Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, May 18 - 22, 2020

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, May 18 - 22, 2020 - Featured Image

Weekly Threat Briefing • May 22, 2020

The Good

Enhancing users’ privacy and security while surfing online has been a primary focus of web browsers. Keeping this in mind, Google has introduced Enhanced Safe Browsing protection in Chrome to protect users from phishing attacks and malicious file downloads. On the other hand, security researchers managed to dissect the source code of the GhostDNS exploit kit after hackers uploaded the file on an unprotected file-sharing platform.

  • Security researchers obtained the source code of GhostDNS exploit kit which was left unprotected by hackers. This allowed the experts to analyze the functionalities of the router hijacking exploit kit.

  • The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) took into custody a threat actor named Sanix, who is responsible for putting a massive database - named Collection1 - of 773 million email addresses and 21 million passwords up for sale last year.

  • French police cracked down on an international ATM jackpotting group by arresting two suspects. It is said that the criminal group worked across Europe to insert malware into ATMs.

  • Google added Enhanced Safe Browsing protection in Chrome to protect users from phishing sites, malicious file downloads, and cross-product alerts.

  • Tutanota is working with the L3S Research Institute of Leibniz University on a new project called PQmail that aims to keep email secure by using post-quantum cryptography for encryption.

The Bad

This week saw the leak of confidential data belonging to several organizations such as Toll Group, Fresenius Medical Care unit, and Covve. Most of the leaked data included personal details of either employees or customers.

  • After the Texas court system, the state transportation agency fell victim to a ransomware attack. Some of the features of the department’s website were unavailable due to the attack.

  • Confidential data belonging to the Toll Group made its way to dark web forums. This included personal data of some former and current employees.

  • More than 2,000 Israeli websites were defaced to show an anti-Israeli message. Attributed to a hacker group called ‘Hackers of Savior,’ the attacks were executed by exploiting a vulnerability in a WordPress plugin.

  • Snake ransomware operators shared a small batch of data stolen from the Fresenius Medical Care unit on a paste website. It contained less than 200 records that included first and last names, gender, birth dates, postal addresses, and phone numbers of patients.

  • Details of 40 million users registered on the Wishbone app were sold for a price of approximately $8000 on a dark web marketplace. The breached data included usernames, email addresses, and hashed passwords of users.

  • A flaw in the website of the Paycheck Protection Program exposed the personal data of several claimants in Arkansas and Chicago. The issue also impacted the business of Bank of America after information for some of its clients, who applied for loans, were leaked on the internet.

  • A database containing 129 million records of Russian car owners was offered for sale on the dark web. The dataset included model numbers, registration dates, and manufacturing dates of cars.

  • A cybercriminal group that hacked Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks last week, auctioned the sensitive documents of the international singer, Madonna, after claiming to have sold the data related to the US President.

  • Covve leaked 23 million email addresses and other personal information details due to an unprotected Elasticsearch database. In total, the database contained 90GB of personal information.

  • A threat actor leaked a trove of personal and electoral data belonging to 2.3 million Indonesian citizens. The data appeared to be stolen from the official website of the General Elections Commission of Indonesia.

New Threats

Talking of new threats reported this week, Netwalker operators improved the evasion capabilities of the ransomware by integrating a reflective dynamic-link library (DLL) injection technique. On the other hand, researchers uncovered a new attack method against networking chips that leverages a class of vulnerabilities called Spectra.

  • Security researchers disclosed an Iranian cyber espionage campaign directed against critical infrastructure facilities in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The campaign was launched by the Chafer APT group using several exploit kits including a tool that uses the ‘living off the land’ attack technique.
  • Hackers were found exploiting a three-year-old vulnerability in a Magento plugin to take over e-commerce sites. The purpose was to steal payment card details of shoppers.
  • Both Mirai and Hoaxcalls botnets exploited a post-authentication remote code execution vulnerability in legacy Symantec Web Gateway 5.0.2.8 to gain access to enterprise systems.
  • New research showed that vulnerabilities in popular hardware-based cryptocurrency wallets could be exploited to obtain PIN numbers. The attack was demonstrated on products from Coinkite and Shapeshift.
  • Netwalker ransomware evolved to include a reflective dynamic-link library (DLL) injection as one of its evasion techniques. The technique allows the injection of a DLL from memory rather than from disk.
  • A new trojan - WolfRAT - targeted Thai users through WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Line messaging apps. The trojan is a modified version of the DenDroid trojan.
  • Academics from Germany and Italy found a new method to break the separation between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies. The attack relies on a new class of vulnerability called Spectra.
  • Fake Zoom installers were back in the threat landscape in a couple of campaigns that distributed a backdoor and the Devil Shadow botnet to target user devices.
  • A new variant of Zeus banking trojan, named ZLoader/Terdot Zbot, has popped up to capitalize on coronavirus fears to pilfer login credentials of customers of certain banks.
  • Winnti hacker group targeted video game companies with a new PipeMon backdoor to achieve persistence. PipeMon’s first stage consists of a password-protected RARSFX executable embedded in the .rsrc section of its launcher.
  • Microsoft issued a security advisory for the NXNSAttack vulnerability affecting its DNS servers. The vulnerability could allow attackers to launch a large-scale DDoS attack.
  • Microsoft also warned about a COVID-19 themed phishing campaign that distributed the NetSupport Manager RAT. The attack started with a phishing email that appeared to be from the Johns Hopkins Center.

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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, May 05–09, 2025

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May 2, 2025

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

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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 21–25, 2025

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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 14–18, 2025

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Apr 11, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, April 07–11, 2025

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Apr 4, 2025

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

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Mar 28, 2025

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, March 24–28, 2025

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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!