Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 08 - 12, 2021

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 08 - 12, 2021 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing • February 12, 2021

The Good

This year seems to be bringing out the humanity in threat actors, at least in some. Another ransomware shut down shop and apologized for being a pain. Also, let me ask you a question. What do musicians, influencers, and sports celebrities have in common? All of them got more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen from them. But, fret not. Suspects have been arrested.

  • The Ziggy ransomware gang apologized on Telegram for its activities and announced shutting down its operations. It has released the decryption keys.
  • Google announced launching a database for open source vulnerabilities, which would be a triage infrastructure for open source projects.
  • CyberArk researchers released BlobHunter, an open-source tool organizations can use to discover unsecured Azure blobs containing sensitive files inadvertently exposed by them.
  • The UK National Crime Agency, in coordination with the Europol, arrested ten suspects who siphoned off $100 million in cryptocurrency in numerous SIM-swapping attacks targeted at high-profile U.S. celebrities.

The Bad

Attacks on critical infrastructure just got extreme where physical risks to lives could be incurred. This week made us all ponder over the severity of cyberwar after an intruder tried poisoning a Florida city’s water supply. The alleged source code of Witcher 3 was put on auction. Lastly, Conti means business and by business, it means leaking data until the victims end up paying. This week two healthcare providers fell prey to this ignominious ransomware.

  • Hacktivists hijacked and defaced the DNS records of several Sri Lankan websites that include Google.lk and Oracle.lk. Users visiting these sites were redirected to web pages detailing various social issues impacting the local population.
  • Iranian threat actor group, Charming Kitten, has been linked with a massive cyberespionage campaign that involves the use of Furball spyware. The spyware is distributed via malicious wallpaper and gaming apps.
  • A hacker hacked into a water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida, in an attempt to poison the water supply by increasing the level of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye.
  • A cyberattack on Charles J.Hilton & Associates P.C. (CJH) potentially exposed the personal health information of more than 36,000 patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).
  • First, the Polish video game company CD Projekt revealed falling victim to a cyberattack that affected some of its internal systems. Later, its source code for GWENT was leaked on a popular hacking forum in what appears to be a double extortion strategy. Now, threat actors are found auctioning the alleged source code for CD Projekt Red games, including The Witcher 3, Thronebreaker, and Cyberpunk 2077.
  • Conti ransomware operators published patients’ data stolen from two U.S. hospital chains. The affected organizations are the Florida-based Leon Medical Centers and Nocona-General Hospital in Texas.
  • Finnish therapy psychotherapy practice firm, Vastaamo, has declared bankruptcy after falling victim to a horrific security breach. The problem first began in 2018, when the firm discovered that a database of customer details and notes had been accessed by hackers.
  • A database belonging to Ukraine’s PrivatBank is being offered for sale on a popular hacking forum. It contains 40 million records that include full names, dates of birth, places of birth, passport details, and phone numbers of customers.
  • Singtel and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute are investigating potential data breaches caused by vulnerabilities in Accellion’s file-sharing system.
  • No Support Linux Hosting came to a close due to a breach that impacted the company’s entire operation, including its official website, admin section, and customer database.

New threats

It’s the second week of February and apparently, love is in the air. However, do you know what else is in the air and all around you? Love scams! Along with this deception, we saw the emergence of a new ransomware strain that is no longer reliant on a C2 server for communication. Such tech, much danger. Before signing off, we also need to mention that the BazarBackdoor malware got a makeover and now it can evade detection.

  • Zeoticus 2.0 ransomware emerged on the threat landscape and doesn’t depend on a C2 server. It relies on faster encryption algorithms such as XChaCha20, Poly1305, XSalsa202, and Curve25519.
  • A new phishing attack campaign has been observed using Morse code to hide malicious URLs in an email attachment. The ultimate goal is to bypass secure email gateways or mail filters during the infection process.
  • A set of nine new vulnerabilities, collectively known as Number:Jack, was identified in multiple TCP/IP stacks used by millions of IoT and OT devices. These flaws could allow attackers to intercept and manipulate data.
  • A newly discovered variant of the LodaRAT malware is targeting Windows and Android devices in a new espionage campaign. Linked to the Kasablanka threat actor group, the malware is used to spy on users in Bangladesh.
  • BendyBear is a new, highly sophisticated malware potentially linked to the BlackTech hacking group. The malware has features and behavior that strongly resembles the WaterBear malware family that has been active since 2009. It leverages the existing Windows registry key that is enabled by default on Windows 10.
  • BazarBackdoor malware has been rewritten in the Nim programming language with a purpose to evade detection by security software. Once a computer becomes infected, BazarBackdoor is used to provide the threat actors remote access to the computer to spread laterally throughout a network.
  • Researchers have uncovered two malware families called Hornbill and Sunbird targeting military, nuclear, and election entities in India and Pakistan. The two malware are capable of exfiltrating SMS messages, encrypted messaging app content and geolocation, and other sensitive information.
  • UAE and Kuwait government agencies are targets of a new cyberespionage campaign potentially carried out by the Iran-based MuddyWater threat actor group. The objective of the campaign is to install a remote management tool called ScreenConnect, customized with malware samples and URLs masquerading as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • Pre-valentine malware attacks were found to be sent via emails confirming hefty orders from flower and lingerie shops, Rose World and Ajour, respectively. This spear-phishing attack directs victims to a malicious document that executes the BazaLoader malware.
  • Adobe is warning of a critical buffer overflow vulnerability being exploited in the wild. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2021-21017, is being used to target Adobe Reader users on Windows. It can lead to arbitrary execution of code on affected systems.

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Jun 20, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, June 16–20, 2025

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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, June 02–06, 2025

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May 9, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, May 05–09, 2025

Another blow to DDoS-for-hire networks. Europol has shut down six services used to launch global cyberattacks, arresting suspects in Poland and seizing domains in the U.S. The UN has launched a new framework to help policymakers make sense of cyber intrusions. Called UNIDIR Intrusion Path, it complements models like MITRE ATT&CK but simplifies the technical details. It breaks down attacker activity into three layers, making it easier to evaluate threats in a policy context. Old routers are becoming cybercrime goldmines. The FBI has warned that end-of-life routers are being hijacked with malware like TheMoon and sold on proxy networks such as 5Socks and Anyproxy. These compromised devices are used for crypto theft, cybercrime-as-a-service, and even espionage. Crypto users on Discord are the latest targets of a phishing campaign tied to Inferno Drainer. Attackers were found impersonating the Collab.Land bot to trick users into signing malicious transactions. The Play ransomware group has joined the list of actors exploiting CVE-2025-29824. This Windows zero-day in the CLFS driver enables privilege escalation via a race condition during file operations. Linked to the Balloonfly group, the attacks targeted a U.S. organization and included deployment of the Grixba infostealer. COLDRIVER’s latest malware, LOSTKEYS, is now in play. The Russian state-backed group is deploying this tool to steal files and system data from advisors, journalists, NGOs, and individuals linked to Ukraine. Agenda’s playbook just got upgraded. The ransomware group has added two new tools: SmokeLoader and a stealthy .NET-based loader called NETXLOADER. The latter leverages techniques like JIT hooking and AES decryption to deploy ransomware. Corporate HR teams are the latest target in a spear-phishing spree by Venom Spider. Disguised as job applications, these emails deliver More_eggs backdoor, now upgraded with advanced features.

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Apr 25, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 21–25, 2025

AI security finally has a global playbook. ETSI has released TS 104 223, a first-of-its-kind technical specification outlining how to secure AI systems across their entire lifecycle - from design to decommissioning. MITRE’s latest update is catching up with the cloud. ATT&CK v17 expands the framework to include ESXi and adds more than 140 defensive analytics. Platform-specific data collection advice, improved mitigation mapping, and deeper coverage of mobile threats like SIM swaps round out the upgrade. An APT group with deep roots in Southeast Asia is quietly siphoning data through everyday cloud platforms. Earth Kurma has been active since late 2020, targeting government and telecom entities across the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Signal and WhatsApp are the new frontline for cloud compromise. Russian actors are running OAuth phishing campaigns against Microsoft 365 users tied to Ukraine and human rights work. A forged email that passes every security check - that’s the new phishing trick. Attackers are using DKIM replay tactics to forward legitimate Google security alerts to unsuspecting victims. It starts with a fake sales order and ends with FormBook silently stealing your data. A recent phishing campaign has been abusing a long-patched Microsoft flaw to deliver a fileless variant of the malware. Docker containers aren’t always what they seem. A new threat named TenoBot is targeting systems running outdated Teneo Web3 node software, deploying malicious containers to hijack environments. A stealthy new RAT is slipping through Ivanti Connect Secure devices in Japan. Dubbed DslogdRAT, the malware exploits a zero-day flaw to execute commands via web shell and quietly exfiltrate data using encoded C2 traffic.

Apr 18, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 14–18, 2025

The U.S. is drawing a hard line on data outflows. The DOJ’s new Data Security Program aims to block foreign adversaries, specifically nations like China and Russia, from acquiring sensitive American data through commercial channels. SSL certificates are about to expire a lot faster. In a move to tighten digital trust, the CA/Browser Forum has approved a gradual reduction in certificate lifespans - from the current 398 days to just 47 by 2029. One email, three stages, and no files to catch. Agent Tesla is being deployed through spam campaigns that use archive attachments with embedded JavaScript. They look like browser helpers, but they act like spyware. A set of 57 Chrome extensions have been found snooping on users. XorDDoS is now compromising Docker servers and deploying new features tied to a “VIP” variant. Most of the recent activity is hitting U.S. infrastructure. UNC5174 is keeping a low profile, but its targets aren’t. Active since late 2024, the Chinese state-linked group has been compromising Linux systems using a malicious bash script that drops SNOWLIGHT malware and a fileless VShell RAT. A wine-tasting invite with a side of malware. APT29, the Russian state-aligned group, is targeting European diplomatic networks with phishing lures disguised as event announcements.