Apr 14, 2023Ravie LakshmananUnited States The Russia-linked APT29 (aka Cozy Bear) threat actor has been attributed to an ongoing cyber espionage campaign targeting foreign ministries and diplomatic entities located in NATO member states, the European Union, and Africa. According to Poland's Military Counterintelligence Service and the CERT Polska team, the observed activity … [Read more...] about Russia-Linked Hackers Launches Espionage Attacks on Foreign Diplomatic Entities
Hackers
Pakistan-based Transparent Tribe Hackers Targeting Indian Educational Institutions
Apr 13, 2023Ravie LakshmananMalware / Cyber Attack The Transparent Tribe threat actor has been linked to a set of weaponized Microsoft Office documents in attacks targeting the Indian education sector using a continuously maintained piece of malware called Crimson RAT. While the suspected Pakistan-based threat group is known to target military and government entities in the … [Read more...] about Pakistan-based Transparent Tribe Hackers Targeting Indian Educational Institutions
Iran-Based Hackers Caught Carrying Out Destructive Attacks Under Ransomware Guise
Apr 08, 2023Ravie LakshmananCyber War / Cyber Threat The Iranian nation-state group known as MuddyWater has been observed carrying out destructive attacks on hybrid environments under the guise of a ransomware operation. That's according to new findings from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team, which discovered the threat actor targeting both on-premises and cloud … [Read more...] about Iran-Based Hackers Caught Carrying Out Destructive Attacks Under Ransomware Guise
Microsoft Warns of Stealthy Outlook Vulnerability Exploited by Russian Hackers
Mar 25, 2023Ravie LakshmananEnterprise Security / Microsoft Microsoft on Friday shared guidance to help customers discover indicators of compromise (IoCs) associated with a recently patched Outlook vulnerability. Tracked as CVE-2023-23397 (CVSS score: 9.8), the critical flaw relates to a case of privilege escalation that could be exploited to steal NT Lan Manager (NTLM) … [Read more...] about Microsoft Warns of Stealthy Outlook Vulnerability Exploited by Russian Hackers
Chinese Hackers Exploit Fortinet Zero-Day Flaw for Cyber Espionage Attack
Mar 18, 2023Ravie LakshmananNetwork Security / Cyber Espionage The zero-day exploitation of a now-patched medium-severity security flaw in the Fortinet FortiOS operating system has been linked to a suspected Chinese hacking group. Threat intelligence firm Mandiant, which made the attribution, said the activity cluster is part of a broader campaign designed to deploy backdoors … [Read more...] about Chinese Hackers Exploit Fortinet Zero-Day Flaw for Cyber Espionage Attack
North Korean UNC2970 Hackers Expands Operations with New Malware Families
Mar 10, 2023Ravie LakshmananCyber Attack / Malware A North Korean espionage group tracked as UNC2970 has been observed employing previously undocumented malware families as part of a spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. and European media and technology organizations since June 2022. Google-owned Mandiant said the threat cluster shares "multiple overlaps" with a … [Read more...] about North Korean UNC2970 Hackers Expands Operations with New Malware Families
Dutch Police Arrest 3 Hackers Involved in Massive Data Theft and Extortion Scheme
Feb 27, 2023Ravie Lakshmanan The Dutch police announced the arrest of three individuals in connection with a "large-scale" criminal operation involving data theft, extortion, and money laundering. The suspects include two 21-year-old men from Zandvoort and Rotterdam and an 18-year-old man without a permanent residence. The arrests were made on January 23, 2023. It's estimated … [Read more...] about Dutch Police Arrest 3 Hackers Involved in Massive Data Theft and Extortion Scheme
Chinese Tonto Team Hackers’ Second Attempt to Target Cybersecurity Firm Group-IB Fails
Feb 13, 2023Ravie LakshmananCyber Threat Intelligence The advanced persistent threat (APT) actor known as Tonto Team carried out an unsuccessful attack on cybersecurity company Group-IB in June 2022. The Singapore-headquartered firm said that it detected and blocked malicious phishing emails originating from the group targeting its employees. It's also the second attack aimed … [Read more...] about Chinese Tonto Team Hackers’ Second Attempt to Target Cybersecurity Firm Group-IB Fails
Hackers Abused Microsoft’s “Verified Publisher” OAuth Apps to Breach Corporate Email Accounts
Feb 01, 2023Ravie LakshmananEnterprise Security / Authentication Microsoft on Tuesday said it took steps to disable fake Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) accounts that were used for creating malicious OAuth applications as part of a malicious campaign designed to breach organizations' cloud environments and steal email. "The applications created by these fraudulent actors were … [Read more...] about Hackers Abused Microsoft’s “Verified Publisher” OAuth Apps to Breach Corporate Email Accounts
Chinese Hackers Exploited Recent Fortinet Flaw as 0-Day to Drop Malware
Jan 20, 2023Ravie LakshmananFirewall / Network Security A suspected China-nexus threat actor exploited a recently patched vulnerability in Fortinet FortiOS SSL-VPN as a zero-day in attacks targeting a European government entity and a managed service provider (MSP) located in Africa. Telemetry evidence gathered by Google-owned Mandiant indicates that the exploitation occurred … [Read more...] about Chinese Hackers Exploited Recent Fortinet Flaw as 0-Day to Drop Malware