Fake IT bods on Microsoft Teams coax workers into installing malware


Cybercriminals are using fake IT support calls on Microsoft Teams to persuade employees to surrender control of their PCs before installing the EtherRAT remote access trojan, according to researchers at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42.

Victims receive a phishing email disguised as an employee survey before a follow-up Microsoft Teams call from someone claiming to be IT support. During the call, the attacker persuades the target to hand over remote control and install legitimate remote administration tools such as HopToDesk or AnyDesk. An MSI package is then downloaded, which installs the EtherRAT malware.

Read more…
Source:  The Register


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


Related:

  • How phishers hide banking scams behind free Cloudflare Pages

    December 8, 2025

    During a recent investigation, we uncovered a phishing operation that combines free hosting on developer platforms with compromised legitimate websites to build convincing banking and insurance login portals. These fake pages don’t just grab a username and password–they also ask for answers to secret questions and other “backup” data that attackers can use to bypass multi-factor ...

  • Petco’s security lapse affected customers’ SSNs, drivers’ licenses and more

    December 8, 2025

    Last week, pet products and services giant Petco confirmed that it experienced a data breach involving customers’ personal information, without specifying what type of data was affected. On Friday, in a legally required filing with Texas’ attorney general’s office, Petco reported that the affected data included: names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial information such ...

  • Poland detains three Ukrainians over possession of hacking equipment

    December 8, 2025

    A Polish court has ordered three Ukrainian nationals held on charges of computer fraud and possessing hardware and software designed to commit crimes, including a suspected attempt to damage IT data deemed crucial to national defence. The three men, aged 43, 42 and 39, were detained after a roadside check in Warsaw, Polish state news agency ...

  • New Prompt Injection Attack Vectors Through MCP Sampling

    December 5, 2025

    This article examines the security implications of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) sampling feature in the context of a widely used coding copilot application. MCP is a standard for connecting large language model (LLM) applications to external data sources and tools. We show that, without proper safeguards, malicious MCP servers can exploit the sampling feature for ...

  • Trump’s national security strategy wants spy agencies to watch world supply chains

    December 5, 2025

    President Donald Trump’s national security strategy tasks the U.S. intelligence community with monitoring global supply chains as part of a sweeping goal to decouple the nation’s economy from foreign adversaries and advance American economic interests. The demands listed in the 33-page strategy document published late Thursday reflect how aggressively the Trump administration is directing federal agencies ...

  • Leaks show Intellexa burning zero-days to keep Predator spyware running

    December 5, 2025

    Intellexa is a well-known commercial spyware vendor, servicing governments and large corporations. Its main product is the Predator spyware. An investigation by several independent parties describes Intellexa as one of the most notorious mercenary spyware vendors, still operating its Predator platform and hitting new targets even after being placed on US sanctions lists and being under ...