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
Related:
- Marbled Dust leverages zero-day in Output Messenger for regional espionage
May 12, 2025
Since April 2024, the threat actor that Microsoft Threat Intelligence tracks as Marbled Dust has been observed exploiting user accounts that have not applied fixes to a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-27920) in the messaging app Output Messenger, a multiplatform chat software. These exploits have resulted in collection of related user data from targets in Iraq. Microsoft Threat ...
- Turkish intel busts cyber espionage ring stealing personal data
May 10, 2025
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has dismantled a cyber espionage network that sought to steal personal and financial data from citizens by imitating corporate identities through fake cell towers, security sources said Saturday. After months of investigations and surveillance, seven foreign nationals were caught red-handed in a joint operation with Istanbul police and prosecutors, sources said, ...
- Israeli spyware firm NSO to pay Meta $168m. in damages for hijacking WhatsApp servers
May 7, 2025
A federal jury in California handed Israel’s NSO Group a $168 million penalty on Tuesday for hijacking the servers of WhatsApp in order to hack users of the Meta-owned chat platform on behalf of foreign spy agencies. The case caps a six-year battle between the American social media giant and the surveillance firm. It has also ...
- Apple notifies new victims of spyware attacks across the world
April 30, 2025
Apple sent notifications this week to several people who the company believes were targeted with government spyware, according to two of the alleged targets. In the past, Apple has sent similar notifications to targets and victims of spyware, and directed them to contact a nonprofit that specializes in investigating such cyberattacks. Other tech companies, like Google ...
- Earth Kurma APT Campaign Targets Southeast Asian Government, Telecom Sectors
April 25, 2025
Trend Research uncovered a sophisticated APT campaign targeting government and telecommunications sectors in Southeast Asia. Named Earth Kurma, the attackers use advanced custom malware, rootkits, and cloud storage services for data exfiltration. Earth Kurma demonstrates adaptive malware toolsets, strategic infrastructure abuse, and complex evasion techniques. This campaign poses a high business risk due to targeted espionage, ...
- FBI Seeking Tips about PRC-Targeting of US Telecommunications
April 24, 2025
FBI is issuing this announcement to ask the public to report information about PRC-affiliated activity publicly tracked as “Salt Typhoon” and the compromise of multiple US telecommunications companies, especially information about specific individuals behind the campaign. Investigation into these actors and their activity revealed a broad and significant cyber campaign to leverage access into these ...