#1 Trusted Cybersecurity News Platform
Followed by 5.20+ million
The Hacker News Logo
Subscribe – Get Latest News
State of SaaS

surveillance | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Category — surveillance
European Privacy Group Sues TikTok and AliExpress for Illicit Data Transfers to China

European Privacy Group Sues TikTok and AliExpress for Illicit Data Transfers to China

Jan 17, 2025 Privacy / Data Protection
Austrian privacy non-profit None of Your Business (noyb) has filed complaints accusing companies like TikTok, AliExpress, SHEIN, Temu, WeChat, and Xiaomi of violating data protection regulations in the European Union by unlawfully transferring users' data to China. The advocacy group is seeking an immediate suspension of such transfers, stating the companies in question cannot shield user data from being potentially accessed by the Chinese government. The complaints have been filed in Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands. "Given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, it is crystal clear that China doesn't offer the same level of data protection as the E.U.," Kleanthi Sardeli, data protection lawyer at noyb, said . "Transferring Europeans' personal data is clearly unlawful – and must be terminated immediately." Noyb noted that the companies have no choice but to comply with Chinese authorities' requests for access to d...
Russian-Linked Hackers Target Kazakhstan in Espionage Campaign with HATVIBE Malware

Russian-Linked Hackers Target Kazakhstan in Espionage Campaign with HATVIBE Malware

Jan 14, 2025 Surveillance / Malware
Russia-linked threat actors have been attributed to an ongoing cyber espionage campaign targeting Kazakhstan as part of the Kremlin's efforts to gather economic and political intelligence in Central Asia. The campaign has been assessed to be the work of an intrusion set dubbed UAC-0063 , which likely shares overlap with APT28, a nation-state group affiliated with Russia's General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). It's also known as Blue Athena, BlueDelta, Fancy Bear, Fighting Ursa, Forest Blizzard, FROZENLAKE, Iron Twilight, ITG05, Pawn Storm, Sednit, Sofacy, and TA422. UAC-0063 was first documented by the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) in early 2023, detailing its attacks on government entities using malware families tracked as HATVIBE, CHERRYSPY, and STILLARCH (aka DownEx). It's worth pointing out that the use of these malware strains has been exclusive to this group. Subsequent campaigns have been observed setting their sights o...
Product Walkthrough: How Reco Discovers Shadow AI in SaaS

Product Walkthrough: How Reco Discovers Shadow AI in SaaS

Jan 09, 2025AI Security / SaaS Security
As SaaS providers race to integrate AI into their product offerings to stay competitive and relevant, a new challenge has emerged in the world of AI: shadow AI.  Shadow AI refers to the unauthorized use of AI tools and copilots at organizations. For example, a developer using ChatGPT to assist with writing code, a salesperson downloading an AI-powered meeting transcription tool, or a customer support person using Agentic AI to automate tasks – without going through the proper channels. When these tools are used without IT or the Security team's knowledge, they often lack sufficient security controls, putting company data at risk. Shadow AI Detection Challenges Because shadow AI tools often embed themselves in approved business applications via AI assistants, copilots, and agents they are even more tricky to discover than traditional shadow IT. While traditional shadow apps can be identified through network monitoring methodologies that scan for unauthorized connections based on...
NoviSpy Spyware Installed on Journalist's Phone After Unlocking It With Cellebrite Tool

NoviSpy Spyware Installed on Journalist's Phone After Unlocking It With Cellebrite Tool

Dec 16, 2024 Spyware / Surveillance
A Serbian journalist had his phone first unlocked by a Cellebrite tool and subsequently compromised by a previously undocumented spyware codenamed NoviSpy , according to a new report published by Amnesty International. "NoviSpy allows for capturing sensitive personal data from a target's phone after infection and provides the ability to turn on the phone's microphone or camera remotely," the company said in an 87-page technical report. An analysis of forensic evidence points to the spyware installation occurring when the phone belonging to independent journalist Slaviša Milanov was in the hands of the Serbian police during his detention in early 2024. Some of the other targets included youth activist Nikola Ristić, environmental activist Ivan Milosavljević Buki, and an unnamed activist from Krokodil, a Belgrade-based organization promoting dialogue and reconciliation in the Western Balkans. The development marks one of the first known instances where two dispara...
cyber security

Secure Your Azure: Proactive Tips for Cloud Protection

websiteWizCloud Security
Discover how to boost your Azure cloud security with practical steps to help you maintain control and visibility.
Gamaredon Deploys Android Spyware "BoneSpy" and "PlainGnome" in Former Soviet States

Gamaredon Deploys Android Spyware "BoneSpy" and "PlainGnome" in Former Soviet States

Dec 12, 2024 Mobile Security / Cyber Espionage
The Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor tracked as Gamaredon has been attributed to two new Android spyware tools called BoneSpy and PlainGnome , marking the first time the adversary has been discovered using mobile-only malware families in its attack campaigns. "BoneSpy and PlainGnome target former Soviet states and focus on Russian-speaking victims," Lookout said in an analysis. "Both BoneSpy and PlainGnome collect data such as SMS messages, call logs, phone call audio, photos from device cameras, device location, and contact lists." Gamaredon , also called Aqua Blizzard, Armageddon, BlueAlpha, Hive0051, Iron Tilden, Primitive Bear, Shuckworm, Trident Ursa, UAC-0010, UNC530, and Winterflounder, is a hacking group affiliated with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). Last week, Recorded Future's Insikt Group revealed the threat actor's use of Cloudflare Tunnels as a tactic to conceal its staging infrastructure hosting malicious payload...
China Accuses U.S. of Fabricating Volt Typhoon to Hide Its Own Hacking Campaigns

China Accuses U.S. of Fabricating Volt Typhoon to Hide Its Own Hacking Campaigns

Oct 15, 2024 National Security / Cyber Attack
China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) has doubled down on claims that the threat actor known as Volt Typhoon is a fabrication of the U.S. and its allies. The agency, in collaboration with the National Engineering Laboratory for Computer Virus Prevention Technology, went on to accuse the U.S. federal government, intelligence agencies, and Five Eyes countries of conducting cyber espionage activities against China, France, Germany, Japan, and internet users globally. It also said there's "ironclad evidence" indicating that the U.S. carries out false flag operations in an attempt to conceal its own malicious cyber attacks, adding it's inventing the "so-called danger of Chinese cyber attacks" and that it has established a "large-scale global internet surveillance network." "And the fact that the U.S. adopted supply chain attacks, implanted backdoors in internet products and 'pre-positioned' has completely...
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Executives Linked to Intellexa Predator Spyware Operation

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Executives Linked to Intellexa Predator Spyware Operation

Sep 17, 2024 Spyware / Privacy
The U.S. Department of Treasury has imposed fresh sanctions against five executives and one entity with ties to the Intellexa Consortium for their role in the development, operation, and distribution of a commercial spyware called Predator. "The United States will not tolerate the reckless propagation of disruptive technologies that threatens our national security and undermines the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens," said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley T. Smith. "We will continue to hold accountable those that seek to enable the proliferation of exploitative technologies, while also encouraging the responsible development of technologies that align with international standards." The sanctioned individuals and entities are listed below - Felix Bitzios, the beneficial owner of an Intellexa Consortium company that's believed to have supplied Predator to a foreign government client and the ...
Apple Drops Spyware Case Against NSO Group, Citing Risk of Threat Intelligence Exposure

Apple Drops Spyware Case Against NSO Group, Citing Risk of Threat Intelligence Exposure

Sep 16, 2024 Spyware / Threat Intelligence
Apple has filed a motion to "voluntarily" dismiss its lawsuit against commercial spyware vendor NSO Group, citing a shifting risk landscape that could lead to exposure of critical "threat intelligence" information. The development was first reported by The Washington Post on Friday. The iPhone maker said its efforts, coupled with those of others in the industry and national governments to tackle the rise of commercial spyware, have "substantially weakened" the defendants. "At the same time, unfortunately, other malicious actors have arisen in the commercial spyware industry," the company said. "It is because of this combination of factors that Apple now seeks voluntary dismissal of this case." "While Apple continues to believe in the merits of its claims, it has also determined that proceeding further with this case has the potential to put vital security information at risk." Apple originally filed the lawsuit again...
GuardZoo Malware Targets Over 450 Middle Eastern Military Personnel

GuardZoo Malware Targets Over 450 Middle Eastern Military Personnel

Jul 09, 2024
Military personnel from Middle East countries are the target of an ongoing surveillanceware operation that delivers an Android data-gathering tool called GuardZoo . The campaign , believed to have commenced as early as October 2019, has been attributed to a Houthi-aligned threat actor based on the application lures, command-and-control (C2) server logs, targeting footprint, and the attack infrastructure location, according to Lookout. More than 450 victims have been impacted by the malicious activity, with targets located in Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the U.A.E., and Yemen. Telemetry data indicates that most of the infections have been recorded in Yemen. GuardZoo is a modified version of an Android remote access trojan (RAT) named Dendroid RAT that was first discovered by Broadcom-owned Symantec in March 2014. The entire source code associated with the crimeware solution was leaked later that August. Originally marketed as a commodity malware for a one-off price...
Signal Foundation Warns Against EU's Plan to Scan Private Messages for CSAM

Signal Foundation Warns Against EU's Plan to Scan Private Messages for CSAM

Jun 18, 2024 Privacy / Encryption
A controversial proposal put forth by the European Union to scan users' private messages for detection of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) poses severe risks to end-to-end encryption (E2EE), warned Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, which maintains the privacy-focused messaging service of the same name. "Mandating mass scanning of private communications fundamentally undermines encryption. Full Stop," Whittaker said in a statement on Monday. "Whether this happens via tampering with, for instance, an encryption algorithm's random number generation, or by implementing a key escrow system, or by forcing communications to pass through a surveillance system before they're encrypted." The response comes as law makers in Europe are putting forth regulations to fight CSAM with a new provision called "upload moderation" that allows for messages to be scrutinized ahead of encryption. A recent report from Euractiv revealed that...
Microsoft Revamps Controversial AI-Powered Recall Feature Amid Privacy Concerns

Microsoft Revamps Controversial AI-Powered Recall Feature Amid Privacy Concerns

Jun 08, 2024 Artificial Intelligence / Privacy
Microsoft on Friday said it will disable its much-criticized artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Recall feature by default and make it an opt-in. Recall , currently in preview and coming exclusively to Copilot+ PCs on June 18, 2024, functions as an "explorable visual timeline" by capturing screenshots of what appears on users' screens every five seconds, which are subsequently analyzed and parsed to surface relevant information. But the feature, meant to serve as some sort of an AI-enabled photographic memory, was met with instantaneous backlash from the security and privacy community, which excoriated the company for having not thought through enough and implementing adequate safeguards that could prevent malicious actors from easily gaining a window into a victim's digital life. The recorded information could include screenshots of documents, emails, or messages containing sensitive details that may have been deleted or shared temporarily using disappearing ...
Major Security Flaws Expose Keystrokes of Over 1 Billion Chinese Keyboard App Users

Major Security Flaws Expose Keystrokes of Over 1 Billion Chinese Keyboard App Users

Apr 24, 2024 Encryption / Mobile Security
Security vulnerabilities uncovered in cloud-based pinyin keyboard apps could be exploited to reveal users' keystrokes to nefarious actors. The findings come from the Citizen Lab, which discovered weaknesses in eight of nine apps from vendors like Baidu, Honor, iFlytek, OPPO, Samsung, Tencent, Vivo, and Xiaomi. The only vendor whose keyboard app did not have any security shortcomings is that of Huawei's. The vulnerabilities could be exploited to "completely reveal the contents of users' keystrokes in transit," researchers Jeffrey Knockel, Mona Wang, and Zoë Reichert  said . The disclosure builds upon prior research from the interdisciplinary laboratory based at the University of Toronto, which identified  cryptographic flaws  in Tencent's Sogou Input Method last August. Collectively, it's estimated that close to one billion users are affected by this class of vulnerabilities, with Input Method Editors (IMEs) from ...
U.S. Imposes Visa Restrictions on 13 Linked to Commercial Spyware Misuse

U.S. Imposes Visa Restrictions on 13 Linked to Commercial Spyware Misuse

Apr 23, 2024 Spyware / Cyber Espionage
The U.S. Department of State on Monday said it's taking steps to impose visa restrictions on 13 individuals who are allegedly involved in the development and sale of  commercial spyware  or who are immediately family members of those involved in such businesses. "These individuals have facilitated or derived financial benefit from the misuse of this technology, which has targeted journalists, academics, human rights defenders, dissidents and other perceived critics, and U.S. Government personnel," the department  said . The names of those subjected to visa restrictions were not disclosed, but the move comes more than two months after the U.S. government said it's  enacting a new policy  that enforces visa constraints on people engaging in practices that could threaten privacy and freedom of expression. It also aims to counter the misuse and proliferation of commercial spyware that has been put to use by authoritarian gover...
Vultur Android Banking Trojan Returns with Upgraded Remote Control Capabilities

Vultur Android Banking Trojan Returns with Upgraded Remote Control Capabilities

Apr 01, 2024 Mobile Security / Data Privacy
The Android banking trojan known as Vultur has resurfaced with a suite of new features and improved anti-analysis and detection evasion techniques, enabling its operators to remotely interact with a mobile device and harvest sensitive data. "Vultur has also started masquerading more of its malicious activity by encrypting its C2 communication, using multiple encrypted payloads that are decrypted on the fly, and using the guise of legitimate applications to carry out its malicious actions," NCC Group researcher Joshua Kamp  said  in a report published last week. Vultur was  first disclosed  in early 2021, with the malware capable of leveraging Android's accessibility services APIs to execute its malicious actions. The malware has been observed to be  distributed via trojanized dropper apps  on the Google Play Store, masquerading as authenticator and productivity apps to trick unwitting users into installing them. These dropper apps are offered as part of...
President Biden Blocks Mass Transfer of Personal Data to High-Risk Nations

President Biden Blocks Mass Transfer of Personal Data to High-Risk Nations

Feb 29, 2024 Cyber Espionage / Data Protection
U.S. President Joe Biden has  issued  an Executive Order that prohibits the mass transfer of citizens' personal data to countries of concern. The Executive Order also "provides safeguards around other activities that can give those countries access to Americans' sensitive data," the White House said in a statement. This includes sensitive information such as genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data, and certain kinds of personally identifiable information (PII). The U.S. government said threat actors could weaponize this information to track their citizens and pass that information to  data brokers  and foreign intelligence services, which can then be used for intrusive surveillance, scams, blackmail, and other violations of privacy. "Commercial data brokers and other companies can sell this data to countries of concern, or entities controlled by those countries, and it can land in the hands of foreign intelligenc...
Meta Warns of 8 Spyware Firms Targeting iOS, Android, and Windows Devices

Meta Warns of 8 Spyware Firms Targeting iOS, Android, and Windows Devices

Feb 19, 2024 Mobile Security / Cyber Espionage
Meta Platforms said it took a series of steps to curtail malicious activity from eight different firms based in Italy, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) operating in the surveillance-for-hire industry. The findings are part of its  Adversarial Threat Report  for the fourth quarter of 2023. The spyware targeted iOS, Android, and Windows devices. "Their various malware included capabilities to collect and access device information, location, photos and media, contacts, calendar, email, SMS, social media, and messaging apps, and enable microphone,camera, and screenshot functionality," the company said. The eight companies are Cy4Gate/ELT Group, RCS Labs, IPS Intelligence, Variston IT, TrueL IT, Protect Electronic Systems, Negg Group, and Mollitiam Industries. These firms, per Meta, also engaged in scraping, social engineering, and phishing activity that targeted a wide range of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Skype, GitHub, R...
Expert Insights / Articles Videos
Cybersecurity Resources