- Confucius Espionage: From Stealer to Backdoor
October 2, 2025
The Confucius group is a long-running cyber-espionage actor operating primarily across South Asia. First identified in 2013, the group is believed to have links to state-sponsored operations in the region. Over the past decade, Confucius has repeatedly targeted government agencies, military organizations, defense contractors, and critical industries—especially in Pakistan—using spear-phishing and malicious documents as initial access ...
- This new phishing kit turns PDF files into malware
October 1, 2025
A new PDF phishing kit is being sold on the dark web, promising customers advanced features, a simple interface, and competitive pricing, experts have warned. Security researchers from Varonis spotted MatrixPDF, an advanced solution being advertised as a legitimate tool, despite being circulated around the dark web. Its full name is MatrixPDF: Document Builder – Advanced ...
- XCSSET evolves again: Analyzing the latest updates to XCSSET’s inventory
September 25, 2025
Microsoft Threat Intelligence has identified yet another XCSSET variant in the wild that introduces further updates and new modules beyond those detailed in our March 2025 blog post. The XCSSET malware is designed to infect Xcode projects, typically used by software developers, and run while an Xcode project is being built. We assess that this mode ...
- New LockBit 5.0 Targets Windows, Linux, ESXi
September 25, 2025
Trend™ Research has identified and analyzed the source binaries of a new LockBit version in the wild, which is the latest from the group’s activities following the February 2024 law enforcement operation (Operation Cronos) that disrupted their infrastructure. In early September, the LockBit ransomware group reportedly resurfaced for their sixth anniversary, announcing the release of “LockBit ...
- Another BRICKSTORM: Stealthy Backdoor Enabling Espionage into Tech and Legal Sectors
September 24, 2025
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) is tracking BRICKSTORM malware activity, which is being used to maintain persistent access to victim organizations in the United States. Since March 2025, Mandiant Consulting has responded to intrusions across a range of industry verticals, most notably legal services, Software as a Service (SaaS) providers, Business Process Outsourcers (BPOs), and Technology. ...
- Threat landscape for industrial automation systems in Q2 2025
September 19, 2025
In Q2 2025, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked decreased by 1.4 pp from the previous quarter to 20.5%. Compared to Q2 2024, the rate decreased by 3.0 pp. Regionally, the percentage of ICS computers on which malicious objects were blocked ranged from 11.2% in Northern Europe to 27.8% in Africa. ...
- “Shai-Hulud” Worm Compromises npm Ecosystem in Supply Chain Attack
September 17, 2025
Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 is investigating an active and widespread software supply chain attack targeting the Node Package Manager (npm) ecosystem. A novel, self-replicating worm, which is currently being tracked as “Shai-Hulud,” is responsible for the compromise of over 180 software packages. This attack represents a significant evolution in supply chain threats, leveraging automated propagation ...
- RevengeHotels: a new wave of attacks leveraging LLMs and VenomRAT
September 16, 2025
RevengeHotels, also known as TA558, is a threat group that has been active since 2015, stealing credit card data from hotel guests and travelers. RevengeHotels’ modus operandi involves sending emails with phishing links which redirect victims to websites mimicking document storage. These sites, in turn, download script files to ultimately infect the targeted machines. The final ...
- Shiny tools, shallow checks: how the AI hype opens the door to malicious MCP servers
September 15, 2025
In this article, Kaspersky researchers explore how the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — the new “plug-in bus” for AI assistants — can be weaponized as a supply chain foothold. The researchers start with a primer on MCP, map out protocol-level and supply chain attack paths, then walk through a hands-on proof of concept: a seemingly legitimate ...
- Unmasking The Gentlemen Ransomware: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Revealed
September 9, 2025
In August 2025, Trend Micro investigated a new ransomware campaign orchestrated by The Gentlemen, an emerging and previously undocumented threat group. This threat actor quickly established itself within the threat landscape by demonstrating advanced capabilities through their systematic compromise of enterprise environments. By adapting their tools mid-campaign—shifting from generic anti-AV utilities to highly targeted, specific variants—the ...