Fighting Ursa Luring Targets With Car for Sale


A Russian threat actor Palo Alto Unit 42 track as Fighting Ursa advertised a car for sale as a lure to distribute HeadLace backdoor malware. The campaign likely targeted diplomats and began as early as March 2024.

Fighting Ursa (aka APT28, Fancy Bear and Sofacy) has been associated with Russian military intelligence and classified as an advanced persistent threat (APT). Diplomatic-car-for-sale phishing lure themes have been used by Russian threat actors for years. These lures tend to resonate with diplomats and get targets to click on the malicious content.

Read more…
Source: Palo Alto


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Apple’s latest iPhone security feature just made life more difficult for spyware makers

    September 11, 2025

    Buried in an ocean of flashy novelties announced by Apple this week, the tech giant also revealed new security technology for its latest iPhone 17 and iPhone Air devices. This new security technology was made specifically to fight against surveillance vendors and the types of vulnerabilities they rely on the most, according to Apple. The feature ...

  • ICE reactivates contract with spyware maker Paragon

    September 2, 2025

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a contract last year with Israeli spyware maker Paragon worth $2 million . Shortly after, the Biden administration put the contract under review, issuing a “stop work order,” to determine whether the contract complied with an executive order on commercial spyware, which restricts U.S. government agencies from using spyware ...

  • WhatsApp fixes ‘zero-click’ bug used to hack Apple users with spyware

    August 29, 2025

    WhatsApp said on Friday that it fixed a security bug in its iOS and Mac apps that was being used to stealthily hack into the Apple devices of “specific targeted users.” The Meta-owned messaging app giant said in its security advisory that it fixed the vulnerability, known officially as CVE-2025-55177, which was used alongside a separate ...

  • TAOTH Campaign Exploits End-of-Support Software to Target Traditional Chinese Users and Dissidents

    August 28, 2025

    In June, Terend Micro researchers identified and investigated an unusual security incident involving the installation of two malware families, C6DOOR and GTELAM, on a victim’s host. Trend Micro investigation determined that the malware was delivered through a legitimate input method editor (IME) software, Sogou Zhuyin. As brief explanation, an IME is a tool that interprets sequences ...

  • Deception in Depth: PRC-nexus espionage campaign hijacks web traffic to target diplomats

    August 25, 2025

    This blog post presents Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. GTIG examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads. In this campaign, the ...

  • A new security flaw in TheTruthSpy phone spyware is putting victims at risk

    August 25, 2025

    A stalkerware maker with a history of multiple data leaks and breaches now has a critical security vulnerability that allows anyone to take over any user account and steal their victim’s sensitive personal data, TechCrunch has confirmed. Independent security researcher Swarang Wade found the vulnerability, which allows anyone to reset the password of any user of ...