Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - January 24–28

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - January 24–28 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing January 28, 2022

The Good

In a fascinating new development, South Korean researchers devised a way to enhance cryptographic security by using silk. Yes, you read that right! Here’s the second one. The dark web marketplace Canadian HeadQuarters was dismantled by Canadian law enforcement. The criminals were issued a hefty fine. There's more. The U.S. government has taken steps to fortify the cybersecurity of water systems in the country, as they have endured quite a lot of attacks in the recent past.

  • Researchers from the South Korean Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) developed a way to enhance digital security by using silk fibers to generate encryption keys. The paper published by them argues that silk properties could be leveraged to create Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs). The researchers used a light-reflecting mirror, three light-emitting diodes, and an image sensor to capture patterns of light reflected off the silk to build a security tag pattern.
  • Canadian officials dismantled the dark web marketplace called Canadian HeadQuarters. The operators were issued over $300,000 in fines and charged with sending phishing emails and violating the country's anti-spam legislation.
  • As per the U.K’s first Cyber Security Strategy, local authorities will receive over $50 million from the government to improve cyber resilience in essential public services and data in housing benefits, electoral management, voter registration, social care, and school grants sectors. This comes as a part of the 2-billion-pound investment program in cyber, stepping up skills and coordination, and retiring legacy IT systems.
  • The White House, CISA, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are launching a 100-day plan to strengthen the cybersecurity of the nation’s water systems. Dubbed the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative—Water and Wastewater Sector Action Plan, the plan will develop a task force of water utility industry leaders, boost incident monitoring pilot programs, offer technical support to water systems in distress, and enhance information sharing.
  • The Biden Administration issued a new cybersecurity memorandum for federal agencies to support the government shift to a zero-trust security model. The plan contains measures such as strict network segmentation, widespread encryption, and MFA implementation, and provides government agencies time until the fiscal year 2024 to implement them.
  • The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested the alleged leader of the Infraud Organization, a hacker group that caused losses of over $560 million in seven years of activity. The arrest was made possible due to coordination among U.S. law enforcement and Russian special services.

The Bad

Lazarus is back in action and, in its latest campaign, used GitHub as a C2 server. The APT group was found using job-themed lures to target engineers. The government sector is still not safe from cyberattacks as the Canadian government’s foreign affairs ministry became the latest victim. Another malicious app made its way into the Google Play Store and was downloaded thousands of times before being removed.

  • The China-based APT27 threat group is targeting German commercial organizations with the HyperBro RAT in an ongoing campaign by abusing flaws in Zoho AdSelfService Plus software. The malware enables the threat actors to maintain persistence on the victims’ network by acting as a backdoor with remote administration capabilities.
  • The notorious Lazarus threat actor group has been associated with a series of spear-phishing attacks, using job-themed lures impersonating Lockheed Martin. The attackers made use of the Windows Update service and GitHub to execute malicious payloads. The malware used GitHub as its C2.
  • A premium subscription fraud campaign targeted over 100 million Android users. Called Dark Herring, the campaign leveraged 470 Google Play Store apps to affect users, potentially causing a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. The campaign was active in 70 countries and asked users to subscribe to premium services at a price of $15 per month.
  • Threat actors have been found leveraging Microsoft OneDrive services for C2 purposes to target high-ranking government officials in a West Asian nation. The APT28 aka Fancy Bear group is believed to be behind the campaign. It exploits the recently discovered remote code execution flaw, CVE-2021-40444, in MSHTML. The malware used in the campaign is dubbed Graphite.
  • The Canadian government confirmed that its foreign affairs ministry, Global Affairs Canada, was affected by a cyberattack. The incident was detected on January 19, after which mitigation actions were taken. The attack did not affect any other departments of the Canadian government network.
  • Finland’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-Fi) warned of an ongoing phishing campaign trying to take over Facebook accounts by pretending to be the victims’ friends in Messenger chat. The agency stated that Facebook users who received texts from online acquaintances for their phone numbers and verification number are victims of the scam. The scammers have created around 40,000 phishing pages to target users across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
  • More than 100,000 malicious SMS messages attempting to distribute the FluBot trojan were intercepted by researchers. The attacks were active in Australia, Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, and Italy. In a different incident, the TeaBot trojan was found lurking on the Google Play Store in the form of a QR scanner app to infect Android users across the globe.
  • A malicious 2FA app was removed from the Google Play Store after over 10,000 downloads. The fully functional app came loaded with the Vultur stealer, aiming to steal financial and banking information from the victims. By asking for extra permissions, the scam app was also able to access user location data, disable password and device lock security, and take control of the device even if it is switched off.

New Threats

Active for at least eight years, Konni RAT means business. Its operators have adjusted its code to make it stealthier. Speaking about new malware strains, BRATA has three new variants that can now perform factory reset on compromised devices. Another malware news for you. The new DazzleSpy malware was discovered conducting watering hole attacks against Android and Windows users.

  • Several variants of the BotenaGo botnet have been observed in a series of new attack campaigns targeting routers and IoT devices globally. This development comes after researchers found the malware source code uploaded to GitHub, allowing threat actors to create their own versions to launch attacks.

  • Konni RAT received significant updates and is being actively developed. Its evasion capabilities have been upgraded. The malware has also transitioned from base64 encoding to AES encryption to its string for obfuscation purposes. Moreover, some samples were found using an unknown packer, however, it has not been observed in real-world scenarios yet.

  • The Android malware BRATA has upgraded its features to perform a factory reset on compromised devices to wipe all traces of malicious activity. The malware has three new strains that have targeted online banking users in the U.K, Poland, Italy, Spain, China, and Latin America. Some new capabilities added to the new variants include keylogging functionality and GPS tracking.

  • Cybercriminals are hijacking the Instagram accounts of companies and influencers in a new campaign to extort the targeted users with a ransom. The threat actors send a message pretending to be from Instagram, notifying the users of copyright infringement. The campaign has reportedly been active since 2021 and hackers are selling access to the hijacked accounts for $40,000.

  • A new malware, dubbed DazzleSpy, has come to light during the investigation of a watering hole attack targeting Windows and Android users. ESET researchers found that the group also targeted macOS users and visitors of a pro-democracy radio station website in Hong Kong. Moreover, the attackers had exploited a WebKit flaw in Safari as part of the infection chain.

  • The new DeadBolt ransomware is encrypting QNAP NAS devices by exploiting a zero-day flaw in the device software. The ransomware appends .deadbolt extension to the encrypted files and drops a ransom note, demanding a ransom of 0.03 bitcoin. QNAP has force-updated customers’ NAS devices.

  • A mobile malware infection chain dating back to September 2021 was used to distribute a new malware, dubbed TianySpy. The malware was designed to steal credentials associated with membership websites of major Japanese telecommunication services. It targeted both Android and iPhone users.

  • A phishing email scam is targeting Amazon users with a fake subscription message that claims to lock their accounts. The email uses the Amazon logo to add authenticity. The email warns users that there was a problem in authorizing the payment for renewing their Prime Membership, as the billing information did not match the information in the card issuer file. The email, further, asks the recipients to take immediate action to prevent their accounts from being locked.

Related Threat Briefings

Aug 29, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, August 25–29, 2025

From cryptocurrency scams to software vulnerabilities, recent global efforts showcase robust responses to sophisticated cyber threats. Cryptocurrency firms, including Chainalysis, Binance, OKX, and Tether, froze $46.9 million in funds stolen through Southeast Asia-based "romance baiting" scams, targeting victims via fake investment schemes. Meanwhile, the CISA introduced the new ‘Software Acquisition Guide: Supplier Response Web Tool’ to empower organizations to integrate cybersecurity into their procurement processes, addressing software supply chain vulnerabilities. Posing as a golden ticket from the Bangladesh Education Board, SikkahBot is preying on students with fake scholarship lures. Active since July 2024, this Android malware grabs high-risk permissions to intercept SMS and steal financial data. A data theft campaign attributed to UNC6395 targeted Salesforce instances via compromised OAuth tokens linked to the Salesloft Drift app, exfiltrating sensitive credentials. Blind Eagle's shadow looms over Colombia, with five activity clusters unleashing RATs and phishing on government sectors from May 2024 to July 2025. Click Studios is sounding the alarm on a dangerous flaw in Passwordstate’s password manager. This authentication bypass lets attackers access the admin section via a crafted URL. Truesec uncovered a cybercrime campaign distributing a trojanized "AppSuite PDF Editor" via Google ads, installing "TamperedChef" malware that steals credentials and web cookies. The Sangoma FreePBX Security Team has warned about an actively exploited zero-day vulnerability in FreePBX servers with the Administrator Control Panel (ACP) exposed to the internet.

Aug 22, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, August 18–22, 2025

As cyber threats evolve, global takedown efforts are stepping up to safeguard digital ecosystems. INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti arrested 1,209 cybercriminals across 18 African nations, recovering $97.4 million and dismantling over 11,000 malicious infrastructures. In another coordinated operation, U.S. authorities seized the Rapper Bot DDoS botnet, which had been active since 2021 and targeted 18,000 victims across 80 countries. The Python Package Index (PyPI) introduced defenses against domain resurrection attacks to prevent account hijacking and supply chain attacks. Berserk Bear hackers are wielding a seven-year-old Cisco flaw to infiltrate global critical infrastructure. Exploiting CVE-2018-0171, these FSB-linked attackers trigger device reloads and use custom SNMP tools. MuddyWater APT is targeting CFOs with spear-phishing, using Firebase-hosted phishing pages and custom CAPTCHAs. With a diplomat’s charm, malicious emails are smuggling XenoRAT into South Korea’s embassies via GitHub traps. Since March, this spearphishing spree has targeted European missions. Masquerading as an Australian electronics store, Cookie Spider’s malvertising campaign unleashed the AMOS malware on over 300 targets. Fraudsters posing as celebrity podcast reps are reeling in business owners with a bait. This podcast imposter scam lures victims into tech-check calls that grant remote access. A zero-day flaw has Apple racing to patch millions of devices with emergency iOS and iPadOS updates.

Aug 8, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, August 04–08, 2025

In the wake of recent cyberattacks, the US federal judiciary is locking down sensitive court documents with a fortified approach to cybersecurity. Courts nationwide are enforcing stricter access controls, monitored handling procedures, and a mandatory IT security “scorecard” for annual self-assessments to pinpoint vulnerabilities. DARPA is raising the stakes at DEF CON, pitting seven AI-powered cyber reasoning systems against each other to secure the open-source software underpinning critical infrastructure. These autonomous tools, designed to detect and patch vulnerabilities in code vital to water systems and financial institutions, analyzed 7.8 million lines in preliminary rounds, catching 59% of synthetic flaws and uncovering real ones. Akira ransomware is striking with surgical precision, exploiting a suspected zero-day flaw in SonicWall SSL VPN devices, even those fully patched. Since mid-July 2025, attackers have used Virtual Private Server logins to bypass MFA, hitting multiple targets in rapid succession. A stealthy Python-based PXA Stealer is sweeping across 62 countries, pilfering sensitive data from unsuspecting victims. This infostealer campaign has exfiltrated hundreds of thousands of passwords and more. Phishing emails disguised as court summons are delivering a malicious payload to Ukrainian government and defense sectors, courtesy of UAC-0099. A cunning Android RAT, PlayPraetor, is sweeping through six countries, already compromising over 11,000 devices with its deceptive tactics. It masquerades as legitimate apps via fake Google Play Store pages and Meta Ads. ClickTok is luring TikTok Shop users into a trap with a crafty blend of phishing and malware. This global campaign deploys over 10,000 fake TikTok websites and 5,000 malicious apps, impersonating TikTok’s e-commerce platforms to steal cryptocurrency wallet credentials. Ghost Calls, a new evasion tactic, is turning Zoom and Microsoft Teams into covert channels for malicious activity, slipping past traditional defenses with ease.

Aug 1, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, July 28–August 01, 2025

Picture this: a tool so fast it dissects malware at lightning speed, giving your team the edge in a digital arms race. Meet Thorium, the CISA’s latest open-source gem. This platform automates cyberattack investigations, processing over 1,700 jobs per second and ingesting 10 million files per hour per permission group. Meanwhile, as AI reshapes the battlefield, OWASP is arming professionals with fresh guidance to secure agentic AI applications driven by LLMs. It’s a playbook for locking down user authentication with OAuth 2.0, encrypting sensitive data, and bolstering supply chain security. Cybercriminals are donning digital disguises, impersonating trusted enterprises with fake Microsoft OAuth applications to steal credentials and bypass multi-factor authentication. Hackers exploited a critical SAP NetWeaver flaw to deploy the Auto-Color Linux malware. This malware, equipped with a rootkit and adaptive evasion tactics, adjusts its behavior based on user privileges. Operation CargoTalon, tied to threat cluster UNG0901, targeted organizations with EAGLET malware hidden in fake invoice files, quietly siphoning off sensitive data to a C2 server. A newly discovered cyberattack technique, dubbed Man in the Prompt, is turning browser extensions into unwitting accomplices in data theft from generative AI tools. DoubleTrouble is targeting users through Discord-hosted APKs, disguising itself as a legitimate app to slip past defenses. A stealthy Android banking trojan, RedHook, is targeting Vietnamese users through phishing sites mimicking trusted agencies. Spread via a malicious APK on an exposed AWS S3 bucket, it exploits accessibility services to steal credentials and banking details, with over 500 infections tied to Chinese-speaking actors.

Jul 25, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, July 21–25, 2025

The BlackSuit ransomware crew just lost its home turf. As part of Operation Checkmate, international law enforcement has seized the group’s dark web extortion and negotiation sites. New York is taking aim at cyber threats to its water systems. A newly proposed set of regulations outlines mandatory IT and OT cybersecurity measures for water and wastewater infrastructure, aligning with federal guidelines and introducing funding to support modernization across the state. Not every scam needs sophistication, sometimes all it takes is a lonely heart and a convincing profile picture. SarangTrap, a massive mobile spyware campaign, is luring victims on Android and iOS through fake dating apps. Storm-2603 is slipping through SharePoint’s cracks and locking the doors behind it. The suspected China-based threat group is exploiting two SharePoint vulnerabilities to deploy Warlock ransomware. A trusted source turned treacherous. Hackers launched a supply chain attack on Arch Linux by slipping malware into three AUR packages. These packages silently deployed a RAT that gave attackers persistent control over infected machines. A browser tweak here, a fake mod there, and suddenly your crypto wallet spills its secrets. In a new campaign, the Scavenger trojan exploits DLL Search Order Hijacking to infiltrate password managers and wallets. A new RaaS group called Chaos is conducting high-impact ransomware campaigns through a number of tactics, using remote management tools for long-term access. Mimo is getting stealthier and greedier. The financially motivated group has moved from targeting Craft CMS to Magento, exploiting PHP-FPM vulnerabilities to deploy malware via fileless techniques.

Jul 18, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, July 14–18, 2025

A keyboard army just lost its command center. Europol’s Operation Eastwood has crippled the pro-Russian hacktivist group NoName057(16). The international effort, involving law enforcement from 12 nations, led to two arrests and the takedown of over 100 servers linked to the group’s “DDoSia” project. Britain wants bug-hunters on its side. The NCSC has launched the Vulnerability Research Initiative, a new program inviting external researchers to help uncover security flaws in widely used hardware and software. Cisco Talos uncovered a MaaS campaign targeting Ukraine, where attackers used Amadey malware and GitHub repositories to stage payloads. The setup mimics tactics from a SmokeLoader phishing operation. Over 600 malicious domains are distributing fake Telegram APKs to unsuspecting users. Most are hosted in China and exploit the Janus vulnerability in Android. Users who trusted GravityForms’ official site got more than they expected. A supply chain attack injected backdoors into plugin files distributed via the official site and Composer. The H2Miner botnet has resurfaced with updated scripts that mine Monero, kill rival malware, and deploy multiple malware. Bundled with it is Lcrypt0rx, a likely AI-generated ransomware that exhibits sloppy logic, malformed syntax, and weak encryption using XOR. A new Konfety variant uses the same package name as a legitimate app but hides the real payload in a lookalike version distributed through third-party stores. One sandbox escape makes five. Google patched a high-severity Chrome flaw that lets attackers break out of the browser’s sandbox using crafted HTML and unvalidated GPU commands.

Jul 4, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, June 30–July 04, 2025

It looked like a crypto investment until €460 million vanished. Operation BORRELLI dismantled a global fraud ring that scammed over 5,000 victims, with arrests in Madrid and the Canary Islands. A fake workforce was quietly funding a real regime. The DoJ disrupted a North Korean scheme where remote IT workers used stolen identities to get jobs at over 100 U.S. companies. The operation funneled $5 million to the DPRK, exposed military tech, and led to raids across 16 states. Sometimes, the app that looks harmless is just the decoy. Recent investigations uncovered massive Android fraud schemes, including IconAds and Kaleidoscope, which used icon hiding, fake apps, and third-party distribution to flood ad networks with billions of fake requests. Two different names - same tactics, same tools, same playbook. Researchers have found striking overlaps between TA829 and the lesser-known UNK_GreenSec, both of which use phishing lures and REM Proxy services through compromised MikroTik routers. It starts with what looks like an official message from the Colombian government. Behind it is a phishing campaign delivering DCRAT, a modular remote access tool designed for theft and system control. Botnet operators are now turning broken routers into system wreckers. RondoDox is a new Linux-based botnet exploiting CVE-2024-3721 and CVE-2024-12856 to gain remote access to TBK DVRs and Four-Faith routers. That Zoom update request on Telegram? It could be a trap. North Korean actors are deploying NimDoor malware to infiltrate Web3 and crypto platforms using social engineering via Telegram. Google has patched CVE-2025-6554, a critical zero-day in Chrome’s V8 engine that was exploited in the wild to execute arbitrary code.

Jun 27, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, June 23–27, 2025

A Common Good Cyber Fund was launched to support non-profits delivering critical cybersecurity services for public benefit. The fund is backed by the U.K and Canada, with G7 leaders endorsing similar initiatives. A phishing email is all it takes to breach critical infrastructure. The OneClik APT campaign is targeting energy and oil sectors using Microsoft ClickOnce to deliver a .NET loader and Golang backdoor. A handful of outdated routers is all it takes to build a persistent espionage network. The LapDogs campaign is targeting SOHO devices with a custom backdoor called ShortLeash, giving attackers root access and control over compromised systems. A familiar package name could be hiding far more than useful code. North Korean actors behind the Contagious Interview campaign have published 35 malicious npm packages, including keyloggers and multi-stage malware. A fake Windows update might just be the start of something worse. The EvilConwi campaign is abusing ConnectWise ScreenConnect to deliver signed malware through tampered installers. Encrypted messaging apps aren’t immune to state-backed malware delivery. APT28 is targeting Ukrainian government entities via Signal, sharing macro-laced documents that deploy a backdoor named Covenant. Some WordPress plugins are doing a lot more than extending site functionality. Researchers uncovered a long-running malware campaign that uses rogue plugins to skim credit card data, steal credentials, and manage backend systems on infected sites.

Jun 20, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, June 16–20, 2025

As cybercriminals weave intricate webs in the digital underworld, global defenders are cutting through the chaos. Six nations toppled Archetyp Market, a darknet drug bazaar with €250 million ($288 million) in Monero deals, nabbing its admin and vendors while seizing €7.8 million ($9 million) in assets. The U.K unveiled a Cyber Growth Action Plan, injecting £16m ($21.2m) to fortify its £13.2bn ($17.5bn) cybersecurity industry after attacks bled retailers like M&S. Stateside, the U.S. reclaimed $225 million in crypto from investment scams, marking the Secret Service’s biggest digital heist bust yet. Cloud services are being quietly turned into covert attack channels. The Serpentine#Cloud campaign is abusing Cloudflare Tunnels and Python to deploy fileless malware via invoice-themed phishing lures. A popular WordPress plugin is exposing sites to full takeover. It affects the AI Engine plugin, impacting over 100,000 websites and opening the door to site-wide compromise. An official-looking email from the tax department may be anything but. Silver Fox APT is targeting Taiwanese users with phishing emails posing as the National Taxation Bureau, delivering malware like Winos 4.0, HoldingHands RAT, and Gh0stCringe. A new Android trojan is turning devices into data-harvesting tools under attackers’ full control. Attributed to the LARVA-398 group, AntiDot has infected thousands of devices through phishing and malicious ads. A fake job offer could now come bundled with custom-built spyware. PylangGhost is targeting crypto professionals in India. Delivered through spoofed job sites, the malware includes registry tampering, remote control, and data exfiltration modules aimed at compromising Windows systems. One compromised travel site is now a launchpad for infostealer infections. A new ClickFix variant, LightPerlGirl, is using fake Cloudflare CAPTCHA prompts and clipboard hijacking to deliver the Lumma infostealer.