Governments issue alerts after ‘sophisticated’ state-backed actor found exploiting flaws in Cisco security boxes

A previously unknown and “sophisticated” nation-state group compromised Cisco firewalls as early as November 2023 for espionage purposes — and possibly attacked network devices made by other vendors including Microsoft, according to warnings from the networking giant and three Western Read More …

Analyzing Forest Blizzard’s custom post-compromise tool for exploiting CVE-2022-38028 to obtain credentials

Microsoft Threat Intelligence is publishing results of our longstanding investigation into activity by the Russian-based threat actor Forest Blizzard (STRONTIUM) using a custom tool to elevate privileges and steal credentials in compromised networks. Since at least June 2020 and possibly Read More …

ToddyCat is making holes in your infrastructure

Kapersky researchers continue covering the activities of the APT group ToddyCat. In their previous article, they described tools for collecting and exfiltrating files (LoFiSe and PcExter). This time, the researchers have investigated how attackers obtain constant access to compromised infrastructure, what Read More …

From Social Engineering to DMARC Abuse: TA427’s Art of Information Gathering

Proofpoint researchers track numerous state-sponsored and state-aligned threat actors. TA427 (also known as Emerald Sleet, APT43, THALLIUM or Kimsuky), a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) aligned group working in support of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, is Read More …

Why the threat of a ‘nightmare’ Chinese supercomputer just got a step closer

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, Read More …

Cloud Werewolf spearphishes Russian and Belarus government employees with fake spa vouchers and federal decrees

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 Read More …

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

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 Read More …

APT29 Uses WINELOADER to Target German Political Parties

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 Read More …

The Updated APT Playbook: Tales from the Kimsuky threat actor group

Rapit7 team recently ran across some interesting activity that they believe is the work of the Kimsuky threat actor group, also known as Black Banshee or Thallium. Originating from North Korea and active since at least 2012, Kimsuky focuses primarily on Read More …

Investigating Ivanti Connect Secure VPN Exploitation and Persistence Attempts

Mandiant and Ivanti’s investigations into widespread Ivanti zero-day exploitation have continued across a variety of industry verticals, including the U.S. defense industrial base sector. Following the initial publication on Jan. 10, 2024, Mandiant observed mass attempts to exploit these vulnerabilities Read More …