Warning for iPhone Users: Experts Warn of Sneaky Fake Lockdown Mode Attack

A new "post-exploitation tampering technique" can be abused by malicious actors to visually deceive a target into believing that their Apple iPhone is running in Lockdown Mode when it's actually not and carry out covert attacks. The novel method, detailed by Jamf Threat Labs in a report shared with The Hacker News, "shows that if a hacker has already infiltrated your device, they can

SugarGh0st RAT Use Targets South Korea And Uzbekistan

Chinese Hackers Using SugarGh0st RAT to Target South Korea and Uzbekistan

A suspected Chinese-speaking threat actor has been attributed to a malicious campaign that targets the Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South Korean users with a remote access trojan called SugarGh0st RAT. The activity, which commenced no later than August 2023, leverages two different infection sequences to deliver the malware, which is a customized variant of Gh0st RAT&nbsp

N. Korean Hackers 'Mixing' macOS Malware Tactics to Evade Detection

The North Korean threat actors behind macOS malware strains such as RustBucket and KANDYKORN have been observed "mixing and matching" different elements of the two disparate attack chains, leveraging RustBucket droppers to deliver KANDYKORN. The findings come from cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, which also tied a third macOS-specific malware called ObjCShellz to the RustBucket campaign

Konni Group Using Russian-Language Malicious Word Docs in Latest Attacks

A new phishing attack has been observed leveraging a Russian-language Microsoft Word document to deliver malware capable of harvesting sensitive information from compromised Windows hosts. The activity has been attributed to a threat actor called Konni, which is assessed to share overlaps with a North Korean cluster tracked as Kimsuky (aka APT43). "This campaign relies on a remote access trojan

Alert: New WailingCrab Malware Loader Spreading via Shipping-Themed Emails

Delivery- and shipping-themed email messages are being used to deliver a sophisticated malware loader known as WailingCrab. "The malware itself is split into multiple components, including a loader, injector, downloader and backdoor, and successful requests to C2-controlled servers are often necessary to retrieve the next stage," IBM X-Force researchers Charlotte Hammond, Ole Villadsen, and Kat

New Agent Tesla Malware Variant Using ZPAQ Compression in Email Attacks

A new variant of the Agent Tesla malware has been observed delivered via a lure file with the ZPAQ compression format to harvest data from several email clients and nearly 40 web browsers. "ZPAQ is a file compression format that offers a better compression ratio and journaling function compared to widely used formats like ZIP and RAR," G Data malware analyst Anna Lvova said in a Monday analysis.

NetSupport RAT Infections on the Rise - Targeting Government and Business Sectors

Threat actors are targeting the education, government and business services sectors with a remote access trojan called NetSupport RAT. "The delivery mechanisms for the NetSupport RAT encompass fraudulent updates, drive-by downloads, utilization of malware loaders (such as GHOSTPULSE), and various forms of phishing campaigns," VMware Carbon Black researchers said in a report shared with The

DarkGate and PikaBot Malware Resurrect QakBot's Tactics in New Phishing Attacks

Phishing campaigns delivering malware families such as DarkGate and PikaBot are following the same tactics previously used in attacks leveraging the now-defunct QakBot trojan. “These include hijacked email threads as the initial infection, URLs with unique patterns that limit user access, and an infection chain nearly identical to what we have seen with QakBot delivery,” Cofense said in a report

Experts Uncover DarkCasino: New Emerging APT Threat Exploiting WinRAR Flaw

A hacking group that leveraged a recently disclosed security flaw in the WinRAR software as a zero-day has now been categorized as an entirely new advanced persistent threat (APT). Cybersecurity company NSFOCUS has described DarkCasino as an "economically motivated" actor that first came to light in 2021. "DarkCasino is an APT threat actor with strong technical and learning ability, who is good

SideCopy Exploiting WinRAR Flaw in Attacks Targeting Indian Government Entities

The Pakistan-linked threat actor known as SideCopy has been observed leveraging the recent WinRAR security vulnerability in its attacks targeting Indian government entities to deliver various remote access trojans such as AllaKore RAT, Ares RAT, and DRat. Enterprise security firm SEQRITE described the campaign as multi-platform, with the attacks also designed to infiltrate Linux systems with a

YoroTrooper: Researchers Warn of Kazakhstan's Stealthy Cyber Espionage Group

A relatively new threat actor known as YoroTrooper is likely made up of operators originating from Kazakhstan. The assessment, which comes from Cisco Talos, is based on their fluency in Kazakh and Russian, use of Tenge to pay for operating infrastructure, and very limited targeting of Kazakhstani entities, barring the government's Anti-Corruption Agency. "YoroTrooper attempts to obfuscate the

Malvertising Campaign Targets Brazil's PIX Payment System with GoPIX Malware

The popularity of Brazil's PIX instant payment system has made it a lucrative target for threat actors looking to generate illicit profits using a new malware called GoPIX. Kaspersky, which has been tracking the active campaign since December 2022, said the attacks are pulled off using malicious ads that are served when potential victims search for "WhatsApp web" on search engines. "The

Quasar RAT Leverages DLL Side-Loading to Fly Under the Radar

The open-source remote access trojan known as Quasar RAT has been observed leveraging DLL side-loading to fly under the radar and stealthily siphon data from compromised Windows hosts. "This technique capitalizes on the inherent trust these files command within the Windows environment," Uptycs researchers Tejaswini Sandapolla and Karthickkumar Kathiresan said in a report published last week,

Malicious NuGet Package Targeting .NET Developers with SeroXen RAT

A malicious package hosted on the NuGet package manager for the .NET Framework has been found to deliver a remote access trojan called SeroXen RAT. The package, named Pathoschild.Stardew.Mod.Build.Config and published by a user named Disti, is a typosquat of a legitimate package called Pathoschild.Stardew.ModBuildConfig, software supply chain security firm Phylum said in a report today. While

GoldDigger Android Trojan Targets Banking Apps in Asia Pacific Countries

A new Android banking trojan named GoldDigger has been found targeting several financial applications with an aim to siphon victims' funds and backdoor infected devices. "The malware targets more than 50 Vietnamese banking, e-wallet and crypto wallet applications," Group-IB said. "There are indications that this threat might be poised to extend its reach across the wider APAC region and to

Zanubis Android Banking Trojan Poses as Peruvian Government App to Target Users

An emerging Android banking trojan called Zanubis is now masquerading as a Peruvian government app to trick unsuspecting users into installing the malware. "Zanubis's main infection path is through impersonating legitimate Peruvian Android applications and then tricking the user into enabling the Accessibility permissions in order to take full control of the device," Kaspersky said in an

Electron_Shell - Developing A More Covert Remote Access Trojan (RAT) Tool By Leveraging Electron's Features For Command Injection And Combining It With Remote Control Methods

Electron_shell

Features

• Supports almost all operating systems

  • mac
  • linux
  • windows

• Supports almost all desktop applications developed based on Electron

  • QQ
  • Microsoft Team
  • Discord
  • GitHubDesktop
  • 淘宝直播
  • vscode
  • and more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_using_Electron)

•  All malicious operations are executed by the injected program, those commonly used trusted programs

• Bypass of Network Access Control Policy for Applications by Zero Trust Sandbox

• Verified that it will not be discovered by the antivirus software below

  (Please note that a simple command call has been implemented here, and some behavior based heuristic checks will still prompt , bypass AV is not a key issue to be addressed in this project)

  • Windows Defender
  • avast
  • 火绒
  • 360
  • 腾讯管家
  • virustotal

Intro

An increasing number of desktop applications are opting for the Electron framework.

Electron provides a method that can be debugged, usually by utilizing Chrome's inspect function or calling inspect through Node.js. In this project, the implementation of inspect was analyzed, and a method for automatically parasitizing common Electron programs was developed.

By establishing a connection with the Command and Control (C2) server, a simple remote control is achieved.

Due to the widespread trust of most antivirus software in these well-known applications (with digital signatures), executing malicious commands in the program context provides excellent concealment and stability.

For these injected applications, it is necessary to carefully consider the potential legal risks brought by such actions. When users analyze program behavior, they may be surprised to find that the parent process executing malicious behavior comes from the application they trust.

 Usage

C2 Server Setup

1. Deploy a server and obtain a public IP address
2. and then exec command: nc -lvnp 8899

Generating Implants

1. clone this project

2. modify build.config

   injected_app:  The electron program you want to inject
   c2:            set c2_Public IP and c2_netcat Port
   

3. exec node build.js, and then pkg to an execute program

4. Send to victim, and get electron_shell 

Fake Bitwarden Site Distributes Novel RAT Malware

Xenomorph Android Banking Trojan Targeting Users In US, Canada

New Variant of Banking Trojan BBTok Targets Over 40 Latin American Banks

An active malware campaign targeting Latin America is dispensing a new variant of a banking trojan called BBTok, particularly users in Brazil and Mexico. "The BBTok banker has a dedicated functionality that replicates the interfaces of more than 40 Mexican and Brazilian banks, and tricks the victims into entering its 2FA code to their bank accounts or into entering their payment card number,"

Transparent Tribe Uses Fake YouTube Android Apps to Spread CapraRAT Malware

The suspected Pakistan-linked threat actor known as Transparent Tribe is using malicious Android apps mimicking YouTube to distribute the CapraRAT mobile remote access trojan (RAT), demonstrating the continued evolution of the activity. "CapraRAT is a highly invasive tool that gives the attacker control over much of the data on the Android devices that it infects," SentinelOne security

Hook: New Android Banking Trojan That Expands on ERMAC's Legacy

A new analysis of the Android banking trojan known as Hook has revealed that it's based on its predecessor called ERMAC. "The ERMAC source code was used as a base for Hook," NCC Group security researchers Joshua Kamp and Alberto Segura said in a technical analysis published last week. "All commands (30 in total) that the malware operator can send to a device infected with ERMAC malware, also

QwixxRAT: New Remote Access Trojan Emerges via Telegram and Discord

A new remote access trojan (RAT) called QwixxRAT is being advertised for sale by its threat actor through Telegram and Discord platforms. "Once installed on the victim's Windows platform machines, the RAT stealthily collects sensitive data, which is then sent to the attacker's Telegram bot, providing them with unauthorized access to the victim's sensitive information," Uptycs said in a new

Researchers Uncover AWS SSM Agent Misuse as a Covert Remote Access Trojan

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new post-exploitation technique in Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows the AWS Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) to be run as a remote access trojan on Windows and Linux environments "The SSM agent, a legitimate tool used by admins to manage their instances, can be re-purposed by an attacker who has achieved high privilege access on an endpoint with

European Bank Customers Targeted in SpyNote Android Trojan Campaign

Various European customers of different banks are being targeted by an Android banking trojan called SpyNote as part of an aggressive campaign detected in June and July 2023. "The spyware is distributed through email phishing or smishing campaigns and the fraudulent activities are executed with a combination of remote access trojan (RAT) capabilities and vishing attack," Italian cybersecurity

Cybercriminals Renting WikiLoader to Target Italian Organizations with Banking Trojan

Organizations in Italy are the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages a new strain of malware called WikiLoader with an ultimate aim to install a banking trojan, stealer, and spyware referred to as Ursnif (aka Gozi). "It is a sophisticated downloader with the objective of installing a second malware payload," Proofpoint said in a technical report. "The malware uses multiple mechanisms

Fruity Trojan Uses Deceptive Software Installers to Spread Remcos RAT

Threat actors are creating fake websites hosting trojanized software installers to trick unsuspecting users into downloading a downloader malware called Fruity with the goal of installing remote trojans tools like Remcos RAT. "Among the software in question are various instruments for fine-tuning CPUs, graphic cards, and BIOS; PC hardware-monitoring tools; and some other apps," cybersecurity

Hackers Abusing Windows Search Feature to Install Remote Access Trojans

A legitimate Windows search feature is being exploited by unknown malicious actors to download arbitrary payloads from remote servers and compromise targeted systems with remote access trojans such as AsyncRAT and Remcos RAT. The novel attack technique, per Trellix, takes advantage of the "search-ms:" URI protocol handler, which offers the ability for applications and HTML links to launch custom

S3 Ep145: Bugs With Impressive Names!

Fascinating fun (with a serious and educational side) - listen now! Full transcript available inside.

Decoy Dog: New Breed of Malware Posing Serious Threats to Enterprise Networks

A deeper analysis of a recently discovered malware called Decoy Dog has revealed that it's a significant upgrade over the Pupy RAT, an open-source remote access trojan it's modeled on. "Decoy Dog has a full suite of powerful, previously unknown capabilities – including the ability to move victims to another controller, allowing them to maintain communication with compromised machines and remain

New TOITOIN Banking Trojan Targeting Latin American Businesses

Businesses operating in the Latin American (LATAM) region are the target of a new Windows-based banking trojan called TOITOIN since May 2023. "This sophisticated campaign employs a trojan that follows a multi-staged infection chain, utilizing specially crafted modules throughout each stage," Zscaler researchers Niraj Shivtarkar and Preet Kamal said in a report published last week. "These modules

RomCom RAT Targeting NATO and Ukraine Support Groups

The threat actors behind the RomCom RAT have been suspected of phishing attacks targeting the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius as well as an identified organization supporting Ukraine abroad. The findings come from the BlackBerry Threat Research and Intelligence team, which found two malicious documents submitted from a Hungarian IP address on July 4, 2023. RomCom, also tracked under the names

Truebot RCE Attacks Exploit Critical Netwrix Auditor Bug

Chinese Hackers Use HTML Smuggling to Infiltrate European Ministries with PlugX

A Chinese nation-state group has been observed targeting Foreign Affairs ministries and embassies in Europe using HTML smuggling techniques to deliver the PlugX remote access trojan on compromised systems. Cybersecurity firm Check Point said the activity, dubbed SmugX, has been ongoing since at least December 2022, adding it's part of a broader trend of Chinese adversaries shifting their focus

Anatsa Banking Trojan Targeting Users in US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

A new Android malware campaign has been observed pushing the Anatsa banking trojan to target banking customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since the start of March 2023. "The actors behind Anatsa aim to steal credentials used to authorize customers in mobile banking applications and perform Device-Takeover Fraud (DTO) to initiate fraudulent transactions," ThreatFabric 

MULTI#STORM Campaign Targets India and U.S. with Remote Access Trojans

A new phishing campaign codenamed MULTI#STORM has set its sights on India and the U.S. by leveraging JavaScript files to deliver remote access trojans on compromised systems. "The attack chain ends with the victim machine infected with multiple unique RAT (remote access trojan) malware instances, such as Warzone RAT and Quasar RAT," Securonix researchers Den Iuzvyk, Tim Peck, and Oleg Kolesnikov

Over 60K Adware Apps Posing as Cracked Versions of Popular Apps Target Android Devices

Thousands of adware apps for Android have been found to masquerade as cracks or modded versions of popular applications to serve unwanted ads to users as part of a campaign ongoing since October 2022. "The campaign is designed to aggressively push adware to Android devices with the purpose to drive revenue," Bitdefender said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News. "However, the threat

Brazilian Cybercriminals Using LOLBaS and CMD Scripts to Drain Bank Accounts

An unknown cybercrime threat actor has been observed targeting Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking victims to compromise online banking accounts in Mexico, Peru, and Portugal. "This threat actor employs tactics such as LOLBaS (living-off-the-land binaries and scripts), along with CMD-based scripts to carry out its malicious activities," the BlackBerry Research and Intelligence Team said in a report

Sneaky DogeRAT Trojan Poses as Popular Apps, Targets Indian Android Users

A new open source remote access trojan (RAT) called DogeRAT targets Android users primarily located in India as part of a sophisticated malware campaign. The malware is distributed via social media and messaging platforms under the guise of legitimate applications like Opera Mini, OpenAI ChatGPT, and Premium versions of YouTube, Netflix, and Instagram. "Once installed on a victim's device, the

New GobRAT Remote Access Trojan Targeting Linux Routers in Japan

Linux routers in Japan are the target of a new Golang remote access trojan (RAT) called GobRAT. "Initially, the attacker targets a router whose WEBUI is open to the public, executes scripts possibly by using vulnerabilities, and finally infects the GobRAT," the JPCERT Coordination Center (JPCERT/CC) said in a report published today. The compromise of an internet-exposed router is followed by the

Hackers Targeting Italian Corporate Banking Clients with New Web-Inject Toolkit DrIBAN

Italian corporate banking clients are the target of an ongoing financial fraud campaign that has been leveraging a new web-inject toolkit called drIBAN since at least 2019. "The main goal of drIBAN fraud operations is to infect Windows workstations inside corporate environments trying to alter legitimate banking transfers performed by the victims by changing the beneficiary and transferring

Blind Eagle Cyber Espionage Group Strikes Again: New Attack Chain Uncovered

The cyber espionage actor tracked as Blind Eagle has been linked to a new multi-stage attack chain that leads to the deployment of the NjRAT remote access trojan on compromised systems. "The group is known for using a variety of sophisticated attack techniques, including custom malware, social engineering tactics, and spear-phishing attacks," ThreatMon said in a Tuesday report. Blind Eagle, also

Stealthy DBatLoader Malware Loader Spreading Remcos RAT and Formbook in Europe

A new phishing campaign has set its sights on European entities to distribute Remcos RAT and Formbook via a malware loader dubbed DBatLoader. "The malware payload is distributed through WordPress websites that have authorized SSL certificates, which is a common tactic used by threat actors to evade detection engines," Zscaler researchers Meghraj Nandanwar and Satyam Singh said in a report

Nexus: A New Rising Android Banking Trojan Targeting 450 Financial Apps

An emerging Android banking trojan dubbed Nexus has already been adopted by several threat actors to target 450 financial applications and conduct fraud. "Nexus appears to be in its early stages of development," Italian cybersecurity firm Cleafy said in a report published this week. "Nexus provides all the main features to perform ATO attacks (Account Takeover) against banking portals and

Mispadu Banking Trojan Targets Latin America: 90,000+ Credentials Stolen

A banking trojan dubbed Mispadu has been linked to multiple spam campaigns targeting countries like Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Portugal with the goal of stealing credentials and delivering other payloads. The activity, which commenced in August 2022, is currently ongoing, Ocelot Team from Latin American cybersecurity firm Metabase Q said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Mispadu (

International Law Enforcement Takes Down Infamous NetWire Cross-Platform RAT

A coordinated international law enforcement exercise has taken down the online infrastructure associated with a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT) known as NetWire. Coinciding with the seizure of the sales website www.worldwiredlabs[.]com, a Croatian national who is suspected to be the website's administrator has been arrested. While the suspect's name was not released, investigative

Xenomorph Android Banking Trojan Returns with a New and More Powerful Variant

A new variant of the Android banking trojan named Xenomorph has surfaced in the wild, latest findings from ThreatFabric reveal. Named "Xenomorph 3rd generation" by the Hadoken Security Group, the threat actor behind the operation, the updated version comes with new features that allow it to perform financial fraud in a seamless manner. "This new version of the malware adds many new capabilities

PlugX RAT Masquerades As Legit Windows Debugger To Slip Past Security

Parallax RAT Targeting Cryptocurrency Firms with Sophisticated Injection Techniques

Cryptocurrency companies are being targeted as part of a new campaign that delivers a remote access trojan called Parallax RAT. The malware "uses injection techniques to hide within legitimate processes, making it difficult to detect," Uptycs said in a new report. "Once it has been successfully injected, attackers can interact with their victim via Windows Notepad that likely serves as a

Hackers Using Trojanized macOS Apps to Deploy Evasive Cryptocurrency Mining Malware

Trojanized versions of legitimate applications are being used to deploy evasive cryptocurrency mining malware on macOS systems. Jamf Threat Labs, which made the discovery, said the XMRig coin miner was executed by means of an unauthorized modification in Final Cut Pro, a video editing software from Apple. "This malware makes use of the Invisible Internet Project (i2p) [...] to download malicious

PixPirate: New Android Banking Trojan Targeting Brazilian Financial Institutions

A new Android banking trojan has set its eyes on Brazilian financial institutions to commit fraud by leveraging the PIX payments platform. Italian cybersecurity company Cleafy, which discovered the malware between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, is tracking it under the name PixPirate. "PixPirate belongs to the newest generation of Android banking trojan, as it can perform ATS (

Emotet Malware Makes a Comeback with New Evasion Techniques

The Emotet malware operation has continued to refine its tactics in an effort to fly under the radar, while also acting as a conduit for other dangerous malware such as Bumblebee and IcedID. Emotet, which officially reemerged in late 2021 following a coordinated takedown of its infrastructure by authorities earlier that year, has continued to be a persistent threat that's distributed via

Android Users Beware: New Hook Malware with RAT Capabilities Emerges

The threat actor behind the BlackRock and ERMAC Android banking trojans has unleashed yet another malware for rent called Hook that introduces new capabilities to access files stored in the devices and create a remote interactive session. ThreatFabric, in a report shared with The Hacker News, characterized Hook as a novel ERMAC fork that's advertised for sale for $7,000 per month while featuring

Earth Bogle Campaign Unleashes NjRAT Trojan on Middle East and North Africa

An ongoing campaign dubbed Earth Bogle is leveraging geopolitical-themed lures to deliver the NjRAT remote access trojan to victims across the Middle East and North Africa. "The threat actor uses public cloud storage services such as files[.]fm and failiem[.]lv to host malware, while compromised web servers distribute NjRAT," Trend Micro said in a report published Wednesday. Phishing emails,

Cybercriminals Using Polyglot Files in Malware Distribution to Fly Under the Radar

Remote access trojans such as StrRAT and Ratty are being distributed as a combination of polyglot and malicious Java archive (JAR) files, once again highlighting how threat actors are continuously finding new ways to fly under the radar. "Attackers now use the polyglot technique to confuse security solutions that don't properly validate the JAR file format," Deep Instinct security researcher

GodFather Android Banking Trojan Targeting Users of Over 400 Banking and Crypto Apps

An Android banking trojan known as GodFather is being used to target users of more than 400 banking and cryptocurrency apps spanning across 16 countries. This includes 215 banks, 94 crypto wallet providers, and 110 crypto exchange platforms serving users in the U.S., Turkey, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Canada, among others, Singapore-headquartered Group-IB said in a report shared with The Hacker

Trojanized Windows 10 Installers Hit Ukrainian Government

U.S. Govt. Apps Bundled Russian Code With Ties to Mobile Malware Developer

A recent scoop by Reuters revealed that mobile apps for the U.S. Army and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were integrating software that sends visitor data to a Russian company called Pushwoosh, which claims to be based in the United States. But that story omitted an important historical detail about Pushwoosh: In 2013, one of its developers admitted to authoring the Pincer Trojan, malware designed to surreptitiously intercept and forward text messages from Android mobile devices.

Pushwoosh says it is a U.S. based company that provides code for software developers to profile smartphone app users based on their online activity, allowing them to send tailor-made notifications. But a recent investigation by Reuters raised questions about the company’s real location and truthfulness.

The Army told Reuters it removed an app containing Pushwoosh in March, citing “security concerns.” The Army app was used by soldiers at one of the nation’s main combat training bases.

Reuters said the CDC likewise recently removed Pushwoosh code from its app over security concerns, after reporters informed the agency Pushwoosh was not based in the Washington D.C. area — as the company had represented — but was instead operated from Novosibirsk, Russia.

Pushwoosh’s software also was found in apps for “a wide array of international companies, influential nonprofits and government agencies from global consumer goods company Unilever and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to the politically powerful U.S. gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and Britain’s Labour Party.”

The company’s founder Max Konev told Reuters Pushwoosh “has no connection with the Russian government of any kind” and that it stores its data in the United States and Germany.

But Reuters found that while Pushwoosh’s social media and U.S. regulatory filings present it as a U.S. company based variously in California, Maryland and Washington, D.C., the company’s employees are located in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Reuters also learned that the company’s address in California does not exist, and that two LinkedIn accounts for Pushwoosh employees in Washington, D.C. were fake.

“Pushwoosh never mentioned it was Russian-based in eight annual filings in the U.S. state of Delaware, where it is registered, an omission which could violate state law,” Reuters reported.

Pushwoosh admitted the LinkedIn profiles were fake, but said they were created by a marketing firm to drum up business for the company — not misrepresent its location.

Pushwoosh told Reuters it used addresses in the Washington, D.C. area to “receive business correspondence” during the coronavirus pandemic. A review of the Pushwoosh founder’s online presence via Constella Intelligence shows his Pushwoosh email address was tied to a phone number in Washington, D.C. that was also connected to email addresses and account profiles for over a dozen other Pushwoosh employees.

THE PINCER TROJAN CONNECTION

The dust-up over Pushwoosh came in part from data gathered by Zach Edwards, a security researcher who until recently worked for the Internet Safety Labs, a nonprofit organization that funds research into online threats.

Edwards said Pushwoosh began as Arello-Mobile, and for several years the two co-branded — appearing side by side at various technology expos. Around 2016, he said, the two companies both started using the Pushwoosh name.

A search on Pushwoosh’s code base shows that one of the company’s longtime developers is a 41-year-old from Novosibirsk named Yuri Shmakov. In 2013, KrebsOnSecurity interviewed Shmakov for the story, “Who Wrote the Pincer Android Trojan?” wherein Shmakov acknowledged writing the malware as a freelance project.

Shmakov told me that, based on the client’s specifications, he suspected it might ultimately be put to nefarious uses. Even so, he completed the job and signed his work by including his nickname in the app’s code.

“I was working on this app for some months, and I was hoping that it would be really helpful,” Shmakov wrote. “[The] idea of this app is that you can set it up as a spam filter…block some calls and SMS remotely, from a Web service. I hoped that this will be [some kind of] blacklist, with logging about blocked [messages/calls]. But of course, I understood that client [did] not really want this.”

Shmakov did not respond to requests for comment. His LinkedIn profile says he stopped working for Arello Mobile in 2016, and that he currently is employed full-time as the Android team leader at an online betting company.

In a blog post responding to the Reuters story, Pushwoosh said it is a privately held company incorporated under the state laws of Delaware, USA, and that Pushwoosh Inc. was never owned by any company registered in the Russian Federation.

“Pushwoosh Inc. used to outsource development parts of the product to the Russian company in Novosibirsk, mentioned in the article,” the company said. “However, in February 2022, Pushwoosh Inc. terminated the contract.”

However, Edwards noted that dozens of developer subdomains on Pushwoosh’s main domain still point to JSC Avantel, an Internet provider based in Novosibirsk, Russia.

WAR GAMES

Edwards said the U.S. Army’s app had a custom Pushwoosh configuration that did not appear on any other customer implementation.

“It had an extremely custom setup that existed nowhere else,” Edwards said. “Originally, it was an in-app Web browser, where it integrated a Pushwoosh javascript so that any time a user clicked on links, data went out to Pushwoosh and they could push back whatever they wanted through the in-app browser.”

An Army Times article published the day after the Reuters story ran said at least 1,000 people downloaded the app, which “delivered updates for troops at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, Calif., a critical waypoint for deploying units to test their battlefield prowess before heading overseas.”

In April 2022, roughly 4,500 Army personnel converged on the National Training Center for a war games exercise on how to use lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine to prepare for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

Edwards said despite Pushwoosh’s many prevarications, the company’s software doesn’t appear to have done anything untoward to its customers or users.

“Nothing they did has been seen to be malicious,” he said. “Other than completely lying about where they are, where their data is being hosted, and where they have infrastructure.”

GOV 311

Edwards also found Pushwoosh’s technology embedded in nearly two dozen mobile apps that were sold to cities and towns across Illinois as a way to help citizens access general information about their local communities and officials.

The Illinois apps that bundled Pushwoosh’s technology were produced by a company called Government 311, which is owned by Bill McCarty, the current director of the Springfield Office of Budget and Management. A 2014 story in The State Journal-Register said Gov 311’s pricing was based on population, and that the app would cost around $2,500 per year for a city with approximately 25,000 people.

McCarty told KrebsOnSecurity that his company stopped using Pushwoosh “years ago,” and that it now relies on its own technology to provide push notifications through its 311 apps.

But Edwards found some of the 311 apps still try to phone home to Pushwoosh, such as the 311 app for Riverton, Ill.

“Riverton ceased being a client several years ago, which [is] probably why their app was never updated to change out Pushwoosh,” McCarty explained. “We are in the process of updating all client apps and a website refresh. As part of that, old unused apps like Riverton 311 will be deleted.”

FOREIGN ADTECH THREAT?

Edwards said it’s far from clear how many other state and local government apps and Web sites rely on technology that sends user data to U.S. adversaries overseas. In July, Congress introduced an amended version of the Intelligence Authorization Act for 2023, which included a new section focusing on data drawn from online ad auctions that could be used to geolocate individuals or gain other information about them.

Business Insider reports that if this section makes it into the final version — which the Senate also has to pass — the Office for the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will have 60 days after the Act becomes law to produce a risk assessment. The assessment will look into “the counterintelligence risks of, and the exposure of intelligence community personnel to, tracking by foreign adversaries through advertising technology data,” the Act states.

Edwards says he’s hoping those changes pass, because what he found with Pushwoosh is likely just a drop in a bucket.

“I’m hoping that Congress acts on that,” he said. “If they were to put a requirement that there’s an annual audit of risks from foreign ad tech, that would at least force people to identify and document those connections.”

FBI-Wanted Leader of the Notorious Zeus Botnet Gang Arrested in Geneva

A Ukrainian national who has been wanted by the U.S for over a decade has been arrested by Swiss authorities for his role in a notorious cybercriminal ring that stole millions of dollars from victims' bank accounts using malware called Zeus. Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, who went by online pseu­do­nyms "tank" and "father," is alleged to have been involved in the day-to-day operations of the