State-Sponsored Hackers Weaponize ClickFix Tactic in Targeted Malware Campaigns
Apr 17, 2025
Social Engineering / Malware
Multiple state-sponsored hacking groups from Iran, North Korea, and Russia have been found leveraging the increasingly popular ClickFix social engineering tactic to deploy malware over a three-month period from late 2024 through the beginning of 2025. The phishing campaigns adopting the strategy have been attributed to clusters tracked as TA427 (aka Kimsuky), TA450 (aka MuddyWater), UNK_RemoteRogue, and TA422 (aka APT28). ClickFix has been an initial access technique primarily affiliated with cybercrime groups, although the effectiveness of the approach has led to it also being adopted by nation-state groups. "The incorporation of ClickFix is not revolutionizing the campaigns carried out by TA427, TA450, UNK_RemoteRogue, and TA422 but instead is replacing the installation and execution stages in existing infection chains," enterprise security firm Proofpoint said in a report published today. ClickFix , in a nutshell, refers to a sneaky technique that tricks users int...