- From Social Engineering to DMARC Abuse: TA427’s Art of Information Gathering
April 16, 2024
Proofpoint researchers track numerous state-sponsored and state-aligned threat actors. TA427 (also known as Emerald Sleet, APT43, THALLIUM or Kimsuky), a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) aligned group working in support of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, is particularly prolific in email phishing campaigns targeting experts for insight into US and the Republic of ...
- Chinese hackers targeted UK’s Electoral Commission and politicians, say security services
March 25, 2024
Chinese state-backed hackers were responsible for two “malicious” digital campaigns targeting the UK’s democratic institutions and politicians, the security services have found. The UK holds China responsible for a prolonged cyber-attack on the Electoral Commission during which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Two individuals and a front company linked to ...
- APT29 Uses WINELOADER to Target German Political Parties
March 22, 2024
In late February 2024, Mandiant identified APT29 — a Russian Federation backed threat group linked by multiple governments to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) — conducting a phishing campaign targeting German political parties. Consistent with APT29 operations extending back to 2021, this operation leveraged APT29’s mainstay first-stage payload ROOTSAW (aka EnvyScout) to deliver a new backdoor ...
- The Updated APT Playbook: Tales from the Kimsuky threat actor group
March 20, 2024
Rapit7 team recently ran across some interesting activity that they believe is the work of the Kimsuky threat actor group, also known as Black Banshee or Thallium. Originating from North Korea and active since at least 2012, Kimsuky focuses primarily on intelligence gathering. The group is known to have targeted South Korean government entities, individuals associated with ...
- Investigating Ivanti Connect Secure VPN Exploitation and Persistence Attempts
February 27, 2024
Mandiant and Ivanti’s investigations into widespread Ivanti zero-day exploitation have continued across a variety of industry verticals, including the U.S. defense industrial base sector. Following the initial publication on Jan. 10, 2024, Mandiant observed mass attempts to exploit these vulnerabilities by a small number of China-nexus threat actors, and development of a mitigation bypass exploit targeting ...
- Data From Chinese Security Services Company i-Soon Linked to Previous Chinese APT Campaigns
February 23, 2024
On Feb. 16, 2024, someone uploaded data to GitHub that included possible internal company communications, sales-related materials and product manuals belonging to the Chinese IT security services company i-Soon, also known as Anxun Information Technology. The leaked materials appear to show how a commercial entity developed and supported cyber espionage tools in support of Chinese-affiliated threat ...
- A first analysis of the i-Soon data leak
February 21, 2024
Data from a Chinese cybersecurity vendor that works for the Chinese government has exposed a range of hacking tools and services. Although the source is not entirely clear, it seems that a disgruntled staff member of the group leaked the information on purpose. The vendor, i-Soon (aka Anxun) is believed to be a private contractor that ...
- Iran accelerates cyber ops against Israel from chaotic start
February 6, 2024
Since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, Iranian government-aligned actors have launched a series of cyberattacks and influence operations (IO) intended to help the Hamas cause and weaken Israel and its political allies and business partners. Many of Iran’s immediate operations after October 7 were hasty and chaotic – indicating it had little or no coordination ...
- Dead-end job
February 6, 2024
In November 2023, Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence unit detected a massive malicious campaign targeting employment agencies and retail companies primarily located in the APAC region, to steal and sell sensitive user data. The campaign was attributed to a previously unknown group. Due to the threat actor’s focus on job search platforms and the theft of resumes, Group-IB ...
- Volt Typhoon Actors Exploiting Insecure SOHO Routers
January 31, 2024
Threat actors—particularly the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—sponsored Volt Typhoon group—are compromising small office/home office (SOHO) routers by exploiting software defects that manufacturers must eliminate through secure software design and development. Specifically, Volt Typhoon actors are exploiting security defects in SOHO routers to use them as launching pads to further compromise U.S. critical infrastructure entities. CISA ...