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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, July 11 - 15, 2022

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence,  July 11 - 15, 2022 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing Jul 15, 2022

The Good

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on the lookout for tech companies that are illegally using and sharing sensitive data of users. This is aimed at improving consumer privacy and reducing the mishandling of their personal data. Meanwhile, a variant of Hive ransomware has now less chance to make money out of your encrypted files as a decryption key is available on GitHub.

  • A decryption key for malware deployed by the Hive ransomware gang has been released in response to an uptick in activity from the gang in the past three months. A malware researcher developed and published a decryption tool for the Hive ransomware version 5.0 on GitHub.

  • The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning that it will take action against tech companies that are illegally using and sharing highly sensitive data of users. The agency aims at using the full scope of its legal authorities to protect consumers’ privacy.

  • The German government is shoring up its defense strategies in light of possible new threats from Russia. The new measures involve promoting cyber resilience among small- and medium-sized enterprises. There will also be a centralized platform for the exchange of information on cyberattacks between state and federal structures, based at the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

The Bad

BlackCat group has raised the stakes in its extortion scheme. Now, the threat actor’s ransom demands start with $2.5 million, which puts additional pressure on victim organizations to save their stolen data. Having said that, the group added Bandai Namco to its list of victims this week. Multiple phishing attacks that are active since 2021 also made headlines for ensnaring credentials, and other sensitive data of users and employees across the globe.

  • About 4295 ETH (approximately $4.6 million at the time of reporting) was stolen in a phishing attack on the Uniswap cryptocurrency exchange. The attackers exploited the Uniswap V3 protocol on the ETH blockchain to launch the attack.

  • The head of the European Central Bank was targeted in a hacking attempt recently. While the investigation is in progress, the bank has confirmed that no information was compromised in the hack.

  • Microsoft researchers revealed that a large-scale phishing attack campaign has targeted more than 10,000 organizations since September 2021. The campaign used the Evilginx2 phishing toolkit to construct phishing pages, bypass MFA, and steal credentials and session cookies from Office 365 users.

  • Ukraine’s CERT team found a new spear-phishing campaign that was aimed at the Ukrainian government. Launched by the UAC-0056 threat actor group, the campaign infected recipients with Cobalt Strike beacon backdoors.

  • Anubis trojan is back with new C2 servers to control fake portals. These fake portals have been used in a large-scale phishing campaign targeting Brazil and Portugal since March.

  • Deakin University, Australia, suffered a data breach in which the attacker hacked a staff member’s credentials and gained unauthorized access. The breach has potentially affected the data of 46,980students. Additionally, 9,997 students were also targeted with malicious SMS messages.

  • Zscaler observed a major rise in QBot attacks over the past six months. The attackers used ZIP file extensions, code obfuscation, and multiple URLs among others, to evade detection during the attack process.

  • The game publisher behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring, Bandai Namco, was allegedly targeted by the BlackCat ransomware group. A post shared by the group claimed that it will reveal the stolen data soon.

  • A large-scale spear-phishing campaign that distributes AsyncRAT and LimeRAT has been active since 2021. The campaign uses geopolitical themes to target government agencies in Afghanistan, India, Italy, Poland, and the U.S. Once the trojan is installed, it establishes communication with the C2 server to exfiltrate victim data.

  • Transparent Tribe APT is using CrimsonRAT and ObliqueRAT to target universities and colleges in India. The campaign has been ongoing since December 2021 and uses spear-phishing emails as the primary attack vector.

  • A fake version of WhatsApp is tricking unsuspecting users into sharing their personal information. The victims are promised new features as a lure to install the app. The users are warned to be aware of such tricks and to download the app from legitimate stores.

  • Professional Finance Company recently disclosed a ransomware attack that impacted the private data of around 1.9 million people associated with hundreds of U.S. hospitals, medical clinics, and dental firms. The debt collection firm revealed that the criminals were able to access files from more than 650 healthcare providers.

  • The Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCU) has been found exposing the personal details, including SSNs, lab results, and medical records, of almost 4,500 transplant patients since at least 2006. Researchers cited the poor configuration of the website as a primary reason for the leakage of data.

  • The BrianLian ransomware group claimed to have hacked the Mooresville Consolidated School Corp. The incident occurred in June and affected the SSNs, phone numbers, and email records of 4,200 students.

  • A massive attack campaign was found scanning 1.6 million WordPress sites to find a vulnerable plugin, dubbed Kaswara Modern WPBakery Page Builder, that allows uploading of files without authentication.

  • BlackCat has increased its ransom demand to $2.5 million. The average time provided for payment is between five and seven days. This puts immense pressure on the victims to pay the ransom and prevent their data from being deleted or leaked.

  • LockBit and Karakurt gangs have adopted a new and simple strategy inspired by BlackCat to force victim companies to pay the ransom. The new tactic involves adding a search function on their leak sites that will allow victims to see the stolen details.

  • Threat actors are using a phishing kit to abuse the logo and general design of PayPal. With the set-up fake pages, threat actors are stealing credentials that can be later used to steal the victims’ identity and perform money laundering, open cryptocurrency accounts, make fraudulent tax return claims, and much more.

New Threats

Spectre-like speculative-execution attacks continue to haunt the silicon world. Researchers have published details about the new RetBleed attack that impacts certain CPUs from Intel and AMD. A record-breaking DDoS attack was launched using over 5000 bots. The blame goes to the operators of the Mantis botnet that has been active since 2018.

  • Older AMD and Intel chips are vulnerable to yet another Spectre-like speculative-execution attack dubbed Retbleed. It works by exploiting two flaws tracked as CVE-2022-29900 and CVE-2022-29901 and can expose secrets within kernel memory.
  • Several variants of ChromeLoader have been found to be active in the wild since January. It works by infecting the settings of Chrome browser to hijack search queries and redirect users to malicious sites.
  • A new Android malware family named Autolycos was discovered in at least eight Android applications, two of which are still available on the Google Play Store. So far, the malware has infected over 3 million users and is capable of harvesting data from mobile devices.
  • A new ransomware family dubbed Lilith has emerged in the threat landscape. It has already posted its first victim on a data leak site created to support double-extortion attacks. The ransomware appends the .lilith extension when encrypting files.
  • Mantis botnet launched a record-breaking DDoS attack in June that peaked at 26 million HTTPS requests per second (rps). The botnet targeted 1000 customers associated with Cloudflare to create nearly 5000 bots.
  • Microsoft attributed the Holy Ghost ransomware operation to North Korean hackers. Tracked as DEV-0530, the group has been targeting small businesses worldwide for over a year. As part of their extortion tactics, they also threaten to publish victim data on social media or send the data to the victim organization’s customers if they refuse to pay.

Related Threat Briefings

Feb 7, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, February 03–07, 2025

PyPI is taking a "dead but not gone" approach to abandoned software with Project Archival, a new system that flags inactive projects while keeping them accessible. Developers will see warnings about outdated dependencies, helping them make smarter security choices and avoid relying on unmaintained code. The U.K is bringing earthquake-style metrics to cybersecurity with its new Cyber Monitoring Centre, designed to track digital disasters as precisely as natural ones. Inspired by the Richter scale, the CMC will quantify cyber incidents based on financial impact and affected users, offering clearer insights for national security planning. Kimsuky is back with another phishing trick, this time using fake Office and PDF files to sneak forceCopy malware onto victims' systems. Its latest campaign delivers PEBBLEDASH and RDP Wrapper by disguising malware as harmless shortcuts, ultimately hijacking browser credentials and sensitive data. Hackers have found a new way to skim credit card data - by hiding malware inside Google Tag Manager scripts. CISA is flagging major security holes in Microsoft Outlook and Sophos XG Firewall, urging agencies to patch them before February 27. One flaw allows remote code execution in Outlook, while another exposes firewall users to serious risks. Bitcoin scammers are switching tactics, swapping static images for video attachments in MMS to make their schemes more convincing. A recent case involved a tiny .3gp video luring victims into WhatsApp groups where scammers apply pressure to extract money or personal data. XE Group has shifted from credit card skimming to zero-day exploitation, now targeting manufacturing and distribution companies. A new version of ValleyRAT is making the rounds, using stealthy techniques to infiltrate systems. Morphisec found the malware being spread through fake Chrome downloads from a fraudulent Chinese telecom site.

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

NIST sharpened the tools for organizations to measure their cybersecurity readiness, addressing both technical and leadership challenges. The two-volume guidance blends data-driven assessments with managerial insights, emphasizing the critical role of leadership in applying findings. The Manson Market, a notorious hub for phishing networks, fell in a sweeping Europol-led takedown. With over 50 servers seized and 200TB of stolen data recovered, the operation spanned multiple countries, including Germany and Austria. Russian APT group BlueAlpha leveraged Cloudflare Tunnels to cloak its GammaDrop malware campaign from prying eyes. The group deployed HTML smuggling and DNS fast-fluxing to bypass detection, targeting Ukrainian organizations with precision. Earth Minotaur intensified its surveillance operations against Tibetan and Uyghur communities through the MOONSHINE exploit kit. The kit, now updated with newer exploits, enables the installation of the DarkNimbus backdoor on Android and Windows devices. Cloudflare Pages became an unwitting ally in the sharp rise of phishing campaigns, with a staggering 198% increase in abuse cases. Cybercriminals exploited the platform's infrastructure to host malicious pages, fueling a surge from 460 incidents in 2023 to over 1,370 by October 2024. DroidBot has quietly infiltrated over 77 cryptocurrency exchanges and banking apps, building a web of theft across Europe. Active since June 2024, this Android malware operates as a MaaS platform, enabling affiliates to tailor attacks. Rockstar 2FA, a phishing platform targeting Microsoft 365 users, has set the stage for large-scale credential theft. With over 5,000 phishing domains launched, the platform is marketed on Telegram. The Gafgyt malware is shifting gears, targeting exposed Docker Remote API servers through legitimate Docker images, creating botnets capable of launching DDoS attacks.