In November 2023, the team at the Positive Technologies Expert Security Center (PT ESC) released their first research report on attacks by the hitherto-unknown group Hellhounds on Russian companies’ infrastructure: Operation Lahat.
The report focused on the group’s attacks on Linux hosts that relied on a new backdoor known as Decoy Dog. Hellhounds carried on attacks on organizations located in Russia, scoring at least 48 confirmed victims by Q2 2024. As the PT ESC CSIRT team responded to an incident at a transportation company, they detected previously unreported attacks on Windows-based infrastructure, besides already-known TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) and attacks on Linux hosts. The new investigation also found that Hellhounds had been successfully hitting Russian companies since at least 2021. It is a known fact that development of the malware began at least as early as 2019.
Read more…
Source: Positive Technologies
Related:
- German Government Summons Russian Ambassador Over Major Cyberattack
December 12, 2025
The German government has formally summoned the Russian ambassador following the attribution of a significant cyberattack and coordinated disinformation campaign to Russian actors. This development comes amid heightened concerns regarding interference in Germany’s political processes and critical infrastructure. According to official statements, the cyberattack in question targeted the German Air Traffic Control (Deutsche Flugsicherung, DFS) in ...
- SHADOW-VOID-042 Targets Multiple Industries with Void Rabisu-like Tactics
December 11, 2025
In October and November 2025, campaigns targeting sectors such as energy, defence, pharmaceuticals, and cybersecurity shared characteristics with older campaigns attributed to Void Rabisuopen on a new tab (also known as ROMCOM, Tropical Scorpius, Storm-0978). Void Rabisu is known to be associated with an actor group that has both financial and espionage motivations that are ...
- U.S. Justice Department Announces Actions to Combat Two Russian State-Sponsored Cyber Criminal Hacking Groups
December 9, 2025
The Justice Department announced two indictments in the Central District of California charging Ukrainian national Victoria Eduardovna Dubranova, 33, also known as Vika, Tory, and SovaSonya, for her role in conducting cyberattacks and computer intrusions against critical infrastructure and other victims around the world, in support of Russia’s geopolitical interests. Dubranova was extradited to the ...
- 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 ...
- US, UK, and Australia sanction Russian ‘bulletproof’ web host used in ransomware attacks
November 19, 2025
The governments of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia have sanctioned a Russian “bulletproof” web hosting company and several of its related firms for allegedly being used to launch ransomware attacks against U.S. victims and critical infrastructure. In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury said it imposed coordinated sanctions on the Russia-based web host ...
- Threat Landscape of the Building and Construction Sector: IA, Supply Chain, and IoT
November 7, 2025
In 2025, the construction industry stands at the crossroads of digital transformation and evolving cybersecurity risks, making it a prime target for threat actors. Cyber adversaries, including ransomware operators, organized cybercriminal networks, and state-sponsored APT groups from countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, are increasingly focusing their attacks on the building and construction ...