SugarGh0st RAT Used to Target American Artificial Intelligence Experts


Proofpoint recently identified a SugarGh0st RAT campaign targeting organizations in the United States involved in artificial intelligence efforts, including those in academia, private industry, and government service.

Proofpoint tracks the cluster responsible for this activity as UNK_SweetSpecter. SugarGh0st RAT is a remote access trojan, and is a customized variant of Gh0stRAT, an older commodity trojan typically used by Chinese-speaking threat actors. SugarGh0st RAT has been historically used to target users in Central and East Asia, as first reported by Cisco Talos in November 2023.

Read more…
Source: ProofPoint


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • APT Group Uses Catfish Technique To Ensnare Victims

    July 27, 2017

    Meet Mia Ash, a 20-something London-based photographer, amateur model, social media butterfly with a keen interest in tech-savvy guys with ties to the oil and gas industry. You guessed it. Mia Ash doesn’t exist. Ash, according to Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit, is a virtual persona stitched together by the APT known as Cobalt Gypsy, OilRig, ...

  • Experts Unveil Cyber Espionage Attacks by CopyKittens Hackers

    July 25, 2017

    Security researchers have discovered a new, massive cyber espionage campaign that mainly targets people working in government, defence and academic organisations in various countries. The campaign is being conducted by an Iran-linked threat group, whose activities, attack methods, and targets have been released in a joint, detailed report published by researchers at Trend Micro and Israeli ...

  • Oil & Gas Industry Faces More Frequent & Sophisticated Cyber Attacks: Deloitte

    June 27, 2017

    Three out of four oil and natural gas companies fell victim to at least one cyber attack last year as hacking efforts against the industry become more frequent and sophisticated. That’s the finding from a report released Monday by industry consultant Deloitte LLP. Technology advances, such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s recent control of operations in Argentina ...

  • Brutal Kangaroo: CIA-developed Malware for Hacking Air-Gapped Networks Covertly

    June 22, 2017

    WikiLeaks has published a new batch of the ongoing Vault 7 leak, this time detailing a tool suite – which is being used by the CIA for Microsoft Windows that targets “closed networks by air gap jumping using thumb drives,” mainly implemented in enterprises and critical infrastructures. Air-gapped computers that are isolated from the Internet or ...

  • Wikileaks Unveils ‘Cherry Blossom’ — Wireless Hacking System Used by CIA

    June 15, 2017

    WikiLeaks has published a new batch of the ongoing Vault 7 leak, this time detailing a framework – which is being used by the CIA for monitoring the Internet activity of the targeted systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi devices. Dubbed “Cherry Blossom,” the framework was allegedly designed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with the ...

  • WikiLeaks Vault 7: CIA’s “Pandemic” Tool Replaces Files with Malware

    June 2, 2017

    WikiLeaks has released a new set of documents from its Vault 7 series, this time detailing a tool that the CIA allegedly uses to spread malware on a targeted organization’s network. Appropriately called “Pandemic,” the tool can install a file system filter driver on a network, replacing legitimate files with malicious payload when they are accessed ...