Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - July 03–07

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - July 03–07 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing • July 7, 2023

The Good

The implementation of robust cybersecurity measures necessitates adequate funding, alongside other crucial elements. This week, the General Services Administration (GSA) has taken significant strides toward addressing this need for key federal departments. The agency has diverted a huge sum of money to the Labor Department and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) which will help improve their security postures. In another major achievement, the UK’s NCA successfully dismantled a multi-million dollar scam operation that targeted elderly people.

  • The GSA’s Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) made new investments to improve the cybersecurity postures of the Department of Labor and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While the Labor Department will use $15.2 million for zero-trust architecture, the EPA will invest its $2.5 million into the security of its analytical radiation data system.

  • Security researchers at Avast released a free decryption tool to decrypt files encrypted by Akira ransomware. The ransomware first emerged in March and encrypted files using .akira extensions. It has been blamed for a number of high-profile attacks on universities, financial institutions, and even a daycare center for children.

  • The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) busted a multi-million dollar scam that targeted elderly people by pretending as police officers and cold-calling them. They informed them that their relative was involved in an accident that led to the death of others. The agency arrested around a dozen of suspects in the scam.

The Bad

It was not all good in cyberspace. Several massive security incidents that either led to the leak of users’ data or disruption in operations were also reported this week. A major bottling company made a public announcement, confirming that the personal and financial information of over 28,000 employees was stolen from its systems in a data breach dating back more than six months. The operations at the largest port in Japan also came to a halt for a day after it was badly hit by ransomware. In addition to that, an Indian retailer came into the limelight for exposing around 725.8 GB of data, including over eight million user and employee records.

  • In a public announcement, Pepsi Bottling Ventures revealed that the personal, financial, and health information of over 28,000 employees was impacted in a data breach that occurred between December 23, 2022, and January 19, 2023. The incident was the result of attackers gaining unauthorized access to certain systems. The compromised data includes names, email addresses, ID numbers, Social Security numbers, medical history details, and health insurance information.

  • The port of Nagoya, Japan, was forced to temporarily suspend its container loading and unloading operations at the terminal due to a ransomware attack that occurred on July 4. The port authority dealt with the attack before it could lead to a larger impact. The attackers remain unknown.

  • The website and mobile app of the Russian state-owned railway company RZD were down for several hours following a massive cyberattack, forcing passengers to buy tickets at railway stations. The Ukrainian hacker group IT Army claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.

  • JumpCloud, a provider of cloud-based identity and access management solutions, urged all its impacted customers to reset their admin API keys in the wake of an ongoing cybersecurity incident. The company informed the concerned clients about the critical nature of this incident, reinforcing its commitment to safeguarding their operations.

  • Nickelodeon is investigating a data breach that allegedly caused the leak of 500GB of confidential data, including unreleased television shows, scripts, and other material. The leak is said to have originated from the ‘consumer products and experience’ portal and was initially observed in January on Discord.

  • Reversing Labs discovered more than a dozen malicious packages published to the npm repository, harvesting data from Microsoft 365 users. The malicious packages were downloaded around 1,000 times before they were removed from the repository.

  • Suncor Energy confirmed that an unauthorized party breached its IT network on or around June 21 to access the basic information of Petro-Points members. The company did not disclose how many members were affected but plans to notify customers if it finds out additional data was accessed.

  • An unprotected database was found exposing around 725.8 GB of data, including over 8 million records of users and employees. The database belonged to Poorvika, one of India’s largest tech retailers. The records contained personal information such as dates of birth, marital status, family dependencies, tax invoices, and more.

  • An unsecured database belonging to Kings of Translation inadvertently exposed over 25,000 records, including a Florida driver’s license, a letter from a Ukrainian ambassador, and an FBI background check document. The exposed data contained PII, internal screenshots of the source code, and customer documents stored in the uploads folder.

New Threats

Truebot malware family was on the radar of federal authorities as they find new versions of the malware targeting organizations in the U.S. and Canada. Google Play Store remained a potential attack vector for threat actors, with researchers discovering two new malicious apps pilfering user data to servers hosted in China. A series of attacks against European agencies and entities were also reported in a newly discovered SmugX campaign.

  • In a joint advisory, the CISA and other agencies warned about the rise in Truebot malware activity against organizations in the U.S. and Canada. The attacks are active since May. The latest variants of the malware exploited a remote code execution vulnerability (CVE-2022-31199) in the Netwrix Auditor server to gain initial access.
  • A campaign targeting experts working with Middle Eastern affairs and nuclear security has been attributed to Charming Kitten (aka TA453). The attackers pretended to be a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) to deploy malware on both Apple and Microsoft products. The goal of the campaign is to deploy several backdoors on victims’ systems to gather intelligence.
  • Cyble’s threat analysts revealed that over 130,000 photovoltaic (PV) monitoring and diagnostic systems are exposed online, making them potential targets for cyberattacks. These products are from various vendors such as Solar-Log, Danfoss, Contec, SMA Solar Technology, and Saj Electric. While PoC exploit codes for vulnerabilities impacting several of these solar products are available online, a few of these products are inadequately secured.
  • Cyfirma discovered a new infostealer named WISE REMOTE that is currently being advertised in underground hacking forums. It includes features to collect and exfiltrate a bunch of data from infected hosts. All the data is sent to a remote control panel, ready to be re-packaged and sold on underground credential markets.
  • A recent series of attacks targeting European governments, embassies, and foreign policy-making entities was attributed to Red Delta and Mustang Panda threat actors. The campaign, dubbed SmugX, leveraged the HTML smuggling tactic to deploy a new variant of PlugX malware.
  • A new tool, called TeamsPhisher, available on GitHub can enable attackers to misuse a recently disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft Teams and automatically deliver malicious files to users' systems. It is a Python-based tool that executes a fully automated attack.
  • ASEC recently discovered that Crysis ransomware attackers were scanning the internet, via brute force or dictionary attacks, for vulnerable RDP endpoints to install Venus ransomware on systems. Upon getting access, the attackers first attempted to encrypt the systems with Crysis ransomware. However, after failing to do so, the second attempt at encryption was done using the Venus ransomware.
  • The SonicWall Capture Labs Research team observed a new campaign delivering a new variant of Agent Tesla malware via Native Loader. The variant is distributed as an NSIS installer consisting of an NSIS script, DLL plugin, and encrypted payload file.
  • Aqua Security reported a suspected TeamTNT operation, named Silentbob, in which the gang deployed an aggressive worm against cloud infrastructure. The worm was designed to target JupyterLab and Docker APIs and deploy a version of the Tsunami backdoor malware, as well as cryptominers.
  • Two malicious file management apps hosted on Google Play Store, with more than 1.5 million combined downloads, were found sending user data to servers in China. The data sent out included contact lists, media content, real-time location, network provider, country code, and device information. The two apps are named ‘File Recovery and Data Recovery’ and ‘File Manager.’

Related Threat Briefings

May 16, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, May 12–16, 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.

May 2, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 28–May 02, 2025

The FBI just dropped a massive breadcrumb trail. Details of 42,000 phishing domains tied to the LabHost platform have been released to help defenders investigate potential breaches. The service enabled the theft of 500,000 credit cards and over a million credentials. The takedown of JokerOTP has exposed just how far phishing has evolved. The tool was used in more than 28,000 attacks across 13 countries, tricking victims into handing over 2FA codes by mimicking trusted brands. The operation cost victims £7.5 million and has now led to serious criminal charges, thanks to a joint effort involving Europol and Dutch authorities. Malware’s now hitching a ride on Go modules. Socket has uncovered three malicious packages hiding disk-wiping payloads, designed to cause irreversible data loss, especially on Linux systems. These modules take advantage of Go’s decentralized ecosystem. In the shadows of the cybersecurity landscape, MintsLoader emerges as a formidable adversary, orchestrating a multi-faceted infection strategy that deploys the notorious GhostWeaver RAT. Some PyPI packages are doing more than importing functions. Researchers uncovered seven malicious Python packages under the “Coffin” naming scheme, using Gmail’s SMTP service as a stealthy C2 channel. Ransomware groups aren’t always the ones breaking the door open. Researchers have uncovered ToyMaker, an initial access broker selling network entry to ransomware groups. Using a custom malware strain called LAGTOY, ToyMaker establishes reverse shells and executes commands on compromised systems. New vulnerabilities in Apple’s AirPlay protocol, collectively dubbed AirBorne, expose billions of devices to remote code execution without user interaction. Sharp and TX stealers are back, donning a new cloak - named Hannibal Stealer. It is going after credentials from browsers, crypto wallets, FTP clients, and VPN apps. It even captures Discord tokens and Steam sessions.

Apr 25, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 21–25, 2025

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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.

Apr 11, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 07–11, 2025

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. 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. 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.

Apr 4, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 31–April 04, 2025

The EU is putting serious weight behind its digital ambitions. A €1.3 billion investment will fund cybersecurity and AI initiatives across the bloc from 2025 to 2027. Projects include the rollout of the EU Digital Identity Wallet, AI development hubs, and efforts to harden critical infrastructure. Canada’s privacy watchdog is giving organizations a way to think before they panic. A new online tool helps assess the risk of significant harm after a data breach, guiding users through questions about the sensitivity of exposed data and its potential misuse.

Mar 28, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 24–28, 2025

The U.K’s NCSC is putting domain abuse in its crosshairs. New guidance targets registrars with a push to curb malicious domain registrations and hijacks. The recommendations focus on tightening security at registration, offering enhanced protections to customers, and more. Europe is getting serious about the quantum future. ETSI has rolled out a new quantum-safe encryption standard featuring Covercrypt, a novel key encapsulation scheme with built-in access controls. By tying decryption permissions to user attributes, Covercrypt delivers speed and post-quantum security. Medusa isn’t just encrypting files, it’s dismantling defenses first. The RaaS has been leveraging a malicious driver called ABYSSWORKER in BYOVD attacks to disable endpoint protections. FamousSparrow has returned with new tools and a familiar agenda. The Chinese APT group was behind a July 2024 attack targeting a U.S. trade group and a Mexican research institute, deploying a web shell on an IIS server to drop SparrowDoor and ShadowPad. A supply chain attack snuck through npm by modifying what developers thought they could trust. Threat actors used two packages to inject malware into the widely used ethers library. Lucid isn’t just phishing - it’s engineering trust through your inbox. This advanced PhaaS platform weaponizes the built-in features of iMessage and RCS to create hyper-realistic scams. Known for years of corporate espionage, RedCurl has shifted gears with a new ransomware called QWCrypt. The malware was found in a North American network, targeting hypervisors for maximum disruption. PlayBoy Locker is offering ransomware with a user manual and tech support. The newly investigated RaaS platform operates on an affiliate model and comes packed with features. Targeting Windows, NAS, and ESXi systems, it moves laterally using LDAP scans and abuses Restart Manager DLLs to shut down active processes before encryption.

Mar 21, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 17–21, 2025

The race to outpace quantum threats is officially on. The NCSC has issued guidance to help organizations transition to post-quantum cryptography by 2035, with a focus on NIST-approved algorithms and planned support for critical sectors. A nationwide fraud crackdown ends with hundreds behind bars. Operation Henhouse led to 422 arrests and the seizure of millions in assets, as U.K. police target the country’s most widespread and costly crime - fraud. A threat actor briefly exposed their entire playbook. Researchers found a public server hosting tools tied to a campaign targeting South Korea, including a Rust-compiled payload delivering Cobalt Strike Cat and a list of over 1,000 potential targets. Phishing messages on Signal are leading to full system compromise. CERT-UA warns of DarkCrystal RAT attacks targeting Ukraine’s defense sector, using fake contacts and malicious files to trick victims into executing spyware. Ransomware slipped into VSCode under the radar. Two malicious extensions were discovered on the VSCode Marketplace, bypassing checks to deliver test-stage ransomware demanding ShibaCoin for decryption. Fake ads are being weaponized to steal Google credentials. A campaign targeting Semrush users is redirecting victims to spoofed login pages, where attackers harvest Google account logins through a fake “Log in with Google” prompt. A fake browser update could cost you more than a few clicks. A new ClearFake campaign is using fake reCAPTCHA and Turnstile pages to deliver malware like Lumma and Vidar Stealer, with payloads fetched through Binance’s Smart Chain. Hackers are quietly poisoning AI-generated code. A new supply chain attack targets AI editors like Copilot and Cursor, exploiting rules files to inject malicious prompts that trick the tools into writing compromised code.

Mar 14, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 10–14, 2025

A Russian hosting provider is feeling the heat from global sanctions. Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. have sanctioned Zservers, a bulletproof hosting provider linked to ransomware and fraud, freezing its assets and restricting operations. Switzerland is tightening its grip on cyber incident reporting. Starting April 1, critical infrastructure operatorsmust report cyberattacks to the NCSC within 24 hours, reinforcing national cybersecurity defenses. Cybercriminals are upgrading their toolkit for long-term access. Ragnar Loader is being leveraged by ransomware groups like FIN7, FIN8, and Ragnar Locker, evolving into a stealthier and more modular malware for persistent system compromise. Chinese hackers are slipping past defenses in Juniper routers. The UNC3886 threat group is backdooring older Juniper MX routers, bypassing security protections and embedding custom TinyShell malware to maintain access. North Korean hackers are adding ransomware to their arsenal. Moonstone Sleet (Storm-1789) is deploying Qilin ransomware, using fake companies and trojanized tools to infiltrate targets through LinkedIn and freelance platforms. A botnet is turning home routers into attack platforms. The Ballista botnet is exploiting an unpatched TP-Link Archer router flaw (CVE-2023-1389) to spread stealthily, using Tor domains and remote command execution to launch DDoS attacks worldwide. Copy, paste, and lose your crypto. MassJacker hijacks clipboard transactions, swapping wallet addresses with attacker-controlled ones, stealing funds from victims who unknowingly send money to the wrong destination. A fake CAPTCHA is all it takes to get root access. The OBSCURE#BAT campaign is using social engineering tactics to install the r77 rootkit, bypassing defenses and targeting English-speaking users with stealthy, persistent malware.

Mar 7, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 03–07, 2025

The code caves of GitHub just got a cleanup crew courtesy of Microsoft. A sprawling malvertising campaign that snagged nearly a million devices worldwide has been knocked down a peg. Cheap Android gadgets are getting a breather from a relentless digital pest. The BadBox 2.0 botnet, a souped-up sequel backed by multiple threat crews, saw 24 shady apps booted from Google Play and half a million infected devices cut off from their puppet masters, thanks to some crafty sinkholing and Google’s cleanup sweep. A sneaky gatecrasher has turned WordPress into a redirect rollercoaster. A malicious JavaScript injection lurking in a theme file has snagged at least 31 sites, pulling visitors through a two-step detour to shady third-party domains. Japan’s digital defenses are under siege from a shadowy crew with a taste for chaos. Since January, unknown threat actors have been prying open organizations in tech, telecom, entertainment, and more, exploiting CVE-2024-4577 in PHP-CGI on Windows. Crooks posing as the Electronic Frontier Foundation are targeting Albion Online players with phishing emails and fake PDFs, claiming account trouble. It’s a ruse to drop Stealc malware and Pyramid C2. A fresh face in the cybercrime underworld is juggling a bag of nasty surprises. EncryptHub is hitting users of QQ Talk, WeChat, Google Meet, and more with trojanized apps and slick multi-stage attacks. The Eleven11bot botnet, loosely tied to Iran, has taken over 86,000 IoT devices to slam telecoms and gaming servers with relentless DDoS barrages. Social media’s sunny side has a dark shadow creeping across the Middle East and North Africa. Since September 2024, Desert Dexter has been slinging a tweaked AsyncRAT via legit file-sharing sites and Telegram. For detailed Cyber Threat Intel, click ‘Read More’.

Feb 28, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 24–28, 2025

Stay ahead of cyber threats with the latest on the Vo1d botnet infecting Android TVs, GitVenom malware on GitHub, Redox Stealer, LCRYX ransomware, and a critical WordPress XSS vulnerability. Plus, insights on Lotus Blossom cyber espionage, PolarEdge malware targeting routers, Chrome extension hijacks, and PayPal phishing scams. Get the full security briefing now!