Enhanced Monitoring to Detect APT Activity Targeting Outlook Online

In June 2023, a Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency identified suspicious activity in their Microsoft 365 (M365) cloud environment. The agency reported the activity to Microsoft and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Microsoft determined that advanced Read More …

Storm-0978 attacks reveal financial and espionage motives

Microsoft has identified a phishing campaign conducted by the threat actor tracked as Storm-0978 targeting defense and government entities in Europe and North America. The campaign involved the abuse of CVE-2023-36884, which included a remote code execution vulnerability exploited before Read More …

France set to allow police to spy on suspects through remote phone access

Part of a wider justice reform bill, the spying provision has been attacked by the left and rights defenders as an authoritarian snoopers’ charter, though Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti insists it would affect only “dozens of cases a year”. Covering Read More …

The growth of commercial spyware based intelligence providers without legal or ethical supervision

Attackers have long used commercial products developed by legitimate companies to compromise targeted devices. These products are known as commercial spyware. Commercial spyware operations mainly target mobile platforms with zero- or one-click zero-day exploits to deliver spyware. This threat initially Read More …

Chinese threat actors targeting Europe in SmugX campaign

In the last couple of months, Check Point Research (CPR) has been tracking the activity of a Chinese threat actor targeting Foreign Affairs ministries and embassies in Europe. Combined with other Chinese activity previously reported by Check Point Research, this Read More …

Turkish intelligence uncovers ‘ghost’ Mossad network

After monthslong surveillance, Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has exposed a “ghost” cell of 56 operatives spying on non-Turkish nationals in the country on behalf of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Documents from MIT revealed that the spies were gathering Read More …

EU set to approve the use of spyware to uncover confidential journalist sources

The European Union is set to approve new laws that would let governments spy on journalists in the name of national security. The legislation would expand legal ‘loopholes’ that let governments install spyware on journalist’s phones and computers, including British Read More …

Why is it so rare to hear about Western cyber-attacks?

A cyber-attack that took over iPhones at a Russian technology company is being blamed on US government hackers. Could the attack, and the response from the Russian government, be rewriting the narrative of who the good guys and bad guys Read More …

Beyond the horizon: Traveling the world on Camaro Dragon’s USB flash drives

In early 2023, the Check Point Incident Response Team (CPIRT) team investigated a malware incident at a European healthcare institution involving a set of tools mentioned in the Avast report in late 2022. The incident was attributed to Camaro Dragon, Read More …

Military AI’s Next Frontier: Your Work Computer

It’s probably hard to imagine that you are the target of spycraft, but spying on employees is the next frontier of military AI. Surveillance techniques familiar to authoritarian dictatorships have now been repurposed to target American workers. Over the past Read More …