vSphere and BRICKSTORM Malware: A Defender’s Guide

Building on recent BRICKSTORM research from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), this post explores the evolving threats facing virtualized environments. These operations directly target the VMware vSphere ecosystem, specifically the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) and ESXi hypervisors. To help organizations Read More …

New LockBit 5.0 Targets Windows, Linux, ESXi

Trend™ Research has identified and analyzed the source binaries of a new LockBit version in the wild, which is the latest from the group’s activities following the February 2024 law enforcement operation (Operation Cronos) that disrupted their infrastructure. In early Read More …

Another BRICKSTORM: Stealthy Backdoor Enabling Espionage into Tech and Legal Sectors

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) is tracking BRICKSTORM malware activity, which is being used to maintain persistent access to victim organizations in the United States. Since March 2025, Mandiant Consulting has responded to intrusions across a range of industry verticals, Read More …

Critical Zero-day Vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion

Broadcom has addressed three exploited vulnerabilities that, when chained, can allow an attacker to access the hypervisor through a running virtual machine. VMware’s official advisory does not include all affected product versions. VMware’s official advisory VMSA-2025-0004 includes a Response Matrix Read More …

VMware ESXi CVE-2024-37085 Targeted in Ransomware Campaigns

On Monday, July 29, Microsoft published an extensive threat intelligence blog on observed exploitation of CVE-2024-37085, an Active Directory integration authentication bypass vulnerability affecting Broadcom VMware ESXi hypervisors. The vulnerability, according to Redmond, was identified in zero-day attacks and has Read More …

#StopRansomware: Akira Ransomware summary

Since March 2023, Akira ransomware has impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure entities in North America, Europe, and Australia. In April 2023, following an initial focus on Windows systems, Akira threat actors deployed a Linux variant targeting Read More …

Russian businesses targeted by novel ransomware gang

Attacks with a Conti ransomware code-based backdoor have been deployed by the new Muliaka ransomware operation against businesses across Russia since at least December, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Windows systems and VMware Read More …

Agenda Ransomware Propagates to vCenters and ESXi via Custom PowerShell Script

Since its discovery in 2022, the Agenda Ransomware group (also known as Qilin) has been active and in development. Agenda, which Trend Micro tracks as Water Galura, continues infecting victims globally with the US, Argentina, and Australia, and Thailand being Read More …

Patch now! VMWare escape flaws are so serious even end-of-life software gets a fix

VMWare has issued secuity fixes for its VMware ESXi, Workstation, Fusion, and Cloud Foundation products. It has even taken the unusual step of issuing updates for versions of the affected software that have reached thier end-of-life, meaning they would normally Read More …

VMware ESXi Zero-Day Used by Chinese Espionage Actor to Perform Privileged Guest Operations on Compromised Hypervisors

As Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions improve malware detection efficacy on Windows and Linux systems, certain state-sponsored threat actors have shifted to developing and deploying malware on systems that do not generally support EDR such as network appliances, SAN arrays, Read More …