While responding to an incident at one of their clients, the PT ESC CSIRT team discovered a previously unknown backdoor written in Go, which they attributed to a cybercrime gang dubbed ExCobalt.
ExCobalt focuses on cyberespionage and includes several members active since at least 2016 and presumably once part of the notorious Cobalt gang. Cobalt attacked financial institutions to steal funds. One of Cobalt’s hallmarks was the use of the CobInt tool, something ExCobalt began to use in 2022. Over the past year, the PT ESC has recorded attacks linked to ExCobalt and investigated related incidents at Russian organizations in the following sectors: Metallurgy, Telecommunications, Mining, Information technology, Government, Software development
Read more…
Source: Positive Technologies
Related:
- Iranian hacker group deploys malicious Snake game to target Egyptian and Israeli critical infrastructure
December 3, 2025
An Iranian-aligned hacking group tracked as ‘MuddyWater’ has dramatically shifted tactics in attacks against Israeli and Egyptian critical infrastructure. Previous campaigns by the group, observed by ESET Research, were characteristically noisy in their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) making them easily detectable. However, the group has begun employing a new backdoor deployed via the Fooder loader, ...
- Shai Hulud 2.0, now with a wiper flavor
December 3, 2025
In September, a new breed of malware distributed via compromised Node Package Manager (npm) packages made headlines. It was dubbed “Shai-Hulud”, and Kaspersky published an in-depth analysis of it in another post. Recently, a new version was discovered. Shai Hulud 2.0 is a type of two-stage worm-like malware that spreads by compromising npm tokens to republish ...
- Tomiris wreaks Havoc: New tools and techniques of the APT group
November 28, 2025
While tracking the activities of the Tomiris threat actor, Kaspersky researchers identified new malicious operations that began in early 2025. These attacks targeted foreign ministries, intergovernmental organizations, and government entities, demonstrating a focus on high-value political and diplomatic infrastructure. In several cases, Kaspersky traced the threat actor’s actions from initial infection to the deployment of post-exploitation ...
- New macOS malware chain could cause a major security headache
November 26, 2025
North Korean state-sponsored threat actors are targeting macOS users with new malware, utilizing a strategy that combines two popular approaches – fake job ads, and ClickFix, experts have warned. Security researchers Jamf confirmed they have spotted attacks in the wild using ClickFix, an attack method in which the victim is presented with a fake problem, and ...
- Mac users warned about new DigitStealer information stealer
November 19, 2025
This variant comes with advanced detection-evasion techniques and a multi-stage attack chain. Most infostealers go after the same types of data and use similar methods to get it, but DigitStealer is different enough to warrant attention. A few things make it stand out: platform-specific targeting, fileless operation, and anti-analysis techniques. Together, they pose relatively new challenges ...
- Digital Doppelgangers: Anatomy of Evolving Impersonation Campaigns Distributing Gh0st RAT
November 14, 2025
Palo Alto Unit 42 researchers have identified two interconnected malware campaigns active throughout 2025, using large-scale brand impersonation to deliver Gh0st remote access Trojan (RAT) variants to Chinese-speaking users. From the first campaign to the second, the adversary advanced from simple droppers to complex, multi-stage infection chains that misuse legitimate, signed software to bypass modern defenses. ...