Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, October 21 - 25, 2019 - Oct 25, 2019

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The Good

Before we get ready to wrap up for the week, let’s glance through the weekly updates in the world of cybersecurity. We’ll begin with the positive developments. Twelve cybersecurity service and software providers have formed the Operational Technology Cyber Security Alliance (OTCSA) with the aim of protecting operational technology in critical and industrial infrastructure from cyberthreats. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has expanded its tools and resources to assist in protecting the U.S. elections from cyber attacks. Meanwhile, researchers have developed an open-source tool called VisibleV8, which can detect malicious programs that evade existing malware detection systems.

Twelve cybersecurity service and software providers have come together to form a global alliance called Operational Technology Cyber Security Alliance (OTCSA). This alliance will focus on protecting the operational technology in critical and industrial infrastructure from cyber threats. The membership is said to be open to any company that works with OT systems or critical infrastructure.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has updated its resources and tools to help protect the U.S. elections from cyberattacks. The FBI along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has released a number of short videos. These online tutorials highlight social engineering and foreign influence cybersecurity measures for political campaigns.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an open-source tool called VisibleV8 that can track and record JavaScript program behavior without alerting websites that run the programs. This tool runs in the Chrome browser and can detect malicious programs, that may not be detected by malware detection systems. This tool is said to contain only 600 lines of code.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released an article promoting the International Charity Fraud Awareness Week (ICFAW). This year’s ICFAW is from October 21 to 25. Key participants of this coordinated campaign include the British Council, Chartered Accountants Worldwide, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, and New Zealand Charities Service, among others.
The Governor of Indiana, Eric J. Holcomb has announced that Indiana would host the country’s fifth National Guard cyber battalion. The event is expected to include almost 100 soldiers who focus on cybersecurity. They will be provided access to the U.S. Department of Defense’s live cyber range that has realistic simulators for cyber warfare testing and training.

The Bad

With two cybersecurity firms disclosing the details of security compromises they fell victim to, this week has all of us on our toes. Cybersecurity software provider Avast disclosed a security breach that was similar to the 2017 CCleaner incident. In similar news, VPN service provider NordVPN disclosed a breach that affected one of its data centers in March 2018. Meanwhile, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack hit Amazon Web Services and lasted for almost 8 hours.

Internet security software provider Avast disclosed that a security breach was detected on September 23, 2019. The attackers compromised an employee’s VPN credentials to gain access to an account that was not protected using a multi-factor authentication solution. The attack is said to be similar in nature to the infamous CCleaner 2017 incident.
NordVPN disclosed a data breach that affected one of its data centers in March 2018. The company said that the breach happened because of poor configuration on a third-party data center. No other servers or user credentials are said to be impacted.
Amazon Web Services was hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that lasted for around 8 hours. The attack primarily impacted the company's Router 53 DNS web service. This caused service outages for many websites and parts of AWS being taken off the internet.
Personal and travel information of thousands of users, including the U.S. government and military personnel, was exposed due to a leaky database belonging to reservations management system Autoclerk. This database was reportedly hosted by AWS in the U.S. with over 179GB of data. The exposed data includes full names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, unencrypted login credentials, dates and costs of travel, and masked credit card details.
A misconfigured MongoDB database with around 2.8 million records of customer data was found exposed. The database belongs to communications and IT services firm CenturyLink. Compromised information includes customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses.
Researchers have observed a trojanized Tor Browser version that steals bitcoins from darknet market users. It is distributed through two fake websites that claim to distribute the official Russian language version of the Tor Browser. Using this Browser, malicious actors have stolen 4.8 bitcoin that is worth more than $40,000, from three darknet markets
Nine unsecured medical databases were found to be exposing millions of patient data. The exposed information includes full names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, prescriptions, medical observations, and lab visits. These databases belong to Biosoft, ClearDent, DeepThink Health, Essilor, Naiis, Stella Technology, Tsinghua University, VScript, and Sichuan Lianhao Technology.
German automation technology provider Pilz disclosed that it fell victim to a cyberattack that impacted all server and PC workstations of the company. The firm has disconnected all computer systems from the network and blocked access to the corporate network as a precautionary measure. The website is said to be partially functional currently.
Financial services provider Billtrust suffered a ransomware attack that impacted some of its computing systems. The company said that no customer data was compromised as a result of this attack. Billtrust is in the final stage of bringing all its systems online from backups.
Canada Post disclosed that some online customer accounts had recorded unauthorized access. Due to this, the company is resetting the passwords of all online accounts. The company said that there was no data breach, and the credentials were stolen from other data breaches, and customers were reusing the same credentials for their Canada Post account.
Kalispell Regional Healthcare (KRH) was the victim of a targeted phishing attack that compromised the login credentials of several employees. This may have potentially led to the exposure of personal information of the patients including name, date of birth, address, Social Security Number, medical record number, telephone number, and more. Although officials have not found any indication of the data misuse yet, notification letters were mailed to potentially impacted patients.
Johnson City in Tennessee suffered a ransomware attack that affected some of the municipality’s computer systems. The ransom note asked city officials to get in touch with an email address for payment instructions and claimed to have encrypted the government’s backups. The municipality has refused to pay the fine and is working on restoring the impacted systems.
A scripting error on the National Neurology Registry’s website is said to have made the private information of over 17,000 patients vulnerable to exposure. It may have potentially allowed unauthorized access to a confidential database that contains phone numbers and addresses. The Health Ministry, along with the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA), Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and Cybersecurity Malaysia are working on investigating this incident.
A new phishing campaign that has targeted various humanitarian organizations around the world, including the Red Cross, the United Nations, and UNICEF has been discovered. The infrastructure network behind this campaign is believed to be active since March 2019. This mobile-aware campaign employs techniques to harvest credentials by logging keystrokes.
Certain Geisinger Health Plan members had their personal health data exposed due to a suspected phishing attack on one of its business associates, Magellan NIA. Although Geisinger Health Plan believes that the attack was aimed at spamming and not data theft, the possibility of data theft could not be ruled out. The number of members affected by this incident is not yet available.

New Threats

This week witnessed the rise of several malware strains and vulnerabilities. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning about Magecart attacks for SMBs and government agencies that accept online card payments. The National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have released a joint statement that Russian threat actor Turla compromised an Iranian threat group and launched cyberattacks on various countries. In other news, a Linux security flaw that potentially allows the compromise of machines has been disclosed.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning about Magecart or web-skimming attacks. This warning is specifically for small and medium-sized businesses and government agencies that accept card payments online. Recommendations and mitigations also accompanied this warning.
The National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have released a joint statement about Turla, the Russian threat actor compromising the infrastructure of an Iranian threat group to launch cyberattacks on several countries. Turla is believed to have exfiltrated data including directory listings and files, keylogger output that contains operational activity and connections to Iranian C2 domains from the Iranian APT.
A Linux security flaw in the ‘rtlwifi’ (Realtek WiFi) driver has been disclosed. Tracked as CVE-2019-17666, this bug potentially allows attackers to entirely compromise the machines. The Linux team has developed a patch that is under revision and is yet to be incorporated.
Researchers have identified a new campaign that delivers a new variant of Remcos RAT. The campaign starts with a phishing email disguising as a payment advisory from a valid domain. The malware collects several information from the infected machines, including user name, location, device running time, and physical memory capacity.
Companies have been found to be exposing data unintentionally by misusing Alphabet’s virus scanner. Thousands of files belonging to companies across various sectors have been found exposed by researchers. The files contain information including blueprints and building entry points.
The Gustuff banking trojan was spotted with an updated set of features in a new campaign. This new version does not have the commands and code related to the socks server or proxy, unlike the previous version. However, security experts say that there is no difference in the way the campaign is run.
A new class of web cache poisoning attacks named ‘Cache-Poisoned Denial of Service (CPDoS)’ has been outlined by researchers. It can block and disable any web resource that is distributed through Content Distribution Networks (CDNs) via an HTTP request with a malicious header. Web Application Firewalls (WAF) are recommended to mitigate this attack.
Analyzing the domains and activities of Magecart Group 5 has led researchers to the conclusion that there are connections with the Carbanak group and Dridex phishing campaigns. Dridex is a banking trojan and Carbanak is a sophisticated threat group that targets banks.
Researchers have uncovered a new ransomware dubbed MedusaLocker. This malware is still under analysis and details such as distribution methods are not yet known. It has been observed to leave ransom notes in each folder that has an encrypted file.
A new malware dubbed Spidey Bot has been seen to be targeting Discord users. The Windows Discord client is modified to an information-stealing backdoor. Discord user token, screen resolution, victim's local IP address, username, and email address are among the harvested information.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence - November 11–15

As cyber threats to critical infrastructure surge, the TSA has proposed formal rules for pipeline and railroad operators, while the World Economic Forum introduced a new framework to enhance public-private collaboration against cybercrime. These efforts highlight the urgency of uniting resources and governance to fortify cybersecurity resilience on all fronts. This week, several emerging threats highlighted the diversity of attack tactics. The new Glove Stealer exploits browser encryption to pilfer cookies and crypto wallets, whereas the Lazarus group’s RustyAttr trojan targets macOS users using the Tauri framework. A Chinese threat actor, SilkSpecter, was found scamming online shoppers via 4,695 fake domains, impersonating popular brands to steal credit card details during Black Friday hunts. This week, several emerging threats highlighted the diversity of attack tactics. The new Glove Stealer exploits browser encryption to pilfer cookies and crypto wallets, whereas the Lazarus group’s RustyAttr trojan targets macOS users using the Tauri framework. A Chinese threat actor, SilkSpecter, was found scamming online shoppers via 4,695 fake domains, impersonating popular brands to steal credit card details during Black Friday hunts.

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Cyware Weekly Threat Intelligence, October 21 - 25, 2019

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