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
Related:
- DuneQuixote campaign targets Middle Eastern entities with “CR4T” malware
April 18, 2024
In February 2024, Kaspersky researchers discovered a new malware campaign targeting government entities in the Middle East. They dubbed it “DuneQuixote”; and their investigation uncovered over 30 DuneQuixote dropper samples actively employed in the campaign. These droppers, which exist in two versions – regular droppers and tampered installer files for a legitimate tool named “Total Commander”, ...
- Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks
April 11, 2024
Apple sent threat notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries on Wednesday, warning them that may have been targeted by mercenary spyware attacks. The company sent the alerts to individuals in 92 nations at 12pm Pacific Time Wednesday. It did not disclose the attackers’ identities or the countries where users received notifications. “Apple detected that you ...
- LazyStealer: Sophisticated does not mean better
April 4, 2024
In the first quarter of 2024, researchers from Positive Technologies Expert Security Center (PT ESC) detected a series of attacks targeting government organizations in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia. The research team could not find any links to known groups that used the same techniques. The main goal of the attack was stealing ...
- Why the threat of a ‘nightmare’ Chinese supercomputer just got a step closer
April 4, 2024
A cyber security official at the US State Department had noticed something unusual. An internal IT security system, nicknamed “Big Yellow Taxi”, had flagged unusual activity on its corporate Microsoft account. The tech team quickly raised its concerns to Microsoft, hopeful that the alert was just a false positive. What rapidly emerged, however, was that a ...
- Cloud Werewolf spearphishes Russian and Belarus government employees with fake spa vouchers and federal decrees
March 29, 2024
The BI.ZONE Threat Intelligence team has revealed another campaign by Cloud Werewolf aiming at Russian and Belarusian government organizations. According to the researchers, the group ran at least five attacks in February and March. The adversaries continue to rely on phishing emails with Microsoft Office attachments. Placing malicious content on a remote server and limiting the ...
- 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 ...