatically." The campaign's targets include Android users located in France, Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea. MoqHao, also called Wroba and XLoader (not to be confused with the  Windows and macOS malware  of the same name), is an Android-based mobile threat that's associated with a Chinese financially motivated cluster dubbed  Roaming Mantis  (aka Shaoye). Typical  attack chains  commence with package delivery-themed SMS messages bearing fraudulent links that, when clicked from Android devices, lead to the deployment of the malware b

Companies are engaged in a seemingly endless cat-and-mouse game when it comes to cybersecurity and cyber threats. As organizations put up one defensive block after another, malicious actors kick their game up a notch to get around those blocks. Part of the challenge is to coordinate the defensive abilities of disparate security tools, even as organizations have limited resources and a dearth of skilled cybersecurity experts. XDR, or Extended Detection and Response, addresses this challenge. XDR platforms correlate indicators from across security domains to detect threats and then provide the tools to remediate incidents.  While XDR has many benefits, legacy approaches have been hampered by the lack of good-quality data. You might end up having a very good view of a threat from events generated by your EPP/EDR system but lack events about the network perspective (or vice versa). XDR products will import data from third-party sensors, but data comes in different formats. The XDR platf

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is a strategic framework that helps organizations continuously assess and manage cyber risk. It breaks down the complex task of managing security threats into five distinct stages: Scoping, Discovery, Prioritization, Validation, and Mobilization. Each of these stages plays a crucial role in identifying, addressing, and mitigating vulnerabilities - before they can be exploited by attackers.  On paper, CTEM sounds great . But where the rubber meets the road – especially for CTEM neophytes - implementing CTEM can seem overwhelming. The process of putting CTEM principles into practice can look prohibitively complex at first. However, with the right tools and a clear understanding of each stage, CTEM can be an effective method for strengthening your organization's security posture.  That's why I've put together a step-by-step guide on which tools to use for which stage. Want to learn more? Read on… Stage 1: Scoping  When you're defin

The iPhones belonging to nearly three dozen journalists, activists, human rights lawyers, and civil society members in Jordan have been targeted with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, according to joint findings from Access Now and the Citizen Lab. Nine of the 35 individuals have been  publicly confirmed  as  targeted , out of whom six had their devices compromised with the mercenary surveillanceware tool. The infections are estimated to have taken place from at least 2019 until September 2023. "In some cases, perpetrators posed as journalists, seeking an interview or a quote from victims, while embedding malicious links to Pegasus spyware amid and in between their messages," Access Now  said . "A number of victims were reinfected with Pegasus spyware multiple times — demonstrating the relentless nature of this targeted surveillance campaign." The Israeli company has been under the radar for failing to implement rigorous human rights safeguards prior to selling

Remote desktop software maker AnyDesk disclosed on Friday that it suffered a cyber attack that led to a compromise of its production systems. The German company said the incident, which it discovered following a security audit, is not a ransomware attack and that it has notified relevant authorities. "We have revoked all security-related certificates and systems have been remediated or replaced where necessary," the company  said  in a statement. "We will be revoking the previous code signing certificate for our binaries shortly and have already started replacing it with a new one." Out of an abundance of caution, AnyDesk has also revoked all passwords to its web portal, my.anydesk[.]com, and it's urging users to change their passwords if the same passwords have been reused on other online services. It's also recommending that users download the latest version of the software, which comes with a new  code signing certificate . AnyDesk did not disclose

An INTERPOL-led collaborative operation targeting phishing, banking malware, and ransomware attacks has led to the identification of 1,300 suspicious IP addresses and URLs. The  law enforcement effort , codenamed  Synergia , took place between September and November 2023 in an attempt to blunt the "growth, escalation and professionalization of transnational cybercrime." Involving 60 law enforcement agencies spanning 55 member countries, the exercise paved the way for the detection of more than 1,300 malicious servers, 70% of which have already been taken down in Europe. Hong Kong and Singapore authorities took down 153 and 86 servers, respectively. Servers, as well as electronic devices, were confiscated following over 30 house searches. Seventy suspects have been identified to date, and 31 from Europe, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe have been arrested. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which also contributed to the operation,  said  it identified "more than 500 IP addr

Cybersecurity researchers are calling attention to the "democratization" of the phishing ecosystem owing to the emergence of Telegram as an epicenter for cybercrime, enabling threat actors to mount a mass attack for as little as $230. "This messaging app has transformed into a bustling hub where seasoned cybercriminals and newcomers alike exchange illicit tools and insights creating a dark and well-oiled supply chain of tools and victims' data," Guardio Labs researchers Oleg Zaytsev and Nati Tal  said  in a new report. "Free samples, tutorials, kits, even hackers-for-hire – everything needed to construct a complete end-to-end malicious campaign." The company also described Telegram as a "scammers paradise" and a "breeding ground for modern phishing operations." This is not the first time the popular messaging platform has  come under the radar  for facilitating malicious activities, which are in part driven by its lenient modera

Microsoft on Thursday said the Russian state-sponsored threat actors responsible for a  cyber attack on its systems  in late November 2023 have been targeting other organizations and that it's currently beginning to notify them. The development comes a day after Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)  revealed  that it had been the victim of an attack perpetrated by a hacking crew tracked as  APT29 , which is also known as BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), and The Dukes. "This threat actor is known to primarily target governments, diplomatic entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and IT service providers, primarily in the U.S. and Europe," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team  said  in a new advisory. The primary goal of these espionage missions is to gather sensitive information that is of strategic interest to Russia by maintaining footholds for extended periods of time without attracting any attention. The latest disc

The ransomware group known as Kasseika has become the latest to leverage the Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver ( BYOVD ) attack to disarm security-related processes on compromised Windows hosts, joining the likes of other groups like Akira , AvosLocker, BlackByte, and RobbinHood . The tactic allows "threat actors to terminate antivirus processes and services for the deployment of ransomware," Trend Micro said in a Tuesday analysis. Kasseika, first discovered by the cybersecurity firm in mid-December 2023, exhibits overlaps with the now-defunct BlackMatter , which emerged in the aftermath of DarkSide's shutdown. There is evidence to suggest that the ransomware strain could be the handiwork of an experienced threat actor that acquired or purchased access to BlackMatter, given that the latter's source code has never publicly leaked post its demise in November 2021. Attack chains involving Kasseika commence with a phishing email for initial access, subsequently

Threat actors are resorting to YouTube videos featuring content related to cracked software in order to entice users into downloading an information stealer malware called Lumma. "These YouTube videos typically feature content related to cracked applications, presenting users with similar installation guides and incorporating malicious URLs often shortened using services like TinyURL and Cuttly," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs researcher Cara Lin  said  in a Monday analysis. This is not the first time pirated software videos on YouTube have emerged as an effective bait for stealer malware. At least since early 2023, similar attack chains have been observed delivering several kinds of stealers, clippers, and crypto miner malware. In doing so, threat actors can leverage the compromised machines for not only information and cryptocurrency theft, but also abuse the resources for illicit mining. In the latest attack sequence documented by Fortinet, users searching for cracked versions of

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions against  Sinbad , a virtual currency mixer that has been put to use by the North Korea-linked  Lazarus Group  to launder ill-gotten proceeds. "Sinbad has processed millions of dollars' worth of virtual currency from Lazarus Group heists, including the Horizon Bridge and Axie Infinity heists," the department said . "Sinbad is also used by cybercriminals to obfuscate transactions linked to malign activities such as sanctions evasion, drug trafficking, the purchase of child sexual abuse materials, and additional illicit sales on darknet marketplaces." In addition to the sanctions, Sinbad had its website seized as part of a coordinated law enforcement action between agencies in the U.S., Finland, and the Netherlands. The development builds on prior actions undertaken by governments in Europe and the U.S. to blockade mixers such as  Blender ,  Tornado Cash , and  ChipMixer , all of which have been accu

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revealed that it's responding to a cyber attack that involved the active exploitation of Unitronics programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to target the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa in western Pennsylvania. The attack has been attributed to an Iranian-backed hacktivist collective known as Cyber Av3ngers. "Cyber threat actors are targeting PLCs associated with [Water and Wastewater Systems] facilities, including an identified Unitronics PLC, at a U.S. water facility," the agency said . "In response, the affected municipality's water authority immediately took the system offline and switched to manual operations—there is no known risk to the municipality's drinking water or water supply." According to news reports quoted by the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC), Cyber Av3ngers is alleged to have seized control of the booster station that monitors and regulates p

Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems are a staple to ensure only authorized individuals or entities have access to specific resources in order to protect sensitive information and secure business assets. But did you know that today over 80% of attacks now involve identity, compromised credentials or bypassing the authentication mechanism? Recent breaches at MGM and Caesars have underscored that, despite best efforts, it is not "if" but "when" a successful attack will have bypassed authentication and authorization controls. Account takeover, when an unauthorized individual gains access to a legitimate user account, is now the number one attack vector of choice for malicious actors. With so much focus on controls for prevention, the necessary detection and rapid response to identity-based attacks is often overlooked. And since these attacks use stolen or compromised credentials, it can be difficult to distinguish from legitimate users without a layer of detection. Dive deep i

Urdu-speaking readers of a regional news website that caters to the Gilgit-Baltistan region have likely emerged as a target of a watering hole attack designed to deliver a previously undocumented Android spyware dubbed  Kamran . The campaign, ESET has  discovered , leverages Hunza News (urdu.hunzanews[.]net), which, when opened on a mobile device, prompts visitors of the Urdu version to install its Android app directly hosted on the website. The app, however, incorporates malicious espionage capabilities, with the attack compromising at least 20 mobile devices to date. It has been available on the website since sometime between January 7, and March 21, 2023, around when  massive protests  were held in the region over land rights, taxation, and extensive power cuts. The malware, activated upon package installation, requests for intrusive permissions, allowing it to harvest sensitive information from the devices.  This includes contacts, call logs, calendar events, location informa