Mirage Kitten targeting aviation and FinTech sectors across the Middle East and Africa with a new malware set


While monitoring Mirage Kitten activity, Kaspersky researchers uncovered a previously undocumented malware family that we dubbed NodeRabbit. The researchers identified the first sample on a system in Afghanistan. Further threat hunting revealed two additional, more advanced, variants: one on a system in Egypt and another on a system in Ethiopia.

NodeRabbit is a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT) built with Node.js. It targets Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its operators deliver it through spear-phishing messages on LinkedIn and other job search platforms that contain trojanized coding challenge archives.

During the same investigation, the researchers discovered another previously undocumented malware family that we dubbed PollCat. Like NodeRabbit, PollCat is a cross-platform RAT, but it is written in obfuscated JavaScript also distributed through trojanized coding challenge archives.

Read more…
Source:  Kaspersky


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • ShinyHunters hacker in FBI data theft detained in Jordan, cooperating with bureau

    October 3, 2026

    A suspected member of the ShinyHunters hacking group, which ​says it stole data on every FBI employee, was detained in Jordan this week and is cooperating with the FBI, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Saif ‌al-Din Khader was detained by Jordanian authorities, the three sources said. Two of them said he was brought ...

  • Fortinet sounds the alarm over actively exploited FortiMail zero-day

    October 2, 2026

    Fortinet is warning customers to lock down FortiMail after attackers started exploiting a critical bug that lets them write files to vulnerable systems without logging in. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-104286, carries a CVSS score of 9.8 and affects multiple versions of Fortinet’s email security platform. Fortinet describes the vulnerability as a combination of path traversal and ...

  • SMTP is the key: BPFDoor and AVERAT hitting the network edge

    October 2, 2026

    Rapid7 tracked a set of Linux samples that blend into the software and device conventions of the telecom environments they target. The set spans a newly observed BPFDoor variant, a BPF Rekoobe build seen against South Korean targets, a dropper, and six builds of a Linux implant Rapid7 researchers track as AVERAT, deployed against Taiwanese ...

  • Operation KillSwitch: Teenager suspected of leading KillSec ransomware group

    October 1, 2026

    On 30 September 2026, law enforcement took control of KillSec’s leak site, securing at least 110 terabytes of data against further unauthorised access. The cybercrime group used the site to threaten organisations with the publication of stolen files unless they paid a ransom. The action was part of Operation KillSwitch, an international investigation led by German ...

  • ShinyHunters hackers are going after Oracle systems once again

    September 29, 2026

    ShinyHunters have found a way to bypass a mitigation for a zero-day they previously exploited – so now, not only are they back to abusing the same bug, they’ve even expanded their scope to target a much larger pool of organizations. In June 2026, it was reported that ShinyHunters, the infamous data extortionists, found a Java ...

  • Dutch police arrest ‘security researcher’ in ShinyHunters probe

    September 29, 2026

    Dutch police have arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of involvement with the prolific ShinyHunters cybercrime group. Cops announced the arrest on Monday night and said the Amsterdam resident would appear before judges at Rotterdam District Court today (Tuesday). Officers have not named the suspect. However, a company has identified a person they believe to be the ...