In December 2024, Palo Alto Unit 42 researchers uncovered an attack chain that employs distinct, multi-layered stages to deliver malware like Agent Tesla variants, Remcos RAT or XLoader.
Attackers increasingly rely on such complex delivery mechanisms to evade detection, bypass traditional sandboxes, and ensure successful payload delivery and execution. The phishing campaign we analyzed used deceptive emails posing as an order release request to deliver a malicious attachment. This multi-layered attack chain leverages multiple execution paths to evade detection and complicate analysis.
Read more…
Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- QR Codes Serve Up a Menu of Security Concerns
September 15, 2020
Quick Response (QR) codes are booming in popularity and hackers are flocking to exploit the trend. Worse, according to a new study, people are mostly ignorant to how QR codes can be easily abused to launch digital attacks. The reason QR code use is skyrocketing is tied to more brick-and-mortar businesses are forgoing paper brochures, menus ...
- A Blind Spot in ICS Security: The Protocol Gateway [Part 2] Vulnerability Allowing Stealth Attacks on Industrial Control Systems
September 14, 2020
A protocol gateway is a small network device, also called a protocol converter” or “IoT gateway.” It is similar to an “interpreter” in the digital word, and acts as a communications intermediary between different protocols. As the integration of networks accelerates with IoT, protocol conversion grows increasingly important. However, the security of protocol gateways has not ...
- Feds Warn Nation-State Hackers are Actively Exploiting Unpatched Microsoft Exchange, F5, VPN Bugs
September 14, 2020
The U.S. government is warning that Chinese threat actors have successfully compromised several government and private sector entities in recent months, by exploiting vulnerabilities in F5 BIG-IP devices, Citrix and Pulse Secure VPNs and Microsoft Exchange servers. Patches are currently available for all these flaws – and in some cases, have been available for over a ...
- Fairfax County schools hit by Maze ransomware, student data leaked
September 12, 2020
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the 10th largest school division in the US, was recently hit by ransomware according to an official statement published on Friday evening. The school district is also the largest in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and it has a budget of $3.1 billion approved for 2021. FCPS has over 188,000 current students and ...
- Palo Alto Networks fixes critical flaw in PAN-OS firewall software
September 11, 2020
Palo Alto Networks has fixed a new critical vulnerability affecting multiple versions of PAN-OS, the operating system affecting its next-generation firewalls. The issue received the identification number CVE-2020-2040 and has a severity score of 9.8 out of 10 and requires no user interaction. An unauthenticated attacker can exploit it by sending a malicious request to specific ...
- APT28 Mounts Rapid, Large-Scale Theft of Office 365 Logins
September 11, 2020
The Russia-linked threat group known as APT28 has changed up its tactics to include Office 365 password-cracking and credential-harvesting. Microsoft researchers have tied APT28 (a.k.a. Strontium, Sofacy or Fancy Bear) to this newly uncovered pattern of O365 activity, which began in April and is ongoing. The attacks have been aimed mainly at U.S. and U.K. organizations ...

