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:

  • US lawmakers want to put NSO Group, 3 other spyware makers out of business with fresh severe sanctions

    December 15, 2021

    Eighteen US Democratic lawmakers have asked the Treasury Department and State Department to punish Israel-based spyware maker NSO Group and three other surveillance software firms for enabling human rights abuses. In a letter signed by US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), and 16 others, the legislators urge Secretary of ...

  • Espionage Campaign Targets Telecoms Organizations across Middle East and Asia

    December 14, 2021

    Attackers most likely linked to Iran have attacked a string of telecoms operators in the Middle East and Asia over the past six months, in addition to a number of IT services organizations and a utility company. Organizations in Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Thailand, and Laos were targeted in the ...

  • Collecting In the Dark: Tropic Trooper Targets Transportation and Government

    December 14, 2021

    Earth Centaur, previously known as Tropic Trooper, is a long-running cyberespionage threat group that has been active since 2011. In July 2020, Trend Micro researchers noticed interesting activity coming from the group, and they have been closely monitoring it since. The actors seem to be targeting organizations in the transportation industry and government agencies related ...

  • Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe

    December 8, 2021

    As the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the SolarWinds supply chain compromise passes, Mandiant remains committed to tracking one of the toughest actors we have encountered. These suspected Russian actors practice top-notch operational security and advanced tradecraft. However, they are fallible, and we continue to uncover their activity and learn from their mistakes. Ultimately, ...

  • U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware

    December 3, 2021

    Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter. The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on matters concerning ...

  • APT Expands Attack on ManageEngine With Active Campaign Against ServiceDesk Plus

    December 2, 2021

    Over the course of three months, a persistent and determined APT actor has launched multiple campaigns which have now resulted in compromises to at least 4 additional organizations, for a total of 13. Beginning on Sept. 16, 2021, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an alert warning that advanced persistent threat (APT) ...