Self-destructing Mistic backdoor linked to access broker selling corporate footholds to ransomware gangs


A new self-destructing backdoor called Mistic used in intrusions since April appears to be linked to a criminal gang that compromises corporate networks and then sells that access to ransomware groups, according to security researchers.

This backdoor, also tracked as MLTBackdoor, was first documented by Zscaler earlier this month, with the security shop suggesting the novel malware is “likely used in ransomware attacks to establish a foothold for lateral movement.”

Read more…
Source:  


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


Related:

  • New Golang Trojan Installs Certificate for Comms Evasion

    March 25, 2024

    This week, the Sonicwall Capture Labs threat research team analyzed a new Golang malware sample. It uses multiple geographic checks and publicly available packages to screenshot the system before installing a root certificate to the Windows registry for HTTPS communications to the C2. There is currently no malware family affiliated, but the IP and URL addresses ...

  • Chinese hackers targeted UK’s Electoral Commission and politicians, say security services

    March 25, 2024

    Chinese state-backed hackers were responsible for two “malicious” digital campaigns targeting the UK’s democratic institutions and politicians, the security services have found. The UK holds China responsible for a prolonged cyber-attack on the Electoral Commission during which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Two individuals and a front company linked to ...

  • APT29 Uses WINELOADER to Target German Political Parties

    March 22, 2024

    In late February 2024, Mandiant identified APT29 — a Russian Federation backed threat group linked by multiple governments to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) — conducting a phishing campaign targeting German political parties. Consistent with APT29 operations extending back to 2021, this operation leveraged APT29’s mainstay first-stage payload ROOTSAW (aka EnvyScout) to deliver a new backdoor ...

  • Unpatchable vulnerability in Apple chip leaks secret encryption keys

    March 21, 2024

    A newly discovered vulnerability baked into Apple’s M-series of chips allows attackers to extract secret keys from Macs when they perform widely used cryptographic operations, academic researchers have revealed in a paper published Thursday. The flaw—a side channel allowing end-to-end key extractions when Apple chips run implementations of widely used cryptographic protocols—can’t be patched directly because ...

  • Bringing Access Back — Initial Access Brokers Exploit F5 BIG-IP (CVE-2023-46747) and ScreenConnect

    March 21, 2024

    During the course of an intrusion investigation in late October 2023, Mandiant observed novel N-day exploitation of CVE-2023-46747 affecting F5 BIG-IP Traffic Management User Interface. Additionally, in February 2024, Mandiant researchers observed exploitation of Connectwise ScreenConnect CVE-2024-1709 by the same actor. This mix of custom tooling and the SUPERSHELL framework leveraged in these incidents is assessed ...

  • Patch Ivanti Standalone Sentry and Ivanti Neurons for ITSM now

    March 21, 2024

    Ivanti has issued patches for two vulnerabilities. One was discovered in the Ivanti Standalone Sentry, which impacts all supported versions 9.17.0, 9.18.0, and 9.19.0. Older versions are also at risk. The other vulnerability impacts all supported versions of Ivanti Neurons for ITSM—2023.3, 2023.2 and 2023.1, as well as unsupported versions which will need an upgrade before ...