- New MrbMiner malware has infected thousands of MSSQL databases
September 16, 2020
A new malware gang has made a name for itself over the past few months by hacking into Microsoft SQL Servers (MSSQL) and installing a crypto-miner. Thousands of MSSQL databases have been infected so far, according to the cybersecurity arm of Chinese tech giant Tencent. In a report published earlier this month, Tencent Security has named this ...
- Boosting Impact for Profit: Evolving Ransomware Techniques for Targeted Attacks
September 15, 2020
While more enterprises have adjusted to the new normal, so have cybercriminals who take advantage of the ever-changing work, home, and security landscape. As described in our 2020 Midyear Roundup, the numbers pertaining to ransomware no longer tell the story at first glance. While the number of infections, company disclosures, and ransomware families has gone ...
- Netwalker ransomware hits Pakistan’s largest private power utility
September 8, 2020
K-Electric, the sole electricity provider for Karachi, Pakistan, has suffered a Netwalker ransomware attack that led to the disruption of billing and online services. K-Electric is Pakistan’s largest power supplier, serving 2.5 million customers and employing over 10 thousand people. Starting yesterday, K-Electric customers have been unable to access the online services for their account. To resolve this ...
- Newcastle University students’ data held to ransom by cyber criminals
September 8, 2020
Newcastle University is being held to ransom by cyber criminals in an attack which has been disrupting IT systems since the beginning of the month. The cyber crime group behind the attack – known as DoppelPaymer – previously leaked documents online relating to Elon Musk’s companies SpaceX and Tesla. The criminals have posted stolen files from the ...
- France warns of Emotet attacking companies, administration
September 7, 2020
The French national cyber-security agency today published an alert warning of a surge in Emotet attacks targeting the private sector and public administration entities throughout the country. French public administration has three sub-sectors: central public administrations (APUC), local government (LUFA), and social security administrations (ASSO). Emotet, originally a run-of-the-mill banking Trojan first spotted in 2014, is now ...
- Thanos Ransomware: Destructive Variant Targeting State-Run Organizations in the Middle East and North Africa
September 4, 2020
On July 6 and July 9, 2020, we observed files associated with an attack on two state-run organizations in the Middle East and North Africa that ultimately installed and ran a variant of the Thanos ransomware. The Thanos variant created a text file that displayed a ransom message requesting the victim transfer “20,000$” into a ...
- XCSSET Update: Browser Debug Modes, Inactive Ransomware
September 4, 2020
In our first blog post that covered XCSSET, we discussed its relatively unique danger to Xcode developers and the way it took advantage of two macOS vulnerabilities to maximize what it can take from an infected machine. Our research into this incident is still ongoing, and in this blog post, we cover some other aspects of ...
- Cetus: Cryptojacking Worm Targeting Docker Daemons
August 27, 2020
Unsecured Docker daemons have been known to security professionals as a major threat since the early days of containers. Unit 42 recently wrote about Graboid, the first-ever Docker cryptojacking worm and unsecured Docker daemons. I conducted additional research by setting up a Docker daemon honeypot in order to examine how things look for an average ...
- SunCrypt Ransomware sheds light on the Maze ransomware cartel
August 26, 2020
A ransomware named SunCrypt has joined the ‘Maze cartel,’ and with their membership, we get insight into how these groups are working together. In June, we broke the story that the Maze threat actors created a cartel of ransomware operations to share information and techniques to help each other extort their victims. When first started, this cartel ...
- Transparent Tribe: Evolution analysis, part 2
August 26, 2020
Transparent Tribe, also known as PROJECTM or MYTHIC LEOPARD, is a highly prolific group whose activities can be traced as far back as 2013. In the last four years, this APT group has never taken time off. They continue to hit their targets, which typically are Indian military and government personnel. This is the second of ...