Tag: cyber espionage
North Korea funding weapons program with cybercrime
Last week, the US seized 17 website domains alleged to have been used to defraud US and foreign businesses. These seizures come hard on the heels of previously sealed October 2022 and January 2023 court-authorized seizures of approximately $1.5 million of the revenue that the same group of IT workers collected from unwitting victims. According to the US Justice Department, The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea has installed bogus contractors to steal from US companies in order to pay for weapons development.
Hamas hijacks dead hostages’ smartphones for cyber-strikes
Terrorist group Hamas, which was responsible for the recent atrocities committed in Israel, is reported to be using the smartphones of dead and captured Israeli hostages as entry points to monitor Israeli citizens in preparation for forthcoming cyber-strikes on Israel.
Lloyd’s warns of a potential $3.5 trillion cyber-strike
According to Lloyds, a single well-orchestrated cyber strike breaching a financial services payments system could lead to losses of $1.1 trillion in the US alone, with global losses amounting to $3.5 trillion over a five-year period. China would face losses of around $470 billion and Japan $200 billion.
Women leaders hit by ROMCOM attacks
Leading women politicians have become the latest targets of the now-notorious Void Rabisu threat actor following a cyber-campaign aimed at the Women Political Leaders (WPL) Summit in Brussels in June. A new report from Japan-based cybersecurity company Trend Micro shines a light on Void Rabisu’s extensive recent cyber-espionage activities.
Israel conflict spreads to cyberspace
Israel-based cybersecurity firm Check Point Software said that the company has tracked over 40 groups conducting attacks that overwhelmed and disrupted more than 80 websites starting with the day of the Hamas onslaught. These included government and media sites and have the appearance of a concerted cyber follow-up to the genocidal terrorist attacks that took place on the ground.
Google responds to increase in malware-related money theft – October 13th
Google has warned users of Android devices to take specific precautionary measures to prevent malware infection. This warning comes after a reported increase in malware aimed at stealing information and money. Precautionary measures advised by the service provider include turning on Google Play Protect, updating software, and removing untrusted apps.
Cost of texting fraud rises fivefold in three years
The official cost of texting fraud in 2022 rose to $330 million, representing a fivefold increase since 2019, with an average cost of $1,000 to the victims concerned. But the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which issued the figures, acknowledges that this is only the tip of a gigantic cybercrime iceberg, as most phone scams go unreported.
Taiwan hit by major cyber-espionage attack
A cyber-espionage campaign in the Pacific, directed principally at Taiwan, which took place in the Spring, has now come to light. According to cybersecurity company, Symantec, a large-scale program of cyber-enabled international espionage began in February 2023 and continued until at least May 2023.
EU wakes up to the global supply chain threat
Systems powered by artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cutting-edge microchips, together with genetic engineering, are being viewed with suspicion by the European Commission. As a result, the European Union (EU) is now in close and intense consultation with the EU’s 27 member states to establish an argument for potential trade bans and investment screenings.
Unknown threat actor targets the US Red Cross
The cyber-war just got dirtier. A year or two back, an age in cyber-years, even the most ruthless cyber-gangs avoided attacking medical facilities to create a better public image in the eyes of the hacker community. Their stance has weakened somewhat since then, with attacks on the health sector becoming more common. But a recent attack on the US Red Cross is unusual enough to ring alarm bells outside the cybersecurity community.
Budworm Group Targets Middle Eastern Telco Company – September 29th
Chinese hacker group Budworm has been using cyber-espionage malware to target a telecommunications company in the Middle East and an Asian government organization. Reports say attacks have been orchestrated through a new variant of the group's SysUpdate backdoor malware, and that telecommunication companies have become a common target for hacking groups.
Lazarus equips two new remote access trojan weapons – September 22nd
The Lazarus group is using two new remote access trojans to target health systems' ManageEngine vulnerabilities. The group recently made headlines after targeting healthcare entities in Europe and the US and has since evolved its malware to exploit the CVE-2022047966 vulnerability in the ManageEngine setup, allowing for remote code execution. Its new RAT variants, QuiteRAT and CollectionRAT, allow for the attacker to run arbitrary commands, among other capabilities.