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Internet service providers (ISPs) and governmental entities in the Middle East have been targeted using an updated variant of the EAGERBEE malware framework. The new variant of EAGERBEE (aka Thumtais ) comes fitted with various components that allow the backdoor to deploy additional payloads, enumerate file systems, and execute commands shells, demonstrating a significant evolution. "The key plugins can be categorized in terms of their functionality into the following groups: Plugin Orchestrator, File System Manipulation, Remote Access Manager, Process Exploration, Network Connection Listing, and Service Management," Kaspersky researchers Saurabh Sharma and Vasily Berdnikov said in an analysis. The backdoor has been assessed by the Russian cybersecurity company with medium confidence to a threat group called CoughingDown. EAGERBEE was first documented by the Elastic Security Labs, attributing it to a state-sponsored and espionage-focused intrusion set dubbed REF5961. ...

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday said there are no indications that the cyber attack targeting the Treasury Department impacted other federal agencies. The agency said it's working closely with the Treasury Department and BeyondTrust to get a better understanding of the breach and mitigate its impacts. "The security of federal systems and the data they protect is of critical importance to our national security," CISA said . "We are working aggressively to safeguard against any further impacts and will provide updates, as appropriate." The latest statement comes a week after the Treasury Department said it was the victim of a "major cybersecurity incident" that allowed Chinese state-sponsored threat actors to remotely access some computers and unclassified documents. The cyber attack, which came to light in early December 2024, involved a breach of BeyondTrust's systems that allowed the adversary to in...

Taiwan-based Moxa has warned of two security vulnerabilities impacting its cellular routers, secure routers, and network security appliances that could allow privilege escalation and command execution. The list of vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2024-9138 (CVSS 4.0 score: 8.6) - A hard-coded credentials vulnerability that could allow an authenticated user to escalate privileges and gain root-level access to the system, leading to system compromise, unauthorized modifications, data exposure, or service disruption CVE-2024-9140 (CVSS 4.0 score: 9.3) - A vulnerability allows attackers to exploit special characters to bypass input restrictions, potentially leading to unauthorized command execution The shortcomings, reported by security researcher Lars Haulin, affect the below products and firmware versions - CVE-2024-9138 - EDR-810 Series (Firmware version 5.12.37 and earlier), EDR-8010 Series (Firmware version 3.13.1 and earlier), EDR-G902 Series (Firmware version 5.7.25 ...

The Indian government has published a draft version of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules for public consultation. "Data fiduciaries must provide clear and accessible information about how personal data is processed, enabling informed consent," India's Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a statement released Sunday. "Citizens are empowered with rights to demand data erasure, appoint digital nominees, and access user-friendly mechanisms to manage their data." The rules, which seek to operationalize the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, also give citizens greater control over their data, providing them with options for giving informed consent to processing their information, as well as the right to erase with digital platforms and address grievances. Companies operating in India are further required to implement security measures, such as encryption, access control, and data backups, to safeguard personal data, and ensure its c...

Every tap, click, and swipe we make online shapes our digital lives, but it also opens doors—some we never meant to unlock. Extensions we trust, assistants we rely on, and even the codes we scan are turning into tools for attackers. The line between convenience and vulnerability has never been thinner. This week, we dive into the hidden risks, surprising loopholes, and the clever tricks cybercriminals are using to outsmart the systems we depend on. Stay with us as we unpack what's happening behind the screen and how you can stay one step ahead. ⚡ Threat of the Week Dozens of Google Chrome Extensions Caught Stealing Sensitive Data — The challenges with securing the software supply chain reared once again after about three dozen extensions were found surreptitiously siphoning sensitive data from roughly 2.6 million devices for several months as part of two related campaigns. The compromises came to light after data loss prevention service Cyberhaven revealed that its browser extens...

In 2024, cyber threats targeting SaaS surged, with 7,000 password attacks blocked per second (just in Entra ID)—a 75% increase from last year—and phishing attempts up by 58%, causing $3.5 billion in losses (source: Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024 ). SaaS attacks are increasing, with hackers often evading detection through legitimate usage patterns. The cyber threat arena saw standout players, unexpected underdogs, and relentless scorers leaving their mark on the SaaS security playing field.  As we enter 2025, security teams must prioritize SaaS security risk assessments to uncover vulnerabilities, adopt SSPM tools for continuous monitoring, and proactively defend their systems. Here are the Cyber Threat All-Stars to watch out for—the MVPs, rising stars, and master strategists who shaped the game. 1. ShinyHunters: The Most Valuable Player Playstyle: Precision Shots (Cybercriminal Organization) Biggest Wins: Snowflake, Ticketmaster and Authy Notable Drama: Exploited on...

An Android information stealing malware named FireScam has been found masquerading as a premium version of the Telegram messaging app to steal data and maintain persistent remote control over compromised devices. "Disguised as a fake 'Telegram Premium' app, it is distributed through a GitHub.io-hosted phishing site that impersonates RuStore – a popular app store in the Russian Federation," Cyfirma said , describing it as a "sophisticated and multifaceted threat." "The malware employs a multi-stage infection process, starting with a dropper APK, and performs extensive surveillance activities once installed." The phishing site in question, rustore-apk.github[.]io, mimics RuStore, an app store launched by Russian tech giant VK in the country, and is designed to deliver a dropper APK file ("GetAppsRu.apk"). Once installed, the dropper acts as a delivery vehicle for the main payload, which is responsible for exfiltrating sensitive data,...

Cybersecurity researchers have revealed several malicious packages on the npm registry that have been found impersonating the Nomic Foundation's Hardhat tool in order to steal sensitive data from developer systems. "By exploiting trust in open source plugins, attackers have infiltrated these platforms through malicious npm packages, exfiltrating critical data such as private keys, mnemonics, and configuration details," the Socket research team said in an analysis. Hardhat is a development environment for Ethereum software, incorporating various components for editing, compiling, debugging and deploying smart contracts and decentralized apps (dApps). The list of identified counterfeit packages is as follows - nomicsfoundations @nomisfoundation/hardhat-configure installedpackagepublish @nomisfoundation/hardhat-config @monicfoundation/hardhat-config @nomicsfoundation/sdk-test @nomicsfoundation/hardhat-config @nomicsfoundation/web3-sdk @nomicsfoundation/sdk-...

A high-severity security flaw has been disclosed in ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei , a widely-used open-source vulnerability scanner that, if successfully exploited, could allow attackers to bypass signature checks and potentially execute malicious code. Tracked as CVE-2024-43405 , it carries a CVSS score of 7.4 out of a maximum of 10.0. It impacts all versions of Nuclei later than 3.0.0. "The vulnerability stems from a discrepancy between how the signature verification process and the YAML parser handle newline characters, combined with the way multiple signatures are processed," according to a description of the vulnerability. "This allows an attacker to inject malicious content into a template while maintaining a valid signature for the benign part of the template." Nuclei is a vulnerability scanner designed to probe modern applications, infrastructure, cloud platforms, and networks to identify security flaws. The scanning engine makes use of templates , wh...

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a new malware called PLAYFULGHOST that comes with a wide range of information-gathering features like keylogging, screen capture, audio capture, remote shell, and file transfer/execution. The backdoor, according to Google's Mandiant Managed Defense team, shares functional overlaps with a known remote administration tool referred to as Gh0st RAT , which had its source code publicly leaked in 2008. PLAYFULGHOST's initial access pathways include the use of phishing emails bearing code of conduct-related lures or search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning techniques to distribute trojanized versions of legitimate VPN apps like LetsVPN. "In one phishing case, the infection begins by tricking the victim into opening a malicious RAR archive disguised as an image file by using a .jpg extension," the company said . "When extracted and executed by the victim, the archive drops a malicious Windows executable, which eventually dow...

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday issued sanctions against a Beijing-based cybersecurity company known as Integrity Technology Group, Incorporated for orchestrating several cyber attacks against U.S. victims. These attacks have been publicly attributed to a Chinese state-sponsored threat actor tracked as Flax Typhoon (aka Ethereal Panda or RedJuliett ), which was outed last year as operating an Internet of Things (IoT) botnet called Raptor Train . The hacking crew has been active since at least mid-2021, targeting various entities across North America, Europe, Africa, and across Asia. Attacks mounted by Flax Typhoon have typically leveraged known vulnerabilities to gain initial access to victims' computers and then make use of legitimate remote access software to maintain persistent access.  The Treasury Department described Chinese malicious cyber actors as one of the "most active and most persistent threats to U.S. nati...