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A new North Korean nation-state cyber operator has been attributed to a series of campaigns orchestrated to gather strategic intelligence that aligns with Pyongyang's geopolitical interests since 2018. Google-owned Mandiant, which is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker  APT43 , said the group's motives are both espionage- and financially-motivated, leveraging techniques like  credential harvesting  and social engineering to further its objectives. The monetary angle to its attack campaigns is an attempt on the part of the threat actor to generate funds to meet its "primary mission of collecting strategic intelligence." Victimology patterns suggest that targeting is focused on South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and Europe, spanning government, education, research, policy institutes, business services, and manufacturing sectors. The threat actor was also observed straying off course by striking health-related verticals and pharma companies from October 2020 ...

Microsoft on Tuesday  unveiled   Security Copilot  in limited preview, marking its continued quest to embed AI-oriented features in an attempt to offer "end-to-end defense at machine speed and scale." Powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 generative AI and its own security-specific model, it's billed as a  security analysis tool  that enables cybersecurity analysts to quickly respond to threats, process signals, and assess risk exposure. To that end, it collates insights and data from various products like Microsoft Sentinel, Defender, and Intune to help security teams better understand their environment; determine if they are susceptible to known vulnerabilities and exploits; identify ongoing attacks, their scale, and receive remediation instructions; and summarize incidents. Users, for instance, can ask Security Copilot about suspicious user logins over a specific time period, or even employ it to create a PowerPoint presentation outlining an incident and its attack ...

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group that has a track record of targeting India and Afghanistan has been linked to a new phishing campaign that delivers Action RAT. According to Cyble, which  attributed  the operation to  SideCopy , the activity cluster is designed to target the Defence Research and Development Organization ( DRDO ), the research and development wing of India's Ministry of Defence. Known for emulating the infection chains associated with  SideWinder  to deliver its own malware, SideCopy is a threat group of Pakistani origin that shares overlaps with  Transparent Tribe . It has been active since at least 2019. Attack sequences mounted by the group involve using spear-phishing emails to gain initial access. These messages come bearing a ZIP archive file that contains a Windows shortcut file (.LNK) masquerading as information about the  K-4 ballistic missile  developed by DRDO. Executing the .LNK file leads to the retrieva...

Multiple threat actors have been observed using two new variants of the  IcedID malware  in the wild with more limited functionality that removes functionality related to online banking fraud. IcedID, also known as BokBot, started off as a banking trojan in 2017. It's also capable of delivering additional malware, including ransomware. "The well-known IcedID version consists of an initial loader which contacts a Loader [command-and-control] server, downloads the standard DLL Loader, which then delivers the standard IcedID Bot," Proofpoint  said  in a new report published Monday. One of the new versions is a Lite variant that was  previously highlighted  as being dropped as a follow-on payload by the  Emotet malware  in November 2022. Also newly observed in February 2023 is a Forked variant of IcedID. Both these variants are designed to drop what's called a Forked version of IcedID Bot that leaves out the web injects and backconnect functiona...

Malicious actors are constantly adapting their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to adapt to political, technological, and regulatory changes quickly. A few emerging threats that organizations of all sizes should be aware of include the following: Increased use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning : Malicious actors are increasingly leveraging AI and machine learning to automate their attacks, allowing them to scale their operations faster than ever before. The exploitation of cloud-based technologies:  Cloud-based services are increasingly being targeted by malicious actors due to the lack of visibility and control over these platforms. Increased use of ransomware:  Ransomware is becoming a more popular method of attack, allowing malicious actors to monetize their operations quickly. According to  CompTIA , ransomware attacks grew by 41% in 2022, while identification and remediation for a breach took 49 days longer than average. Phishing attacks...

A new phishing campaign has set its sights on European entities to distribute Remcos RAT and Formbook via a malware loader dubbed  DBatLoader . "The malware payload is distributed through WordPress websites that have authorized SSL certificates, which is a common tactic used by threat actors to evade detection engines," Zscaler researchers Meghraj Nandanwar and Satyam Singh  said  in a report published Monday. The findings build upon a previous report from SentinelOne last month that detailed phishing emails containing malicious attachments that masquerade as financial documents to activate the infection chain. Some of the file formats used to distribute the DBatLoader payload concern the use of a multi-layered obfuscated HTML file and OneNote attachments. The development adds to  growing abuse  of  OneNote files  as an initial vector for malware distribution since late last year in response to Microsoft's decision to block macros by default i...

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday  signed an executive order  that restricts the use of commercial spyware by federal government agencies. The order said the spyware ecosystem "poses significant counterintelligence or security risks to the United States Government or significant risks of improper use by a foreign government or foreign person." It also seeks to ensure that the government's use of such tools is done in a manner that's "consistent with respect for the rule of law, human rights, and democratic norms and values." To that end, the order lays out the various criteria under which commercial spyware could be disqualified for use by U.S. government agencies. They include - The purchase of commercial spyware by a foreign government or person to target the U.S. government, A commercial spyware vendor that uses or discloses sensitive data obtained from the cyber surveillance tool without authorization and operates under the control of a foreign g...

Apple on Monday backported fixes for an actively exploited security flaw to older iPhone and iPad models. The issue, tracked as  CVE-2023-23529 , concerns a type confusion bug in the WebKit browser engine that could lead to arbitrary code execution. It was  originally addressed  by the tech giant with improved checks as part of updates released on February 13, 2023. An anonymous researcher has been credited with reporting the bug. "Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution," Apple  said  in a new advisory, adding it's "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited." Details surrounding the exact nature of exploitation are currently not known, but withholding technical specifics is standard procedure as it helps prevent additional in-the-wild abuse targeting susceptible devices.  The update is available in versions iOS 15.7.4 and iPadOS 15.7.4 for iPhone 6s (all models), iPhone 7 (all models),...

Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, the 20-year-old founder and the administrator of the now-defunct BreachForums has been  formally charged  in the U.S. with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. If proven guilty, Fitzpatrick, who went by the online moniker "pompompurin," faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison. He was  arrested  on March 15, 2023. "Cybercrime victimizes and steals financial and personal information from millions of innocent people," said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. "This arrest sends a direct message to cybercriminals: your exploitative and illegal conduct will be discovered, and you will be brought to justice." The development comes days after Baphomet, the individual who had taken over the responsibilities of BreachForums,  shut down the website , citing concerns that law enforcement may have obtained access to its backend. The Department of Justice (DoJ) has since confirmed that it co...