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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - August 23–27

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - August 23–27 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing Aug 27, 2021

The Good

Why are ransomware gangs shutting down operations? We aren’t complaining; we’d just like to know why. Anyway, another gang, known as Ragnarok, closed shops and released its master decryptor. Yay! In other news, the U.S. and the U.K are taking positive steps into strengthening their cybersecurity stance.

  • The FBI released its first-ever public advisory elaborating the behavior of a ransomware affiliate named OnePercent Group, known for its well-structured extortion technique.

  • The Ragnarok ransomware gang shut down its operations and released a master key for its victims.

  • The U.K is planning on changing data protection and privacy laws, which are anticipated to promote economic growth and innovation. The data adequacy partnership will enable Britain to trade with countries such as the U.S., the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Singapore.

  • Post a cybersecurity meeting at the White House, several tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon pledged to invest billions to enhance the nation’s cyber resilience.

  • A U.S. national living in Turkey admitted to being the primary culprit behind the massive T-Mobile hack that affected at least 50 million customers.

The Bad

The week was rife with attacks on healthcare providers, including Eskenazi Health and Atlanta Allergy & Asthma. Talking about cyberattacks, new reports emerged claiming a possible breach at the U.S. State Department this month. Now, imagine your secretive software program allowed unauthorized access to sensitive data because of a glitch. Grim! This is exactly what happened with the Palantir software used by the FBI.

  • Indiana-based Eskenazi Health disclosed that a ransomware attack pilfered patient data and leaked the stolen information. In the aftermath, its EHR experienced a downtime.

  • Eye & Retina Surgeons suffered a ransomware attack that impacted clinical data, including clinical notes and eye scans of about 73,500 patients.

  • A glitch in Palantir—a secretive software program used by the FBI—enabled some employees to gain unauthorized access to confidential data. This went on for more than a year.

  • A data breach at Chico State University exposed the personal information of 130 students who requested religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination.

  • Users of OpenSea, a peer-to-peer marketplace for NFTs, were targeted in an ongoing Discord phishing attack to steal cryptocurrency funds and NFTs.

  • The Belgian Police singled out eight Android apps hosting Joker malware. The virus is capable of subscribing the user to payment services without users’ authorization.

  • Atlanta Allergy & Asthma informed nearly 9,800 patients of a data breach that blurted out their PHI such as SSNs, financial details, and treatment-related information.

  • Cybercriminals swindled nearly $2.3 million from the employees of the Town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, using spoofed email accounts and forged documents, the Town administrator announced in a press release.

  • Thousands of web apps laid bare 38 million sensitive records from a number of COVID-19 contact tracing platforms, vaccination sign-ups, job portals, and employee databases.

  • The U.S. State Department suspected a breach after an unauthorized actor infiltrated its network. It claimed no significant disruption in its daily operations.

New Threats

Discord has become a pretty popular space for cybercriminals because of its varied functionalities. A new malware has recently made Discord its home and used it to deploy multiple malware on targeted systems. This section would be incomplete without the mention of at least one scam. Hurricane-related scams are the latest entrant in the huge wave of scams victimizing people. On a different tangent, South Asian countries are being targeted by a new cyberespionage campaign that has been active for more than a year.

  • Financially motivated FIN8 group attempted to compromise the networks of a U.S. financial organization using a new malware - Sardonic.
  • A PowerShell script used by the Pysa ransomware shows that the gang is seeking out files containing the financial and personal information of victims. The script includes a list of 123 keywords that helps the threat actors perform manual sweeps of data.
  • A U.S.-based computer retail firm was targeted by the new SideWalk backdoor in a recent campaign by a Chinese APT. The backdoor shares multiple similarities with CROSSWALK, another backdoor used by the group.
  • A new malware VIPSpace leverages the Discord platform to deploy up to 25 different malware and cripple targeted systems.
  • A new espionage campaign, active since July 2020, is targeting public and private companies in South Asian countries. The campaign uses shellcode loaders and the ScrambleCross backdoor.
  • A phishing campaign is deploying a new variant of Konni RAT to target users in Russia.
  • Several new variants of the PRISM backdoor have managed to fly under the radar for over 3.5 years. One of the variants found is identified as WaterDrop.
  • The CISA is warning users about hurricane-related scams that trick victims into handing over their funds and personal details.
  • Mirai-based botnet operators were found exploiting a new security flaw in the Realtek SDK, impacting hundreds of thousands of devices.

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Feb 14, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 10–14, 2025

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Feb 7, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 03–07, 2025

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Jan 10, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, January 06–10, 2025

The U.K is fortifying its digital defenses with the launch of Cyber Local, a £1.9 million initiative to bridge cyber skills gaps and secure the digital economy. Spanning 30 projects across England and Northern Ireland, the scheme emphasizes local business resilience, neurodiverse talent, and cybersecurity careers for youth. Across the Atlantic, the White House introduced the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, a consumer-friendly cybersecurity labeling program for smart devices. Overseen by the FCC, the initiative tests products like baby monitors and security systems for compliance with rigorous cybersecurity standards, ensuring Americans can make safer choices for their connected homes. China-linked threat actor RedDelta has ramped up its cyber-espionage activities across Asia, targeting nations such as Mongolia, Taiwan, Myanmar, and Vietnam with a modified PlugX backdoor. Cybercriminals have weaponized trust by deploying a fake PoC exploit tied to a patched Microsoft Windows LDAP vulnerability. CrowdStrike reported a phishing operation impersonating the company, using fake job offers to lure victims into downloading a fraudulent CRM application. Once installed, the malware deploys a Monero cryptocurrency miner. A new Mirai-based botnet, dubbed Gayfemboy, has emerged as a formidable threat, leveraging zero-day exploits in industrial routers and smart home devices. With 15,000 active bot nodes daily across China, the U.S., and Russia, the botnet executes high-intensity DDoS attacks exceeding 100 Gbps. In the Middle East, fraudsters are posing as government officials in a social engineering scheme targeting disgruntled customers. Cybercriminals have weaponized WordPress with a malicious plugin named PhishWP to create realistic fake payment pages mimicking services like Stripe. The plugin not only captures payment details in real time but also sends fake confirmation emails to delay detection.

Dec 20, 2024

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, December 16–20, 2024

In a digital age where borders are blurred, governments are sharpening their strategies to outpace cyber adversaries. The draft update to the National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP) introduces a comprehensive framework for managing nationwide cyberattacks that impact critical infrastructure and the economy. Meanwhile, the fiscal year 2025 defense policy bill, recently approved by the Senate, emphasizes strengthening cybersecurity measures both at home and abroad. A deceptive health app on the Amazon Appstore turned out to be a Trojan horse for spyware. Masquerading as BMI CalculationVsn, the app recorded device screens, intercepted SMS messages, and scanned for installed apps to steal sensitive data. Malicious extensions targeting developers and cryptocurrency projects have infiltrated the VSCode marketplace and NPM. Disguised as productivity tools, these extensions employed downloader functionality to deliver obfuscated PowerShell payloads. The BADBOX botnet has resurfaced, compromising over 192,000 Android devices, including high-end smartphones and smart TVs, directly from the supply chain. Industrial control systems are facing heightened risks as malware like Ramnit and Chaya_003 targets engineering workstations from Mitsubishi and Siemens. Both malware families exploit legitimate services, complicating detection and mitigation efforts in ICS environments. The Chinese hacking group Winnti has been leveraging a PHP backdoor called Glutton, targeting organizations in China and the U.S. This modular ELF-based malware facilitates tailored attacks across industries and even embeds itself into software packages to compromise other cybercriminals. A tax-themed phishing campaign, dubbed FLUX#CONSOLE, is deploying backdoor payloads to compromise systems in Pakistan. Threat actors employ phishing emails with double-extension files masquerading as PDFs.

Dec 13, 2024

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, December 09–13, 2024

Cybercrime’s web of deception unraveled in South Korea as authorities dismantled a fraud network responsible for extorting $6.3 million through fake online trading platforms. Dubbed Operation Midas, the effort led to the arrest of 32 individuals and the seizure of 20 servers. In a significant move to combat surveillance abuses, the U.S. defense policy bill for 2025 introduced measures to shield military and diplomatic personnel from commercial spyware threats. The legislation calls for stringent cybersecurity standards, a review of spyware incidents, and regular reporting to Congress. The subtle art of deception found a new stage with a Microsoft Teams call, as attackers used social engineering to manipulate victims into granting remote access. By convincing users to install AnyDesk, they gained control of systems, executing commands to download the DarkGate malware. Russian APT Secret Blizzard has resurfaced and used the Amadey bot to infiltrate Ukrainian military devices and deploy their Tavdig backdoor. In a phishing spree dubbed "Aggressive Inventory Zombies (AIZ)," scammers impersonated brands like Etsy, Amazon, and Binance to target retail and crypto audiences. Surveillance has reached unsettling new depths with the discovery of BoneSpy and PlainGnome, two spyware families linked to the Russian group Gamaredon. Designed for extensive espionage, these Android malware tools track GPS, capture audio, and harvest data. A new Android banking trojan has already caused havoc among Indian users, masquerading as utility and banking apps to steal sensitive financial information. With 419 devices compromised, the malware intercepts SMS messages, exfiltrates personal data via Supabase, and even tricks victims into entering details under the pretense of bill payment. Iranian threat actors have set their sights on critical infrastructure, deploying IOCONTROL malware to infiltrate IoT and OT/SCADA systems in Israel and the U.S.

Dec 6, 2024

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, December 02–06, 2024

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