Tropic Trooper spies on government entities in the Middle East


Tropic Trooper (also known as KeyBoy and Pirate Panda) is an APT group active since 2011. This group has traditionally targeted sectors such as government, healthcare, transportation and high-tech industries in Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Kaspersky recent investigation has revealed that in 2024 they conducted persistent campaigns targeting a government entity in the Middle East, starting in June 2023. Sighting this group’s TTPs in critical governmental entities in the Middle East, particularly those related to human rights studies, marks a new strategic move for them. This can help the threat intelligence community better understand the motives of this threat actor.

Read more…
Source: Kaspersky


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Security updates released for PostgreSQL

    February 14, 2025

    The PostgreSQL Global Development Group (also known as Postgres) has released an advisory to address a high severity vulnerability in PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL is a relational SQL database management system. CVE-2025-1094 is an ‘improper neutralisation of quoting syntax’ vulnerability with a CVSSv3 score of 8.1. If exploited, a remote unauthenticated attacker could achieve SQL injection via sending ...

  • Zacks Investment hit in data breach – 12 million users potentially at risk

    February 14, 2025

    A report by BleepingComputer cites a thread posted on an underground hacking forum claiming to have breached Zacks in June 2024, gaining sensitive information on 12 million people, including names, usernames, email addresses, postal addresses, and phone numbers. The forum thread contained a small sample, and an offer for the entire batch in exchange for a ...

  • Israel: Extortionists posed as women online, trapped victims with intimate photos

    February 14, 2025

    Two men were arrested on Thursday for operating a sophisticated sexual extortion network. According to the investigation, they posed as women on social media lured victims into sending intimate photos, and then threatened to expose the images unless they paid money. The prosecution stated: “They acted systematically, cynically exploiting their victims.” David Bracha, 26, from Rishon ...

  • Active Exploitation of Critical Vulnerability Chain in SimpleHelp

    February 14, 2025

    SimpleHelp has released security updates to address one critical and two high severity vulnerabilities in SimpleHelp. SimpleHelp is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool that allows administrators and service desk technicians to provide remote support and monitor devices on the network. The three vulnerabilities can be used in an exploit chain, which could allow a ...

  • China’s Salt Typhoon hackers continue to breach telecom firms despite US sanctions

    February 13, 2025

    Security researchers say the Chinese government-linked hacking group, Salt Typhoon, is continuing to compromise telecommunications providers, despite the recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on the group. In a report shared with TechCrunch, threat intelligence firm Recorded Future said it had observed Salt Typhoon — which the company tracks as “RedMike” — breaching five telecommunications ...

  • Storm-2372 conducts device code phishing campaign

    February 13, 2025

    Microsoft discovered cyberattacks being launched by a group they call Storm-2372, who they assess with medium confidence aligns with Russia’s interests and tradecraft. The attacks appear to have been ongoing since August 2024 and have targeted governments, NGOs, and a wide range of industries in multiple regions. The attacks use a specific phishing technique called “device ...