Ukraine Targeted in Cyberattack Exploiting 7-Year-Old Microsoft Office Flaw

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a targeted operation against Ukraine that has been found leveraging a nearly seven-year-old flaw in Microsoft Office to deliver Cobalt Strike on compromised systems. The attack chain, which took place at the end of 2023 according to Deep Instinct, employs a PowerPoint slideshow file (“signal-2023-12-20-160512.ppsx”) as the starting point, with the […]

TheMoon Botnet Resurfaces, Exploiting EoL Devices to Power Criminal Proxy

A botnet previously considered to be rendered inert has been observed enslaving end-of-life (EoL) small home/small office (SOHO) routers and IoT devices to fuel a criminal proxy service called Faceless. “TheMoon, which emerged in 2014, has been operating quietly while growing to over 40,000 bots from 88 countries in January and February of 2024,” the […]

BianLian Threat Actors Exploiting JetBrains TeamCity Flaws in Ransomware Attacks

The threat actors behind the BianLian ransomware have been observed exploiting security flaws in JetBrains TeamCity software to conduct their extortion-only attacks. According to a new report from GuidePoint Security, which responded to a recent intrusion, the incident “began with the exploitation of a TeamCity server which resulted in the deployment of a PowerShell implementation […]

How Cybercriminals are Exploiting India’s UPI for Money Laundering Operations

Cybercriminals are using a network of hired money mules in India using an Android-based application to orchestrate a massive money laundering scheme. The malicious application, called XHelper, is a “key tool for onboarding and managing these money mules,” CloudSEK researchers Sparsh Kulshrestha, Abhishek Mathew, and Santripti Bhujel said in a report. Details about the scam […]

GTPDOOR Linux Malware Targets Telecoms, Exploiting GPRS Roaming Networks

Threat hunters have discovered a new Linux malware called GTPDOOR that’s designed to be deployed in telecom networks that are adjacent to GPRS roaming exchanges (GRX) The malware is novel in the fact that it leverages the GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP) for command-and-control (C2) communications. GPRS roaming allows subscribers to access their GPRS services while […]

Chinese Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Flaws to Deploy New Malware

At least two different suspected China-linked cyber espionage clusters, tracked as UNC5325 and UNC3886, have been attributed to the exploitation of security flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure VPN appliances. UNC5325 abused CVE-2024-21893 to deliver a wide range of new malware called LITTLELAMB.WOOLTEA, PITSTOP, PITDOG, PITJET, and PITHOOK, as well as attempted to maintain persistent access […]

New Mispadu Banking Trojan Exploiting Windows SmartScreen Flaw

The threat actors behind the Mispadu banking Trojan have become the latest to exploit a now-patched Windows SmartScreen security bypass flaw to compromise users in Mexico. The attacks entail a new variant of the malware that was first observed in 2019, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said in a report published last week. Propagated via […]

Warning: New Malware Emerges in Attacks Exploiting Ivanti VPN Vulnerabilities

Google-owned Mandiant said it identified new malware employed by a China-nexus espionage threat actor known as UNC5221 and other threat groups during post-exploitation activity targeting Ivanti Connect Secure VPN and Policy Secure devices. This includes custom web shells such as BUSHWALK, CHAINLINE, FRAMESTING, and a variant of LIGHTWIRE. “CHAINLINE is a Python web shell backdoor […]

Hackers Exploiting Ivanti VPN Flaws to Deploy KrustyLoader Malware

A pair of recently disclosed zero-day flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) virtual private network (VPN) devices have been exploited to deliver a Rust-based payload called KrustyLoader that’s used to drop the open-source Sliver adversary simulation tool. The security vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2023-46805 (CVSS score: 8.2) and CVE-2024-21887 (CVSS score: 9.1), could be abused in […]

How to steal Windows password via Outlook email exploiting vulnerabilities in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) and File Explorer

Varonis Threat Labs has uncovered a significant vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook (CVE-2023-35636) that allows attackers to access NTLM v2 hashed passwords. This discovery also includes vulnerabilities in Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA) and Windows File Explorer, posing serious security risks. What is CVE-2023-35636? CVE-2023-35636 is an exploit targeting the calendar sharing function in Microsoft Outlook. By […]

29-Year-Old Ukrainian Cryptojacking Kingpin Arrested for Exploiting Cloud Services

A 29-year-old Ukrainian national has been arrested in connection with running a “sophisticated cryptojacking scheme,” netting them over $2 million (€1.8 million) in illicit profits. The person, described as the “mastermind” behind the operation, was apprehended in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on January 9 by the National Police of Ukraine with support from Europol and an unnamed […]

Hackers Exploiting MS Excel Vulnerability to Spread Agent Tesla Malware

Attackers are weaponizing an old Microsoft Office vulnerability as part of phishing campaigns to distribute a strain of malware called Agent Tesla. The infection chains leverage decoy Excel documents attached in invoice-themed messages to trick potential targets into opening them and activate the exploitation of CVE-2017-11882 (CVSS score: 7.8), a memory corruption vulnerability in Office’s […]

8220 Gang Exploiting Oracle WebLogic Server Vulnerability to Spread Malware

The threat actors associated with the 8220 Gang have been observed exploiting a high-severity flaw in Oracle WebLogic Server to propagate their malware. The security shortcoming is CVE-2020-14883 (CVSS score: 7.2), a remote code execution bug that could be exploited by authenticated attackers to take over susceptible servers. “This vulnerability allows remote authenticated attackers to […]

Hacking the Human Mind: Exploiting Vulnerabilities in the ‘First Line of Cyber Defense’

Humans are complex beings with consciousness, emotions, and the capacity to act based on thoughts. In the ever-evolving realm of cybersecurity, humans consistently remain primary targets for attackers. Over the years, these attackers have developed their expertise in exploiting various human qualities, sharpening their skills to manipulate biases and emotional triggers with the objective of […]

Microsoft Warns of Kremlin-Backed APT28 Exploiting Critical Outlook Vulnerability

Microsoft on Monday said it detected Kremlin-backed nation-state activity exploiting a now-patched critical security flaw in its Outlook email service to gain unauthorized access to victims’ accounts within Exchange servers. The tech giant attributed the intrusions to a threat actor it called Forest Blizzard (formerly Strontium), which is also widely tracked under the monikers APT28, […]

GoTitan Botnet Spotted Exploiting Recent Apache ActiveMQ Vulnerability

The recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting Apache ActiveMQ is being actively exploited by threat actors to distribute a new Go-based botnet called GoTitan as well as a .NET program known as PrCtrl Rat that’s capable of remotely commandeering the infected hosts. The attacks involve the exploitation of a remote code execution bug (CVE-2023-46604, CVSS […]

Mirai-based Botnet Exploiting Zero-Day Bugs in Routers and NVRs for Massive DDoS Attacks

An active malware campaign is leveraging two zero-day vulnerabilities with remote code execution (RCE) functionality to rope routers and video recorders into a Mirai-based distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet. “The payload targets routers and network video recorder (NVR) devices with default admin credentials and installs Mirai variants when successful,” Akamai said in an advisory published this […]

LockBit Ransomware Exploiting Critical Citrix Bleed Vulnerability to Break In

Multiple threat actors, including LockBit ransomware affiliates, are actively exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw in Citrix NetScaler application delivery control (ADC) and Gateway appliances to obtain initial access to target environments. The joint advisory comes from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Multi-State Information Sharing and […]