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 …

Cadet Blizzard emerges as a novel and distinct Russian threat actor

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its second year and Microsoft continues to collaborate with global partners in response, the exposure of destructive cyber capabilities and information operations provide greater clarity into the tools and techniques used by Russian Read More …

New SkinnyBoy malware used by Russian hackers to breach sensitive orgs

Security researchers have discovered a new piece of malware called SkinnyBoy that was used in spear-phishing campaigns attributed to Russian-speaking hacking group APT28. The threat actor, also known as Fancy Bear, Sednit, Sofacy, Strontium, or PwnStorm, used SkinnyBoy in attacks Read More …

EU sanctions Russian hackers over 2015 German parliament attack

The Council of the European Union today announced sanctions imposed on Russian military intelligence officers part of the 85th Main Centre for Special Services (GTsSS) for their involvement in a 2015 hack of the German Federal Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag). EU’s Read More …

Russian hackers use fake NATO training docs to breach govt networks

A Russian hacker group known by names, APT28, Fancy Bear, Sofacy, Sednit, and STRONTIUM, is behind a targeted attack campaign aimed at government bodies. The group delivered a hard-to-detect strand of Zebrocy Delphi malware under the pretense of providing NATO Read More …

APT28 Mounts Rapid, Large-Scale Theft of Office 365 Logins

The Russia-linked threat group known as APT28 has changed up its tactics to include Office 365 password-cracking and credential-harvesting. Microsoft researchers have tied APT28 (a.k.a. Strontium, Sofacy or Fancy Bear) to this newly uncovered pattern of O365 activity, which began Read More …

Microsoft Says Russia’s Strontium Behind IoT Hacks

Russian hackers have been identified by security experts at Microsoft as being behind a series of attacks on IoT devices. Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center said in a blog posting that the Russian state-linked hackers were Strontium. The Strontium hackers are also known Read More …

Cybersecurity Researchers Spotted First-Ever UEFI Rootkit in the Wild

Cybersecurity researchers at ESET have unveiled what they claim to be the first-ever UEFI rootkit being used in the wild, allowing hackers to implant persistent malware on the targeted computers that could survive a complete hard-drive wipe. Dubbed LoJax, the UEFI Read More …