A previously unknown and “sophisticated” nation-state group compromised Cisco firewalls as early as November 2023 for espionage purposes — and possibly attacked network devices made by other vendors including Microsoft, according to warnings from the networking giant and three Western governments.
A Cisco spokesperson declined to comment on which country the snooping crew – tracked as UAT4356 by Talos and as STORM-1849 by Microsoft – is affiliated with. The disclosures, however, come as both Russian and China-backed hacking groups have been found burrowing into critical infrastructure systems and government agencies, with China specifically targeting Cisco gear.
Read more…
Source: MSN News
Related:
- Backchannel Diplomacy: APT29’s Rapidly Evolving Diplomatic Phishing Operations
September 22, 2023
During the lead up to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Mandiant and Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) have tracked an increase in the frequency and scope of APT29 phishing operations. Investigations into the group’s recent activity have identified an intensification of operations centered on foreign embassies in Ukraine. Notably, as part of this activity, Mandiant have seen phishing emails ...
- New ShroudedSnooper actor targets telecommunications firms in the Middle East with novel Implants
September 19, 2023
Cisco Talos recently discovered a new malware family we’re calling “HTTPSnoop” being deployed against telecommunications providers in the Middle East. HTTPSnoop is a simple, yet effective, backdoor that consists of novel techniques to interface with Windows HTTP kernel drivers and devices to listen to incoming requests for specific HTTP(S) URLs and execute that content on the ...
- Kuwait’s finance ministry says cyberattack hit one of its systems
September 18, 2023
Kuwait’s finance ministry said on Monday that one of its systems had suffered a cyberattack in the early morning but that the ministry continued to work normally. The ministry said in a statement that protection systems and procedures had been activated and “the level of the hacking attempt is being assessed.” Read more… Source: Alarabiya News
- China becomes main victim of advanced persistent threat attacks: Ministry of State Security
September 16, 2023
According to the Ministry of State Security on Saturday which is the 23rd National Defense Education Day, China has become the main victim of advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks, adding that cyberspace has become an important battleground for foreign intelligence agencies to conduct cyber espionage against China, Xinhua Daily Telegraph reported. The national security departments of ...
- Peach Sandstorm password spray campaigns enable intelligence collection at high-value targets
September 14, 2023
Since February 2023, Microsoft has observed password spray activity against thousands of organizations carried out by an actor we track as (HOLMIUM). Peach Sandstorm is an Iranian nation-state threat actor who has recently pursued organizations in the satellite, defense, and pharmaceutical sectors around the globe. Based upon the profile of victim organizations targeted and the observed ...
- A peek into APT36’s updated arsenal
September 12, 2023
In July 2023, Zscaler ThreatLabz discovered new malicious activity perpetuated by the Pakistan-based advanced persistent threat group (APT36). APT36 is a sophisticated cyber threat group with a history of conducting targeted espionage operations in South Asia. Zscaler ThreatLabz observed APT36 targeting Indian government sectors using a previously undocumented Windows RAT, new cyber espionage utilities for ...