Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 07–11, 2025
The Good
The U.K. government rolled out a Cyber Governance Code of Practice aimed at directors and board members, not just CISOs. Backed by the NCSC and other national bodies, the code includes practical actions, modular training, and a board-level toolkit. Startups building the future of cyber defense are getting serious backing. The British Business Bank has committed most of a £50 million fund to Osney Capital, which will invest in early-stage cybersecurity companies across the U.K.
The U.K government launched a new Cyber Governance Code of Practice to enhance cyber-resilience in medium and large organizations. This initiative, developed by experts from the NCSC, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and other professional bodies, provides guidance for board members and directors to effectively manage cyber risk. The code includes a set of actions, a training package, and a toolkit for boards. The training package is divided into five modules based on the pillars of the code: risk management, strategy, people, incident planning, response and recovery, and assurance and oversight.
The British Business Bank committed nearly £37.5 million of a £50 million ($64 million) fund to support early-stage cybersecurity startups in the U.K. Osney Capital's Fund 1 plans to invest between £250,000 and £2.5 million in 30 portfolio companies at pre-seed and seed stage, with plans for follow-on Series A rounds. The British Business Bank's contribution to the Osney Capital fund reflects the growing strategic importance of cybersecurity to the government.
The Bad
A torrent download might be doing more than delivering cracked software. A campaign has been distributing ViperSoftX to Korean users, likely run by Arabic-speaking threat actors. Invasive spyware campaigns are zeroing in on high-risk communities. MOONSHINE and BADBAZAAR are being deployed through trojanized mobile apps to surveil Uyghur, Tibetan, and Taiwanese individuals, as well as civil society groups. Search for QuickBooks during tax season, and you might land on a trap. Threat actors are placing deceptive Google Ads that link to phishing pages almost identical to the real QuickBooks login portal.
ReversingLabs discovered a malicious npm package, pdf-to-office, that targets Atomic and Exodus crypto wallet users. This package, which appears to convert PDF files to Microsoft Office documents, actually deploys a malicious payload that modifies key files within the wallet software. This allows attackers to intercept cryptocurrency transfers by silently swapping recipient wallet addresses. The malware remains persistent even after the removal of the package, requiring a complete reinstallation of the affected wallet software.
Cofense analyzed a sophisticated phishing campaign titled "Pick Your Poison." The attack begins with an email that appears to be from a legitimate file-sharing service, files[.]fm, warning the recipient of an impending file deletion. Upon clicking the embedded link, users are redirected to a legitimate files[.]fm page, enhancing the illusion of safety. However, when users open the shared file, they are presented with two options, "Preview" or "Download," both leading to malicious outcomes. The malware often installs a RAT such as ConnectWise RAT, allowing threat actors unauthorized access to compromised systems.
ASEC discovered a malware campaign targeting Korean victims since April 1, suspected to be orchestrated by Arabic-speaking attackers. The malware, known as ViperSoftX, is primarily spread through cracked software or torrents and operates as a PowerShell script. During the C&C communication process, the malware downloads additional malicious software, including a VBS downloader, malicious PowerShell script, PureCrypter, and Quasar RAT. The VBS downloader is responsible for downloading and executing PowerShell and VBS files from a remote server. The PowerShell script, in turn, downloads and executes PureCrypter and Quasar RAT, while also adding Windows Defender exception paths to evade detection.
The CISA has warned about two actively exploited vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel, identified as CVE-2024-53197 and CVE-2024-53150, both located in the USB-audio driver. These flaws could allow attackers to manipulate system memory, escalate privileges, or access sensitive information. CVE-2024-53197 is an out-of-bounds access vulnerability that can be exploited by an attacker with physical access to a system using a malicious USB device. CVE-2024-53150 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that can be exploited by a local, privileged attacker to obtain sensitive information. Both vulnerabilities were added to the KEV catalog.
Cybercriminals are targeting Intuit QuickBooks users by purchasing prominent Google Ads that lead to fake login pages, aiming to steal sensitive information like usernames, passwords, and one-time passcodes. The phishing pages closely resemble the genuine QuickBooks site, making it difficult for users to distinguish between the two. Users are advised to access their QuickBooks account directly through the official Intuit website or application, and to be vigilant about verifying the URL.
Vidar Stealer has evolved since its first appearance in 2018, and now it's being disguised within a legitimate Microsoft Sysinternals tool, BGInfo.exe. The malware sample was observed in the wild, mimicking the legitimate binary's creation time to avoid suspicion. The malicious BGInfo has a larger file size and different cryptographic hashes compared to the official version. The malware author modifies the initialization routine of BGInfo.exe to run the malicious code instead of the expected function. The main behaviors of Vidar Stealer include credential theft, cryptocurrency wallet theft, session hijacking, and cloud and storage data theft.
The NCSC and international cybersecurity agencies have discovered that hackers are using two types of spyware, MOONSHINE and BADBAZAAR, to spy on Uyghur, Tibetan, and Taiwanese individuals and civil society organizations. The spyware-infected apps target individuals and groups perceived as a threat to China's stability, including those associated with Taiwan's independence, Tibetan rights, Uyghur Muslims, ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, democracy advocates, and Falun Gong members. Some apps mimic popular platforms like WhatsApp and Skype, while others are standalone apps designed to attract potential victims. The Tibet One and Audio Quran apps, which have been used to spread the spyware, have been removed from app stores.
GreyNoise Intelligence has detected a significant increase in exploitation attempts against TVT NVMS9000 DVRs, primarily used in security and surveillance systems. The activity, which peaked on April 3 with over 2,500 unique IPs, is associated with the Mirai botnet. The vulnerability could potentially allow attackers to gain administrative control over affected systems. Most malicious IP addresses are targeting systems in the U.S., the U.K, and Germany, with the majority originating from Asia-Pacific. GreyNoise recommends organizations using the NVMS9000 DVR to block known malicious IP addresses, apply available patches, restrict public internet access to DVR interfaces, and monitor network traffic for signs of unusual activity.
New Threats
It starts with a PDF search and ends with malware on your machine. A new campaign is using fake CAPTCHAs and Cloudflare Turnstile to lure users into downloading LegionLoader. Seed phrases aren’t supposed to come from strangers. The PoisonSeed campaign is targeting crypto holders and enterprise users by compromising bulk email services. Victims are lured with fake wallet setup instructions that embed attacker-controlled recovery phrases - giving threat actors full access once the wallets are used. A Chinese-linked threat group, ToddyCat, has been exploiting a security vulnerability in ESET's software to deliver a new malware, TCESB, in Asia.
Cybersecurity researchers have discovered that threat actors are creating deceptive websites to spread the SpyNote Android malware. These websites pretend to be Google Play Store pages for popular apps, tricking users into downloading the malware. The malware, also known as SpyMax, steals sensitive data from infected devices and has been linked to a Chinese-speaking threat actor named GoldFactory. It has also been adopted by state-sponsored hacking groups. The malware has been found to be spread through carousel images that download a malicious APK file onto the user's device.
A massive new spam campaign by AkiraBot has been discovered. This campaign has targeted over 400,000 websites, with a focus on SME businesses hosted on platforms like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace. The spam messages promote suspicious SEO services called Akira and ServiceWrap. The campaign uses content generated by an OpenAI LLM, which helps it evade spam filters as the content is unique each time. The framework also rotates the attacker-controlled domains mentioned in the messages, further complicating spam filtering. Since September 2024, AkiraBot has successfully spammed 80,000 websites. It has evolved to target live chat widgets and comments sections, and uses CAPTCHA bypass services and multiple proxy hosts to avoid detection.
A Chinese-linked threat group, ToddyCat, has been exploiting a security vulnerability in ESET's software to deliver a new malware, TCESB, in Asia. The malware uses DLL Search Order Hijacking to gain control of the execution flow, exploiting a flaw in ESET Command Line Scanner, which insecurely loads a DLL named "version.dll." TCESB is a modified version of an open-source tool, EDRSandBlast, and uses the BYOVD technique to install a vulnerable Dell driver, DBUtilDrv2.sys, susceptible to a privilege escalation flaw tracked as CVE-2021-36276.
A latest version of Neptune RAT has been discovered, which uses advanced anti-analysis techniques and persistence methods to maintain its presence on the victim’s system. It comes packed with malicious features, including a crypto clipper, password stealer that exfiltrate credentials from 270+ unique apps, ransomware capabilities, and live desktop monitoring. Neptune RAT uses a technique involving PowerShell commands, irm (Invoke-RestMethod) and iex (Invoke-Expression), to download and execute a batch script and malware payload, establishing a connection between the client and the attacker’s server. The malware has been proliferating across GitHub, Telegram, and YouTube and targeting Windows users.
Netskope discovered a new malicious campaign that distributes the LegionLoader malware using fake CAPTCHAs and CloudFlare Turnstile. This campaign, active since February, targets users searching for PDF documents online. The infection chain begins with a drive-by download from a malicious website, followed by a fake CAPTCHA that redirects victims to a notification page. If victims enable browser notifications, they are guided through a process that ultimately leads to the download of an MSI file containing the LegionLoader payload. The campaign has targeted over 140 Netskope customers, primarily in North America, Asia, and Southern Europe, with a focus on the technology and financial services sectors.
Silent Push spotted a sophisticated cyber threat dubbed PoisonSeed that targets enterprise organizations, VIP individuals, and cryptocurrency holders. The campaign involves compromising CRM and bulk email providers, and deploying a novel "crypto seed phrase" phishing attack. The threat actors have targeted significant platforms like Coinbase, Ledger, Mailchimp, SendGrid, Hubspot, Mailgun, and Zoho. The campaign involves presenting victims with security seed phrases to deceive them into copying and pasting these phrases into new cryptocurrency wallets, which the attackers can later compromise.