Tag: middle east
Middle Eastern Governments Targeted by Evasive “CR4T” Backdoor – April 19th
Kaspersky reported on their discovery of the cyber campaign labeled "DuneQuixote," which targets Middle Eastern government agencies through a sophisticated backdoor to spread malware. The backdoor, "CR4T," is a C/C++-based memory-only implant that enables threat actors to access consoles for command-line execution. This can lead to uploading and downloading illicit files onto affected systems.
Fraudulent LinkedIn Profiles Targeting Saudi Workers for Corporate Data Leaks – December 12th
Revealed in a presentation at last month's Black Hat Middle East and Africa conference, was a corporate information leak tactic targeting Saudi Arabian workers using fraudulent LinkedIn profiles. The LinkedIn attacks start with fraudulent accounts pretending to be Muslim women in their 20s who say they work in Southeast Asia. Once the connection is made, attempts to harvest sensitive corporate information through long, seemingly legitimate professional conversations ensue.
Forty Countries Vow to Not Pay Cyber Ransoms – November 1st
Forty US-allied countries pledged to no longer pay cybercrime ransoms at the second annual meeting of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative. The idea behind the pledge is that as long as ransom is paid to these cyber criminals, it will continue. This initiative would also seek to encourage organizations within the participating countries to focus on improving their cybersecurity infrastructure rather than just folding to these cyber criminals.
Law Enforcement takes down RagnarLocker base – October 20th
Law enforcement officials are working around the clock to take down ransomware gangs by targeting their funding sources and online infrastructure. As part of these efforts, they have seized the RagnarLocker base, hoping this will disrupt one of the internet's most malicious ransomware groups. The collective law enforcement effort is made up of authorities from Europe, the US, and Japan.
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.
Pizza Hut threatened by hackers – September 20th
It seems that no one and no business is immune to hacker activity. Recent reports say that Pizza Hut Australia has again been the victim of threat actors a year after its newsmaking Optus cyber attack. Reports allege customers’ data has been compromised by the incident, which occurred in early September, with the fast food outlet having contacted clients to notify them of the data breach.