AI used in Aur0ra ransomware testing and execution


In May 2026, Counter Threat Unit™ (CTU) researchers published a report on an AI-orchestrated post-exploitation framework that tested the capabilities of multiple vendors’ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions, including the Sophos agent. Following a testing phase, Sophos analysts observed the same infrastructure hosting Cobalt Strike in support of Aur0ra ransomware (also known as Aurora ransomware) operations. Sophos analysis has revealed that the GOLD OGRE cybercriminal group, which operates Aur0ra ransomware, extensively uses AI to conduct attacks. The tools and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed by Sophos analysts align with third-party reporting of AI usage in similar compromises.

Read more…
Source:  Sophos


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Chinese hackers Deep Panda return with Log4Shell exploits, new Fire Chili rootkit

    April 1, 2022

    Deep Panda has launched new attacks this month that exploit Log4Shell to deploy the new Fire Chili rootkit. Deep Panda is a Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) hacking group that has been active for at least a decade. The APT targets government, defense, healthcare, telecoms, and financial organizations, to name a few, for purposes including data ...

  • Zyxel urges customers to patch critical firewall bypass vulnerability

    April 1, 2022

    Zyxel is urging customers to immediately patch a critical vulnerability in the vendor’s firewall software. In a security advisory published this week, the Taiwanese networking giant said the security flaw can lead to the circumvention of firewall protection in Zyxel USG, ZyWALL, FLEX, ATP, VPN, and NSG product lines. Tracked as CVE-2022-0342 and issued a critical severity ...

  • Modem-wiping malware caused Viasat satellite broadband outage in Europe

    April 1, 2022

    Tens of thousands of Viasat satellite broadband modems that were disabled in a cyber-attack some weeks ago were wiped by malware with possible links to Russia’s destructive VPNFilter, according to SentinelOne. On February 24, as Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Viasat terminals in Europe and Ukraine were suddenly and unexpectedly knocked offline and rendered inoperable. This caused, ...

  • Lazarus Trojanized DeFi app for delivering malware

    March 31, 2022

    For the Lazarus threat actor, financial gain is one of the prime motivations, with a particular emphasis on the cryptocurrency business. As the price of cryptocurrency surges, and the popularity of non-fungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) businesses continues to swell, the Lazarus group’s targeting of the financial industry keeps evolving. We recently discovered a ...

  • Meet BlackGuard: a new infostealer peddled on Russian hacker forums

    March 31, 2022

    Researchers have uncovered a new infostealer malware being peddled in Russian underground forums. Dubbed BlackGuard, zScaler says that the new malware strain is “sophisticated” and has been made available to criminal buyers for a monthly price of $200. Infostealers are forms of malware designed to harvest valuable data, potentially including operating system information, contact lists, screenshots, network ...

  • Tracking cyber activity in Eastern Europe

    March 30, 2022

    In early March, Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) published an update on the cyber activity it was tracking with regard to the war in Ukraine. Since our last update, TAG has observed a continuously growing number of threat actors using the war as a lure in phishing and malware campaigns. Government-backed actors from China, Iran, ...