- Aquatic Panda Used Log4Shell Exploit Tools During Hands-on Intrusion Attempt – CrowdStrike
December 29, 2021
Since the vulnerability was announced, CrowdStrike’s OverWatch threat hunters have been continuously ingesting the latest insights about the Log4j vulnerability as well as publicly disclosed exploit methods to influence their continuous hunting operations. On Dec. 14, 2021, VMware issued guidance around elements of VMware’s Horizon service found to be vulnerable to Log4j exploits. This led ...
- New Flagpro malware linked to Chinese state-backed hackers
December 28, 2021
BlackTech cyber-espionage APT (advanced persistent threat) group has been spotted targeting Japanese companies using novel malware that researchers call ‘Flagpro’. The threat actor uses Flagpro in the initial stage of an attack for network reconnaissance, to evaluate the target’s environment, and to download second-stage malware and execute it. The infection chain begins with a phishing email crafted ...
- FBI: APT Actors Exploiting Newly-Identified Zero Day in ManageEngine Desktop Central
December 20, 2021
Since at least late October 2021, APT actors have been actively exploiting a zero-day, now identified as CVE-2021-44515, on ManageEngine Desktop Central servers. The APT actors were observed compromising Desktop Central servers, dropping a webshell that overrides a legitimate function of Desktop Central, downloading post-exploitation tools, enumerating domain users and groups, conducting network reconnaissance, attempting ...
- US federal agency compromised in suspected APT attack
December 17, 2021
A sophisticated threat actor has gained access and has backdoored the internal network of a US federal government agency. The security firm did not name the agency in its report, but The Record understands that the target of the attack was the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). According to its website, the USCIRF is ...
- PseudoManuscrypt: a mass-scale spyware attack campaign
December 16, 2021
In June 2021, Kaspersky ICS CERT experts identified malware whose loader has some similarities to the Manuscrypt malware, which is part of the Lazarus APT group’s arsenal. In 2020, the group used Manuscrypt in attacks on defense enterprises in different countries. These attacks are described in the report “Lazarus targets defense industry with ThreatNeedle“. Curiously, the ...
- Suspected Iranian hackers target airline with new backdoor
December 16, 2021
A suspected, state-sponsored Iranian threat group has attacked an airline with a never-before-seen backdoor. On Wednesday, cybersecurity researchers from IBM Security X-Force said an Asian airline was the subject of the attack, which likely began in October 2019 until 2021. The advanced persistent threat (APT) group ITG17, also known as MuddyWater, leveraged a free workspace channel on ...
- Espionage Campaign Targets Telecoms Organizations across Middle East and Asia
December 14, 2021
Attackers most likely linked to Iran have attacked a string of telecoms operators in the Middle East and Asia over the past six months, in addition to a number of IT services organizations and a utility company. Organizations in Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Thailand, and Laos were targeted in the ...
- Collecting In the Dark: Tropic Trooper Targets Transportation and Government
December 14, 2021
Earth Centaur, previously known as Tropic Trooper, is a long-running cyberespionage threat group that has been active since 2011. In July 2020, Trend Micro researchers noticed interesting activity coming from the group, and they have been closely monitoring it since. The actors seem to be targeting organizations in the transportation industry and government agencies related ...
- Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe
December 8, 2021
As the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the SolarWinds supply chain compromise passes, Mandiant remains committed to tracking one of the toughest actors we have encountered. These suspected Russian actors practice top-notch operational security and advanced tradecraft. However, they are fallible, and we continue to uncover their activity and learn from their mistakes. Ultimately, ...
- State of Cybersecurity in Germany in 2021
December 7, 2021
According to Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the country faces a grave and growing threat as society becomes more digitally connected and criminals more sophisticated. The BSI said threat levels have reached red alarm levels. Threat level increased BSI published their annual report “The State of IT Security in Germany in 2021.” It highlights that ...