CISA Adds Twilio Authy and IE Flaws to Exploited Vulnerabilities List

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added two security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerabilities are listed below - CVE-2012-4792 (CVSS score: 9.3) - Microsoft Internet Explorer Use-After-Free Vulnerability CVE-2024-39891 (CVSS score: 5.3) - Twilio Authy Information Disclosure

Chinese Hackers Target Taiwan and U.S. NGO with MgBot and MACMA Malware

Organizations in Taiwan and a U.S. non-governmental organization (NGO) based in China have been targeted by a Beijing-affiliated state-sponsored hacking group called Daggerfly using an upgraded set of malware tools. The campaign is a sign that the group "also engages in internal espionage," Symantec's Threat Hunter Team, part of Broadcom, said in a new report published today. "In the attack on

New ICS Malware 'FrostyGoop' Targeting Critical Infrastructure

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered what they say is the ninth Industrial Control Systems (ICS)-focused malware that has been used in a disruptive cyber attack targeting an energy company in the Ukrainian city of Lviv earlier this January. Industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos has dubbed the malware FrostyGoop, describing it as the first malware strain to directly use Modbus TCP

Magento Sites Targeted with Sneaky Credit Card Skimmer via Swap Files

Threat actors have been observed using swap files in compromised websites to conceal a persistent credit card skimmer and harvest payment information. The sneaky technique, observed by Sucuri on a Magento e-commerce site's checkout page, allowed the malware to survive multiple cleanup attempts, the company said. The skimmer is designed to capture all the data into the credit card form on the

Meta Given Deadline to Address E.U. Concerns Over 'Pay or Consent' Model

Meta has been given time till September 1, 2024, to respond to concerns raised by the European Commission over its "pay or consent" advertising model or risk-facing enforcement measures, including sanctions. The European Commission said the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network has notified the social media giant that the model adopted for Facebook and Instagram might potentially violate

Ukrainian Institutions Targeted Using HATVIBE and CHERRYSPY Malware

The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) has alerted of a spear-phishing campaign that targeted a scientific research institution in the country with malware known as HATVIBE and CHERRYSPY. The agency attributed the attack to a threat actor it tracks under the name UAC-0063, which was previously observed targeting various government entities to gather sensitive information using

Google Abandons Plan to Phase Out Third-Party Cookies in Chrome

Google on Monday abandoned plans to phase out third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome web browser more than four years after it introduced the option as part of a larger set of a controversial proposal called the Privacy Sandbox. "Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web

Experts Uncover Chinese Cybercrime Network Behind Gambling and Human Trafficking

The relationship between various TDSs and DNS associated with Vigorish Viper and the final landing experience for the user A Chinese organized crime syndicate with links to money laundering and human trafficking across Southeast Asia has been using an advanced "technology suite" that runs the whole cybercrime supply chain spectrum to spearhead its operations. Infoblox is tracking the proprietor

PINEAPPLE and FLUXROOT Hacker Groups Abuse Google Cloud for Credential Phishing

A Latin America (LATAM)-based financially motivated actor codenamed FLUXROOT has been observed leveraging Google Cloud serverless projects to orchestrate credential phishing activity, highlighting the abuse of the cloud computing model for malicious purposes. "Serverless architectures are attractive to developers and enterprises for their flexibility, cost effectiveness, and ease of use," Google

SocGholish Malware Exploits BOINC Project for Covert Cyberattacks

The JavaScript downloader malware known as SocGholish (aka FakeUpdates) is being used to deliver a remote access trojan called AsyncRAT as well as a legitimate open-source project called BOINC. BOINC, short for Berkeley Open Infrastructure Network Computing Client, is an open-source "volunteer computing" platform maintained by the University of California with an aim to carry out "large-scale

New Linux Variant of Play Ransomware Targeting VMware ESXi Systems

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Linux variant of a ransomware strain known as Play (aka Balloonfly and PlayCrypt) that's designed to target VMware ESXi environments. "This development suggests that the group could be broadening its attacks across the Linux platform, leading to an expanded victim pool and more successful ransom negotiations," Trend Micro researchers said in a

Cybercriminals Exploit CrowdStrike Update Mishap to Distribute Remcos RAT Malware

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which is facing the heat for causing worldwide IT disruptions by pushing out a flawed update to Windows devices, is now warning that threat actors are exploiting the situation to distribute Remcos RAT to its customers in Latin America under the guise of providing a hotfix. The attack chains involve distributing a ZIP archive file named "crowdstrike-hotfix.zip,"

17-Year-Old Linked to Scattered Spider Cybercrime Syndicate Arrested in U.K.

Law enforcement officials in the U.K. have arrested a 17-year-old boy from Walsall who is suspected to be a member of the notorious Scattered Spider cybercrime syndicate. The arrest was made "in connection with a global cyber online crime group which has been targeting large organizations with ransomware and gaining access to computer networks," West Midlands police said. "The arrest is part of

Faulty CrowdStrike Update Crashes Windows Systems, Impacting Businesses Worldwide

Businesses across the world have been hit by widespread disruptions to their Windows workstations stemming from a faulty update pushed out by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. "CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," the company's CEO George Kurtz said in a statement. "Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is

Two Russian Nationals Plead Guilty in LockBit Ransomware Attacks

Two Russian nationals have pleaded guilty in a U.S. court for their participation as affiliates in the LockBit ransomware scheme and helping facilitate ransomware attacks across the world. The defendants include Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov, 21, of Chechen Republic, and Mikhail Vasiliev, 34, a dual Canadian and Russian national of Bradford, Ontario. Astamirov was arrested in Arizona by U.S. law

APT41 Infiltrates Networks in Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, and the U.K.

Several organizations operating within global shipping and logistics, media and entertainment, technology, and automotive sectors in Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the U.K. have become the target of a "sustained campaign" by the prolific China-based APT41 hacking group. "APT41 successfully infiltrated and maintained prolonged, unauthorized access to numerous victims' networks since

SolarWinds Patches 8 Critical Flaws in Access Rights Manager Software

SolarWinds has addressed a set of critical security flaws impacting its Access Rights Manager (ARM) software that could be exploited to access sensitive information or execute arbitrary code. Of the 13 vulnerabilities, eight are rated Critical in severity and carry a CVSS score of 9.6 out of 10.0. The remaining five weaknesses have been rated High in severity, with four of them having a CVSS

WazirX Cryptocurrency Exchange Loses $230 Million in Major Security Breach

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has confirmed that it was the target of a security breach that led to the theft of $230 million in cryptocurrency assets. "A cyber attack occurred in one of our [multi-signature] wallets involving a loss of funds exceeding $230 million," the company said in a statement. "This wallet was operated utilizing the services of Liminal's digital asset custody and

Alert: HotPage Adware Disguised as Ad Blocker Installs Malicious Kernel Driver

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on an adware module that purports to block ads and malicious websites, while stealthily offloading a kernel driver component that grants attackers the ability to run arbitrary code with elevated permissions on Windows hosts. The malware, dubbed HotPage, gets its name from the eponymous installer ("HotPage.exe"), according to new findings from ESET, which

SAP AI Core Vulnerabilities Expose Customer Data to Cyber Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered security shortcomings in SAP AI Core cloud-based platform for creating and deploying predictive artificial intelligence (AI) workflows that could be exploited to get hold of access tokens and customer data. The five vulnerabilities have been collectively dubbed SAPwned by cloud security firm Wiz. "The vulnerabilities we found could have allowed attackers

TAG-100: New Threat Actor Uses Open-Source Tools for Widespread Attacks

Unknown threat actors have been observed leveraging open-source tools as part of a suspected cyber espionage campaign targeting global government and private sector organizations. Recorded Future's Insikt Group is tracking the activity under the temporary moniker TAG-100, noting that the adversary likely compromised organizations in at least ten countries across Africa, Asia, North America,

Meta Halts AI Use in Brazil Following Data Protection Authority's Ban

Meta has suspended the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in Brazil after the country's data protection authority issued a preliminary ban objecting to its new privacy policy. The development was first reported by news agency Reuters. The company said it has decided to suspend the tools while it is in talks with Brazil's National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) to address the

Cisco Warns of Critical Flaw Affecting On-Prem Smart Software Manager

Cisco has released patches to address a maximum-severity security flaw impacting Smart Software Manager On-Prem (Cisco SSM On-Prem) that could enable a remote, unauthenticated attacker to change the password of any users, including those belonging to administrative users. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-20419, carries a CVSS score of 10.0. "This vulnerability is due to improper

North Korean Hackers Update BeaverTail Malware to Target MacOS Users

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered an updated variant of a known stealer malware that attackers affiliated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have delivered as part of prior cyber espionage campaigns targeting job seekers. The artifact in question is an Apple macOS disk image (DMG) file named "MiroTalk.dmg" that mimics the legitimate video call service of the same name,

FIN7 Group Advertises Security-Bypassing Tool on Dark Web Forums

The financially motivated threat actor known as FIN7 has been observed using multiple pseudonyms across several underground forums to likely advertise a security dodging tool known to be used by ransomware groups like AvosLocker, Black Basta, BlackCat, LockBit, and Trigona. "AvNeutralizer (aka AuKill), a highly specialized tool developed by FIN7 to tamper with security solutions, has been

China-linked APT17 Targets Italian Companies with 9002 RAT Malware

A China-linked threat actor called APT17 has been observed targeting Italian companies and government entities using a variant of a known malware referred to as 9002 RAT. The two targeted attacks took place on June 24 and July 2, 2024, Italian cybersecurity company TG Soft said in an analysis published last week. "The first campaign on June 24, 2024 used an Office document, while the second

Scattered Spider Adopts RansomHub and Qilin Ransomware for Cyber Attacks

The infamous cybercrime group known as Scattered Spider has incorporated ransomware strains such as RansomHub and Qilin into its arsenal, Microsoft has revealed. Scattered Spider is the designation given to a threat actor that's known for its sophisticated social engineering schemes to breach targets and establish persistence for follow-on exploitation and data theft. It also has a history of

Critical Apache HugeGraph Vulnerability Under Attack - Patch ASAP

Threat actors are actively exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting Apache HugeGraph-Server that could lead to remote code execution attacks. Tracked as CVE-2024-27348 (CVSS score: 9.8), the vulnerability impacts all versions of the software before 1.3.0. It has been described as a remote command execution flaw in the Gremlin graph traversal language API. "Users are

'Konfety' Ad Fraud Uses 250+ Google Play Decoy Apps to Hide Malicious Twins

Details have emerged about a "massive ad fraud operation" that leverages hundreds of apps on the Google Play Store to perform a host of nefarious activities. The campaign has been codenamed Konfety – the Russian word for Candy – owing to its abuse of a mobile advertising software development kit (SDK) associated with a Russia-based ad network called CaramelAds. "Konfety represents a new form of

Malicious npm Packages Found Using Image Files to Hide Backdoor Code

Cybersecurity researchers have identified two malicious packages on the npm package registry that concealed backdoor code to execute malicious commands sent from a remote server. The packages in question – img-aws-s3-object-multipart-copy and legacyaws-s3-object-multipart-copy – have been downloaded 190 and 48 times each. As of writing, they have been taken down by the npm security team. "They

Iranian Hackers Deploy New BugSleep Backdoor in Middle East Cyber Attacks

The Iranian nation-state actor known as MuddyWater has been observed using a never-before-seen backdoor as part of a recent attack campaign, shifting away from its well-known tactic of deploying legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) software for maintaining persistent access. That's according to independent findings from cybersecurity firms Check Point and Sekoia, which have

Void Banshee APT Exploits Microsoft MHTML Flaw to Spread Atlantida Stealer

An advanced persistent threat (APT) group called Void Banshee has been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in the Microsoft MHTML browser engine as a zero-day to deliver an information stealer called Atlantida. Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which observed the activity in mid-May 2024, the vulnerability – tracked as CVE-2024-38112 – was used as part of a multi-stage attack

Kaspersky Exits U.S. Market Following Commerce Department Ban

Russian security vendor Kaspersky has said it's exiting the U.S. market nearly a month after the Commerce Department announced a ban on the sale of its software in the country citing a national security risk. News of the closure was first reported by journalist Kim Zetter. The company is expected to wind down its U.S. operations on July 20, 2024, the same day the ban comes into effect. It's also

CISA Warns of Actively Exploited RCE Flaw in GeoServer GeoTools Software

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a critical security flaw impacting OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. GeoServer is an open-source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. It is the reference implementation of the Open

GitHub Token Leak Exposes Python's Core Repositories to Potential Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers said they discovered an accidentally leaked GitHub token that could have granted elevated access to the GitHub repositories of the Python language, Python Package Index (PyPI), and the Python Software Foundation (PSF). JFrog, which found the GitHub Personal Access Token, said the secret was leaked in a public Docker container hosted on Docker Hub. "This case was

CRYSTALRAY Hackers Infect Over 1,500 Victims Using Network Mapping Tool

A threat actor that was previously observed using an open-source network mapping tool has greatly expanded their operations to infect over 1,500 victims. Sysdig, which is tracking the cluster under the name CRYSTALRAY, said the activities have witnessed a tenfold surge, adding it includes "mass scanning, exploiting multiple vulnerabilities, and placing backdoors using multiple [open-source

Singapore Banks to Phase Out OTPs for Online Logins Within 3 Months

Retail banking institutions in Singapore have three months to phase out the use of one-time passwords (OTPs) for authentication purposes when signing into online accounts to mitigate the risk of phishing attacks. The decision was announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on July 9, 2024. "Customers who have activated their digital

New HardBit Ransomware 4.0 Uses Passphrase Protection to Evade Detection

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new version of a ransomware strain called HardBit that comes packaged with new obfuscation techniques to deter analysis efforts. "Unlike previous versions, HardBit Ransomware group enhanced the version 4.0 with passphrase protection," Cybereason researchers Kotaro Ogino and Koshi Oyama said in an analysis. "The passphrase needs to be provided during

AT&T Confirms Data Breach Affecting Nearly All Wireless Customers

American telecom service provider AT&T has confirmed that threat actors managed to access data belonging to "nearly all" of its wireless customers as well as customers of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) using AT&T's wireless network. "Threat actors unlawfully accessed an AT&T workspace on a third-party cloud platform and, between April 14 and April 25, 2024, exfiltrated

DarkGate Malware Exploits Samba File Shares in Short-Lived Campaign

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a short-lived DarkGate malware campaign that leveraged Samba file shares to initiate the infections. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 said the activity spanned the months of March and April 2024, with the infection chains using servers running public-facing Samba file shares hosting Visual Basic Script (VBS) and JavaScript files. Targets included North

Australian Defence Force Private and Husband Charged with Espionage for Russia

Two Russian-born Australian citizens have been arrested and charged in the country for spying on behalf of Russia as part of a "complex" law enforcement operation codenamed BURGAZADA. This includes a 40-year-old woman, an Australian Defence Force (ADF) Army Private, and her husband, a 62-year-old self-employed laborer. Media reports have identified them as Kira Korolev and Igor Korolev,

Critical Exim Mail Server Vulnerability Exposes Millions to Malicious Attachments

A critical security issue has been disclosed in the Exim mail transfer agent that could enable threat actors to deliver malicious attachments to target users' inboxes. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-39929, has a CVSS score of 9.1 out of 10.0. It has been addressed in version 4.98. "Exim through 4.97.1 misparses a multiline RFC 2231 header filename, and thus remote attackers can bypass

U.S. Seizes Domains Used by AI-Powered Russian Bot Farm for Disinformation

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said it seized two internet domains and searched nearly 1,000 social media accounts that Russian threat actors allegedly used to covertly spread pro-Kremlin disinformation in the country and abroad on a large scale. "The social media bot farm used elements of AI to create fictitious social media profiles — often purporting to belong to individuals in the

Palo Alto Networks Patches Critical Flaw in Expedition Migration Tool

Palo Alto Networks has released security updates to address five security flaws impacting its products, including a critical bug that could lead to an authentication bypass. Cataloged as CVE-2024-5910 (CVSS score: 9.3), the vulnerability has been described as a case of missing authentication in its Expedition migration tool that could lead to an admin account takeover. "Missing authentication

60 New Malicious Packages Uncovered in NuGet Supply Chain Attack

Threat actors have been observed publishing a new wave of malicious packages to the NuGet package manager as part of an ongoing campaign that began in August 2023, while also adding a new layer of stealth to evade detection. The fresh packages, about 60 in number and spanning 290 versions, demonstrate a refined approach from the previous set that came to light in October 2023, software supply

Chinese APT41 Upgrades Malware Arsenal with DodgeBox and MoonWalk

The China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group codenamed APT41 is suspected to be using an "advanced and upgraded version" of a known malware called StealthVector to deliver a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed MoonWalk. The new variant of StealthVector – which is also referred to as DUSTPAN – has been designated DodgeBox by Zscaler ThreatLabz, which discovered the loader strain in

New Poco RAT Targets Spanish-Speaking Victims in Phishing Campaign

Spanish language victims are the target of an email phishing campaign that delivers a new remote access trojan (RAT) called Poco RAT since at least February 2024. The attacks primarily single out mining, manufacturing, hospitality, and utilities sectors, according to cybersecurity company Cofense. "The majority of the custom code in the malware appears to be focused on anti-analysis,

PHP Vulnerability Exploited to Spread Malware and Launch DDoS Attacks

Multiple threat actors have been observed exploiting a recently disclosed security flaw in PHP to deliver remote access trojans, cryptocurrency miners, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnets. The vulnerability in question is CVE-2024-4577 (CVSS score: 9.8), which allows an attacker to remotely execute malicious commands on Windows systems using Chinese and Japanese language locales. It

GitLab Patches Critical Flaw Allowing Unauthorized Pipeline Jobs

GitLab has shipped another round of updates to close out security flaws in its software development platform, including a critical bug that allows an attacker to run pipeline jobs as an arbitrary user. Tracked as CVE-2024-6385, the vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 9.6 out of a maximum of 10.0. "An issue was discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting versions 15.8 prior to 16.11.6, 17.0 prior to

New Ransomware Group Exploiting Veeam Backup Software Vulnerability

A now-patched security flaw in Veeam Backup & Replication software is being exploited by a nascent ransomware operation known as EstateRansomware. Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which discovered the threat actor in early April 2024, said the modus operandi involved the exploitation of CVE-2023-27532 (CVSS score: 7.5) to carry out the malicious activities. Initial access to the target

Microsoft's July Update Patches 143 Flaws, Including Two Actively Exploited

Microsoft has released patches to address a total of 143 security flaws as part of its monthly security updates, two of which have come under active exploitation in the wild. Five out of the 143 flaws are rated Critical, 136 are rated Important, and four are rated Moderate in severity. The fixes are in addition to 33 vulnerabilities that have been addressed in the Chromium-based Edge browser

Google Adds Passkeys to Advanced Protection Program for High-Risk Users

Google on Wednesday announced that it's making available passkeys for high-risk users to enroll in its Advanced Protection Program (APP). "Users traditionally needed a physical security key for APP — now they can choose a passkey to secure their account," Shuvo Chatterjee, product lead of APP, said. Passkeys are considered a more secure and phishing-resistant alternative to passwords. Based on

HuiOne Guarantee: The $11 Billion Cybercrime Hub of Southeast Asia

Cryptocurrency analysts have shed light on an online marketplace called HuiOne Guarantee that's widely used by cybercriminals in Southeast Asia, particularly those linked to pig butchering scams. "Merchants on the platform offer technology, data, and money laundering services, and have engaged in transactions totaling at least $11 billion," Elliptic said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

ViperSoftX Malware Disguises as eBooks on Torrents to Spread Stealthy Attacks

The sophisticated malware known as ViperSoftX has been observed being distributed as eBooks over torrents. "A notable aspect of the current variant of ViperSoftX is that it uses the Common Language Runtime (CLR) to dynamically load and run PowerShell commands, thereby creating a PowerShell environment within AutoIt for operations," Trellix security researchers Mathanraj Thangaraju and Sijo Jacob

New OpenSSH Vulnerability Discovered: Potential Remote Code Execution Risk

Select versions of the OpenSSH secure networking suite are susceptible to a new vulnerability that can trigger remote code execution (RCE). The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-6409 (CVSS score: 7.0), is distinct from CVE-2024-6387 (aka RegreSSHion) and relates to a case of code execution in the privsep child process due to a race condition in signal handling. It only impacts versions 8.7p1

RADIUS Protocol Vulnerability Exposes Networks to MitM Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a security vulnerability in the RADIUS network authentication protocol called BlastRADIUS that could be exploited by an attacker to stage Mallory-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and bypass integrity checks under certain circumstances. "The RADIUS protocol allows certain Access-Request messages to have no integrity or authentication checks," InkBridge

Hackers Exploiting Jenkins Script Console for Cryptocurrency Mining Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have found that it's possible for attackers to weaponize improperly configured Jenkins Script Console instances to further criminal activities such as cryptocurrency mining. "Misconfigurations such as improperly set up authentication mechanisms expose the '/script' endpoint to attackers," Trend Micro's Shubham Singh and Sunil Bharti said in a technical write-up

GuardZoo Malware Targets Over 450 Middle Eastern Military Personnel

Military personnel from Middle East countries are the target of an ongoing surveillanceware operation that delivers an Android data-gathering tool called GuardZoo. The campaign, believed to have commenced as early as October 2019, has been attributed to a Houthi-aligned threat actor based on the application lures, command-and-control (C2) server logs, targeting footprint, and the attack

Cybersecurity Agencies Warn of China-linked APT40's Rapid Exploit Adaptation

Cybersecurity agencies from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S. have released a joint advisory about a China-linked cyber espionage group called APT40, warning about its ability to co-opt exploits for newly disclosed security flaws within hours or days of public release. "APT40 has previously targeted organizations in various countries, including

Trojanized jQuery Packages Found on npm, GitHub, and jsDelivr Code Repositories

Unknown threat actors have been found propagating trojanized versions of jQuery on npm, GitHub, and jsDelivr in what appears to be an instance of a "complex and persistent" supply chain attack. "This attack stands out due to the high variability across packages," Phylum said in an analysis published last week. "The attacker has cleverly hidden the malware in the seldom-used 'end' function of