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Sensitive customer information
Chrome Extension Customer Data Cyber Attacks Cybersecurity measures Data Loss data security Phishing email Sensitive customer information

Cyberattack on Cyberhaven Chrome Extension Exposes Sensitive Data

 


On Christmas Eve, Cyberhaven, a data loss prevention company, experienced a cyberattack targeting its Google Chrome extension. The breach exposed sensitive customer data, including passwords and session tokens. The company has since taken swift measures to address the issue and prevent future incidents.

The attack occurred after a Cyberhaven employee fell victim to a phishing email, inadvertently sharing their credentials. This gave the attacker access to Cyberhaven’s systems, specifically the credentials for the Google Chrome Web Store. Leveraging this access, the attacker uploaded a malicious version (24.10.4) of the Cyberhaven Chrome extension. The compromised version was automatically updated on Chrome-based browsers and remained active from 1:32 AM UTC on December 25 to 2:50 AM UTC on December 26.

Swift Response by Cyberhaven

Cyberhaven’s security team discovered the breach at 11:54 PM UTC on Christmas Day. Within an hour, they removed the malicious extension from the Web Store. CEO Howard Ting praised the team’s dedication, stating, “Our team acted swiftly and with remarkable dedication, interrupting their holiday plans to safeguard our customers and maintain our commitment to transparency.”

While no other Cyberhaven systems, such as CI/CD processes or code signing keys, were affected, the compromised extension potentially enabled the exfiltration of user cookies and authenticated sessions for specific targeted websites. This incident underscores the persistent risks posed by phishing attacks and the critical need for robust security measures.

Mitigation Measures for Users

To mitigate the impact of the breach, Cyberhaven has advised users to take the following steps:

  • Update the extension to version 24.10.5 or newer.
  • Monitor logs for unusual activity.
  • Revoke or reset passwords not protected by FIDOv2.

These proactive measures are essential to prevent further exploitation of compromised credentials.

Enhanced Security Measures

In response to the attack, Cyberhaven has implemented additional security protocols to strengthen its defenses. The company is also working with law enforcement to investigate the breach and identify the attackers, who reportedly targeted other companies as well.

This attack highlights the increasing sophistication of cyber threats, particularly those exploiting human error. Phishing remains one of the most effective tactics for gaining unauthorized access to sensitive systems. Companies must prioritize employee training on recognizing phishing attempts and establish multi-layered security frameworks to mitigate vulnerabilities.

Cyberhaven’s swift response and transparent communication reflect its commitment to customer security and trust. As the investigation continues, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vigilance in the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats.

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Ransomware attack
banking service outage Cyber Security Cybersecurity Breach online banking disruption Patelco Credit Union Phishing email Ransomware attack

Ransomware Attack on Patelco Credit Union Disrupts Services for Nearly Half a Million Members

 

A ransomware attack on Bay-area Patelco Credit Union has disrupted banking services for nearly half a million members, and the outage could persist for weeks.

The credit union announced the attack on June 29 via Twitter. The affected services include online banking, the mobile app, direct deposits, transfers, debit and credit card transactions, Zelle, balance inquiries, online bill payments, and monthly statements, among others.

Patelco Credit Union, based in Dublin, California, serves the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. In addition to consumer banking, it offers mortgage origination, home equity lines of credit, and mortgage refinancing.

Patelco CEO Erin Mendez issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that cybersecurity specialists have validated the "core systems" and assured members that their money is "safe and secure." However, she mentioned that full system functionality is not expected to be restored over the weekend.

"I know this continues to cause our members frustration and many of you have questions," she said, promising that any fees incurred due to the shutdown will be waived. "We hear your concerns and are working around the clock to address them. Our team is committed to doing everything we can to support our members through this difficult situation."

The Mercury News reported that hackers infiltrated the bank’s internal databases via a phishing email, encrypting its contents and locking the bank out of its systems.

Operating as a nonprofit cooperative, Patelco holds $9 billion in assets. Despite providing daily updates since the attack, there is no clear timeline for when systems will be fully restored, and further outages are possible.

Services that remain operational include check and cash deposits, ATM withdrawals, ACH transfers, ACH for bill payments, and in-branch loan payments.
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Threat Landscape
Cyber Crime Espionage Campaign Hacking Group Malicious Ads Phishing email Threat Landscape

This Hacker Outfit has Targeted Thousands of Companies Across the Globe

 

ESET's cybersecurity researchers have recently uncovered a relatively new hacker outfit that has had great success targeting organisations all around the world. 

The researchers are still unsure of the group's eventual goal, which goes by the name of Asylum Ambuscade. BleepingComputer claims that over the past three years, it has been active all over the world, but primarily in the West.

It makes use of many different tools, such as the Sunseed malware, Akhbot, and Nodebot, which enable the team to carry out a wide range of malicious operations, such as stealing screenshots, stealing passwords stored in well-known web browsers, deploying Cobalt Strike loaders, running a keylogger, and more. In short, the group's skills encompass everything from espionage to cybercrime. 

They have a wide range of targets, including small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), government officials and organisations, bank customers, cryptocurrency speculators, and traders. 

Modus operandi 

Typically, a phishing email including a malicious script is the first step in an assault. Depending on the target's endpoints, the group selects which extra payloads to send after downloading the Sunseed virus. 

The researchers discovered that in certain cases the group generated Google Ads that drove consumers to websites that included malicious JavaScript code.

Additionally, the organisation appears to be very successful. Researchers at ESET began monitoring the gang's activity in January of last year and have since discovered almost 4,500 victims, which suggests the group targeted 265 businesses and organisations each month.

The group's intentions continue to be the biggest mystery. The researchers are unable to precisely identify what the group is attempting to do because they have access to a wide variety of tools that can be used to commit all types of cybercrime and a diverse list of victims. One explanation contends that the group is just selling knowledge and access to other threat actors, which explains their diverse strategy.
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VPN
Cyber Security Endpoint Kaspersky Phishing email Ransomware Attacks. RDP Software VPN

Tackling the Top Initial Attack Vectors in Ransomware Campaigns

Ransomware attacks remain a major concern for organizations worldwide, causing significant financial losses and operational disruptions. A recent report by Kaspersky sheds light on the primary attack vectors used in ransomware campaigns, highlighting the importance of addressing these vulnerabilities to mitigate the risk of an attack.

According to the report, three common initial attack vectors account for the majority of ransomware campaigns: phishing emails, vulnerable remote access services, and software vulnerabilities. These vectors serve as entry points for threat actors to gain unauthorized access to systems and initiate ransomware attacks.

Phishing emails remain one of the most prevalent methods used by attackers to distribute ransomware. These emails often employ social engineering techniques to deceive users into opening malicious attachments or clicking on malicious links, leading to the execution of ransomware on their devices. It is crucial for organizations to educate employees about recognizing and avoiding phishing attempts and to implement robust email security measures to filter out such malicious emails.

Vulnerable remote access services pose another significant risk. Attackers target exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, exploiting weak or compromised credentials to gain unauthorized access to networks. Organizations should implement strong authentication mechanisms, enforce secure password practices, and regularly update and patch their remote access solutions to mitigate this risk.

Software vulnerabilities also play a crucial role in enabling ransomware attacks. Threat actors exploit known vulnerabilities in operating systems, applications, or plugins to gain a foothold in networks and deploy ransomware. It is essential for organizations to establish a comprehensive patch management process, promptly applying security updates and patches to address known vulnerabilities.

To effectively combat ransomware campaigns, organizations should adopt a multi-layered security approach. This includes implementing strong perimeter defenses, such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, to detect and block malicious traffic. Endpoint protection solutions that utilize advanced threat detection and prevention mechanisms are also critical in identifying and mitigating ransomware threats.

Regular backups of critical data are essential to recovering from ransomware attacks without paying the ransom. Organizations should ensure that backups are stored securely, offline, and tested regularly to verify their integrity and effectiveness in restoring data.

Reducing the risk of ransomware attacks requires addressing the three primary attack vectors: phishing emails, weak remote access services, and software flaws. Businesses may fortify their defenses and lessen the effects of ransomware events by implementing strong security measures, employee education, timely patching, and backup procedures.
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User Privacy
Cyber Security Email Fraud email security Phishing email User Privacy

Five Important Tips for Keeping Your Email Safe

 

Whether it’s on our smartphones or desktops – we can’t really function today without scanning our emails on a daily basis. However, we often undermine the hacker's abilities and think we're immune to scams. take the privacy and security of our inboxes and emails for granted. 

Email scam is often the easiest way for malicious hackers to trick individuals into giving personal and private data. According to the FBI, email frauds are the most expensive type of cybercrime, costing American billions of dollars in losses. 

According to Google Safe Browsing, there are now nearly 75 times as many phishing sites as there are malware sites on the internet. Interestingly, 20% of all employees are likely to click on phishing email links, and, of those, a whopping 68 percent go on to enter their credentials on a phishing website. 

So how can we mitigate this and safeguard our emails? Here are 5 simple steps that can assist in protecting your email account and steer clear of threat actors. 

1. Apply a strong and unique password 

This one may seem cliche, but never employ a password that contains your name, date of birth, user name, email address, or any other piece of information that can be easily accessed by hackers. Your password needs to be six characters or longer. Employ different passwords for each of your accounts, never the same one. 

You can store all your passwords in multiple ways, including on a piece of paper, hard drive, password manager, or otherwise. If you're using a password manager app, keep in mind that these can be prone to hacks, as they rely on internet connections and software programs to store your data, both of which can be abused by hackers. 

2. Post minimal personal information on social media 

Recognize the privacy settings you have. Always scan the default privacy settings before posting anything on a social media platform. The default privacy settings on multiple social media platforms are often lenient and may permit the sharing of information with a big online community. A social networking platform’s settings should be adjusted before sharing any content there. 

3. Employ a spam filter 

Spam filters help you keep spam emails from your inbox or flag spam emails so that you are aware of them. Relying on the software and configuration, some spam filters can automatically eliminate junk emails and thwart web bugs that track your activity and system information. 

4. Block Suspicious Addresses 

While some scammers may only try to contact you once or twice, others will make repeated attempts at getting in touch. This is why you should block email addresses that you have confirmed to be dangerous. It's usually pretty quick and easy to block an email address, but the process may differ slightly depending on the provider you're using. It can usually be done by highlighting a specific email and choosing the Block option, or by going into your email account settings. 

5. Use Antivirus Software 

It is highly recommended that you install and maintain good and well-respected antivirus software on your desktop, smartphone, or tablet to mitigate infection. Search all email attachments with an antivirus program before downloading them, even if they come from someone you know.
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United Nations
Bank Security Cyber Attacks cybercriminals IP Address Phishing and Spam Phishing email United Nations

Users at Citibank Attacked by a Massive Phishing Scam

 

Scammers impersonating Citibank are now targeting customers in an online phishing campaign. Thousands of bogus email messages were sent to bank customers, according to Bitdefender's Antispam Lab, with the intent of collecting sensitive personal information and internet passwords. 

Responding to unusual activities or an unauthorized login attempt, the accounts have been placed on hold. As a result, the attackers claim all users should authenticate existing accounts as soon as possible to avoid a permanent ban.

According to Bitdefender's internal telemetry, these campaigns are focused primarily on the United States, with 81 percent of the phishing emails sent ending up in the mailboxes of American Citibank customers. However, it has also reached the United Kingdom (7 percent), South Korea (4 percent), and a small number have indeed made it to Canada, Ireland, India, and Germany. When it comes to the origins of these phishing attacks, 40% of the phoney emails appear to have come from the United States, while 13% came via IP addresses in Mexico. 

The cybercriminals behind the effort utilize email subject lines like "Account Confirm Confirmation Required," "Second Reminder: Your Account Is On Hold," and "Account Confirm Confirmation Required" to deceive Citibank clients into opening the emails. Other subject lines were, "Urgent: Account Confirmation Required," "Security Alert: Your Account Is On Hold," and "Urgent: Your Citi Account Is On Hold." 

Since some of the phishing emails in the campaign use the official Citibank logo to make them appear more real, the scammers who sent them did not take the time to correctly fake the sender's email address or repair any punctuation issues in the email body.

Citing phoney transactions or payments, and also questionable login attempts is another strategy used to create these phishing emails which appear to be from Citibank itself, to fool potential victims into authenticating actual accounts. When victims click the verify button, users are taken to a cloned version of the legitimate Citibank homepage. However, if a Citibank customer goes this far, fraudsters will steal the credentials and utilize them in future assaults. 

Bitdefender has discovered another large-scale phishing campaign that went live between February 11 and 15, 2022, offering victims the opportunity to seek cash compensation from the United Nations. The challenge in this situation is to identify the beneficiary as a scam victim, one of the 150 people who were declared eligible for a $5 million payout from Citibank. 

Banks rarely send SMS or email alerts to customers about critical account changes, thereby users can contact the bank and ask to speak to an agent if they receive a message which makes strong claims. Instead of calling the phone numbers included in the email, users should go to the bank's official website and look up the information on the contact page.
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User Security
Cryptocurrency Frauds Data Breach Hacking Phishing email User Credentials User Data User Privacy User Security

Coinbase: Hackers Stole Cryptocurrency From Around 6,000 Customers

 

Crypto Exchange Coinbase has revealed that hackers successfully stole money from at least 6,000 Coinbase users this spring, partly by exploiting a vulnerability in the cryptocurrency exchange's two-factor authentication mechanism. 

Coinbase is the world's second-largest bitcoin exchange with over 68 million users from over 100 countries. In a data breach warning delivered to impacted clients this week, Coinbase disclosed the hacking activity. The notice states, “At least 6,000 Coinbase customers had funds removed from their accounts, including you,” 

Account breaches happened between March 2021 and May 20, 2021. Coinbase estimates hackers launched a wide-scale email phishing effort to deceive a significant number of customers into providing their email addresses, passwords, and phone numbers. 

Furthermore, the unknown attackers got access to victims' email inboxes through the use of malicious software competent of reading and writing to the inbox if the user enables permission. Although, a password is insufficient to gain access to a Coinbase account. 

The business secures an account by default using two-factor authentication, which means users must enter both a password and a one-time passcode issued on the phone to log in. 

However, the hackers were capable to obtain the one-time passcode in certain situations. This happened to users who used the two-factor authentication method, which depends on SMS texts to deliver the code. 

A spokesperson for the cryptocurrency exchange told PCMag in a statement, “Once the attackers had compromised the user’s email inbox and their Coinbase credentials, in a small number of cases they were able to use that information to impersonate the user, receive an SMS two-factor authentication code, and gain access to the Coinbase customer account.” 

Coinbase did not go into detail about how the impersonation occurred. However, according to the statement, the attackers employed a SIM-swapping attack to deceive the cell phone carrier into transferring over the victim's phone number. 

In response, Coinbase says it’s been compensating victims for the stolen cryptocurrency, following reports the company did little to help consumers hit in the hack. 

A company spokesperson added, “We immediately fixed the flaw and have worked with these customers to regain control of their accounts and reimburse them for the funds they lost.” 

It's also unclear how the issue was resolved. Coinbase, on the other hand, is pushing consumers to abandon the SMS-based two-factor verification scheme for more secure alternatives. This includes utilising a smartphone app to generate the one-time passcode or a hardware-based security key. 
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ransomware attacks
Conti Ransomware Cyber Attacks DDOS Attacks Phishing email RaaS ransomware attacks

Ransomware Attacks Increased Exponentially in 2021

 

The growing threat of ransomware has been highlighted by NCC Group's Research Intelligence and Fusion Team (RIFT) analysis. Between January-March 2021 and April-June 2021, the number of ransomware assaults studied by the team climbed by 288%, indicating that enterprises are still facing waves of digital extortion in the form of targeted ransomware. 

The rise of the "triple extortion" ransomware technique whereby attackers, in addition to stealing sensitive data and threatening to release it publicly unless a payment is made, also target the organization's customers, vendors, or business partners in the same way, has fuelled the increase in attacks. 

Conti ransomware, which commonly employs email phishing to remote into a network via an employee's device, was responsible for 22% of ransomware data leaks studied between April and June. The Avaddon ransomware, which was linked to 17% of ransomware data leaks, was just behind it. While victims of this ransomware strain faced data encryption, the potential of data breaches, and the larger risk of DDoS attacks disrupting operations, the ransomware strain is now thought to be dormant. 

In addition to the substantial increase in ransomware assaults, organizations have seen a 29% of cyber-attacks worldwide, with the largest growth rates in the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) area and America, at 36% and 24%, respectively. While the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region witnessed only a 13% increase in attacks, it had the highest number of weekly cyber intrusions at 1,338. The weekly number for EMEA was 777, while the weekly number for America was 688. 

This issue is hurting organizations all over the world, with the United States accounting for 49% of victims with known locations in the last three months, followed by France at 7% and Germany at 4%. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in June, which was carried out by DarkSide ransomware affiliates, is one significant case. Oil supplies were disrupted, and there were fuel shortages across the United States as a result of the strike. 

Christo Butcher, global lead for threat intelligence at NCC Group, said: “Over the years, ransomware has become a significant threat to organizations and governments alike. We’ve seen targets range from IT companies and suppliers to financial institutions and critical national infrastructure providers, with ransomware-as-a-service increasingly being sold by ransomware gangs in a subscription model.” 

“It’s therefore crucial for organizations to be proactive about their resilience. This should include proactive remediation of security issues, and operating a least-privilege model, which means that if a user’s account is compromised, the attacker will only be able to access and/or destroy a limited amount of information,” he added.
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Phishing email
Backdoor Hacking Group JavaScript malware Phishing email

FIN7 Hackers Using 'Windows 11 Alpha' Themed Malicious Documents to Drop JavaScript Backdoor



In a recent wave of the spear-phishing campaign, the FIN7 cybercrime group employed Windows 11 Alpha-themed weaponized word documents to deliver a JavaScript payload with a JavaScript backdoor. 

'Phishing Email Campaign' is the initial attack vector, posing as 'Windows 11 Alpha', it contains an infected Microsoft Word document (.doc). The virus is accompanied by this image which convinces a user to click on 'Enable Editing' and further advance towards the installation process. Once the user enables the content, the VBA macro that is contained in the image begins to come into effect. 

VBA macro is populated with junk data such as comments, it is a common strategy employed by criminals to impede analysis. Once the junk data is being pulled out, all we would be left with is a 'VBA macro'. Upon further analyzing the JavaScript, researchers learned that it contained obfuscated strings along with a deobfuscation function. 

Researchers have found that the threat actors behind the malicious campaign – upon detecting languages of certain countries including Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Estonia, and Ukraine – call into action the 'me2XKr' function to delete all the tables and then stops running. They do so in order to prevent execution in the aforementioned countries. 

Primarily targeting the U.S.-based telecommunications, education, retail, finance, and hospitality sectors via meticulously crafted attacks, FIN7 has managed to stay ahead of law enforcement by employing novel and advanced techniques to thwart detection from time and again. The threat group, also identified by some as "Carbanak Group", has increasingly diversified its monetization tactics which allowed the gang to widen the impact of their compromise. As a result, the group acquired a competitive advantage and has targeted a wide range of industries. Although FIN7 is characterized by its mass payment card data theft, the ambitions of the threat group are not limited to the theft of payment card data. In scenarios where end-to-end encryption (E2EE) prevented the attackers to obtain card data, they turned to attack the finance departments of the targeted organizations. 

In an analysis dated 02 September 2021, Anomali Threat Research said, "The specified targeting of the Clearmind domain fits well with FIN7's preferred modus operandi." "The group's goal appears to have been to deliver a variation of a JavaScript backdoor used by FIN7 since at least 2018."
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Trojan Attacks
Banking Trojan Cyber Security Evasive Techniques Phishing email Qakbot Trojan Attacks

QakBot (QBot) Campaign: A thorough Analysis



Trojan-Banker QakBot, also known by the names - QBot, QuackBot, and Pinkslipbot, is a modular information stealer that has been active for almost 14 years. With the key agenda of stealing banking credentials, QakBot employs various tools to evade detection and hamper manual analysis. The authors have developed the trojan with an aggressive sophistication that allows its variants to essentially deploy additional malware, create a backdoor to infected systems, and log user keystrokes. 

Typically, QakBot attacks contain MS Office Word documents that are deployed via phishing emails constructed to trick the user into accessing it. However, in 2020, some of the QakBot campaigns featured ZIP attachments that contained macros within the word document enclosed in the ZIP file. These macros are configured to trigger the execution of a PowerShell script that further downloads the QBot payload from selected internet addresses. 

Spoofing the Victim: Opening the QBot Infected Word Doc 

The word document which carries a malicious macro, once accessed by the victim, leads him to the Word Program on his system wherein he is asked to click on "Enable Content" shown in a yellow-colored dialogue box appearing right below the header. It reads "Security Warning" in bold letters. Once the user clicks onto it, it spoofs him into believing that it is taking its time to load data as another gray-colored dialogue box appears, reading "Loading data. Please wait..."

However, behind the scenes, the malicious Macro is being executed. As a part of the process, the Macro creates a folder in which it attempts to download the QakBot payload; it's placed in 5 different places. Referencing from the 5 corresponding URLs, it could be easily concluded that they all were constructed with the same website builder, which possibly has an exploit that lets EXE files being uploaded onto it with a PNG extension.

In one of its previous campaigns, upon running, QBot replaced the original binary with a duplicate 'Windows Calculator app: calc.exe'. Then, it scanned the installed programs, compared process names to a blacklist, examined registry entries, and inspected hardware details to eventually look for a virtualization software like VMware or VirtualBox. If QBot fails to detect a virtualization software, it copies the legitimate executable into a folder; it disguises itself as a signed valid certificate. After setting the executable in place, QBot schedules a task to run the executable every 5 hours. Once the execution is completed, an explorer.exe process is launched by QBot, the code of the same is injected into the process' memory. QBot can also execute additional processes employing double process mechanisms. 

In order to safeguard against the ever-evolving threat of QakBot, experts recommend organizations provide training to their employees who could come up with alternative solutions when automated intrusion-detectors fail.
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Phishing email
Avanan Cyber Attacks Milanote Phishing Attack Phishing email

Hacker Employ Milanote App for Spreading Phishing Email

 

The usage of collaborative applications had been a major victory with the pandemic. That incorporates Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, Zoom, and many others. Indeed, the software on the web makes brainstorming, designing, and collaborating with team members easier for all kinds of concepts. 

Milanote is among the most popular apps used in this period. It is recognized as an application for creators to note, compile and collaborate. It is used for sorting notes, gathering ideas, structuring activities - workflows, and much more. Companies mentioned, among many others, like Uber, Facebook, Google, and Nike, use it for their office routine. 

According to analysts, the Milanote app, also designated by reviewers as "the Evernote for creatives," has gained the attention of cybercriminals, that further abuse it to conduct credential-stealing campaigns that glide past secure email gateways (SEGs). 

The report compiled and published on Thursday by Avanan indicates that the hackers look to hack the victims using a simple email. The mail sent has the line of the subject as, "Project Proposal Invoice". The email body is rather explicit, only saying, “Hello. See attached invoice for the above-referenced project. Please contact me if you have questions or need additional information. Thank you.” There have been no customization, branding, or other characteristics of social engineering in the mail. 

“The email itself is pretty standard issue,” Gil Friedrich, CEO, and co-founder of Avanan stated. “It gets attention with the subject of ‘Invoice for Project Proposal.’ It’s certainly not the most sophisticated effort in the world, however, it understands what emails can get past static scanners, including, in this case, Milanote.” 

If the attachment link in the email is opened by the destination, a single-line document opens ("I shared a file with you. Click on the "Download" link (see below) with a clickable "Open Docs" button. 

Lately, the volume of these slippery phishing attacks has increased "dramatically," according to Avanan researchers. In the communication network, 1,430 e-mails were analyzed that contained a link to Milanote, and 1367 were part of the phishing campaigns (a whopping 95.5%). 

“[Most] use static scanners to scan attachments or links for malicious payloads,” according to the writeup. “In response, hackers are bypassing those detection mechanisms by nesting the payloads in deeper layers within legitimate services, fooling the static scanners. This is part of a larger trend of hackers utilizing legitimate services to host malicious content. Because the scanner doesn’t go that deep, hackers can leverage these services to host their content and easily send it to users.” 

Friedrich told that the scammers have been increasingly employing this technique in a large number of services. Another part of the development is that malicious hackers have resorted to them with the advent of collaborative platforms to create new techniques for social engineers and escape defenses. 

“We’re talking to people on Zoom, sharing thoughts on Slack, using whiteboards on Jamboard and thousands of other services. Email is still incredibly important, of course, but there are other places where information is transmitted,” he added. 

Cybercriminals may bring dangerous links to where they have been, rather than just email. It enables hackers with simple access to many of these collaboration apps. Since they did not get the same phishing training at these sites, users may have their guard down. It's an easy approach for con men to realize many of their malicious goals. Users are advised to stay alert to the Milanote attack and other similar rocketing attacks, by following the best safety practices available. 
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Spear Phishing Campaign
Aviation Firms Cyber Attacks Phishing email Spear Phishing Campaign

Threat Actors Target Aviation Firms Via Spear Phishing Campaign

 

Fortinet researchers discovered a spear-phishing campaign targeting the aviation industry with malicious download links that distribute the AsyncRAT with a well-crafted message. AsyncRAT, also known as remote access tool (RAT) is an open-source, legitimate remote administration tool, which has been used to gather browser data, steal credentials, webcam data, screenshots, and essential details about the system and network.

Threat actors targeted multiple aviation firms by sending phishing emails that appeared to be coming from the federal aviation authority using a spoofed sender address that aligns with a ‘foreign operators affairs’ email address for inquiries/approvals. The email goes through the extra step of having a signature and a logo to impersonate a federal authority. 

Attackers have designed the email so carefully that it creates a sense of urgency by resembling it like a Reporting of Safety Incident (ROSI) from Air Traffic Control. In addition, the email contains malicious Google Drive links disguised as a pdf attachment. Most of the emails in this campaign contain the strings ROSI, AOP, Incident Report, as well as the attachment name 'ROSI-AOP Incident Report Details, '.pdf.

The researchers note that all of these emails were sent from an IP address (192.145.239.18) that was previously used in an aviation-themed campaign identified by Morphisec researchers in April and May of 2021 with the majority of victims coming from the UAE, Canada, Argentina, Djibouti, and Fiji.

Security experts have warned that the aviation and travel industry is seeing a notable increase in RAT (Remote Access Trojan) cyber attack efforts through phishing emails. Similar to other forms of malware, Remote Access Trojans are usually attached to what appear to be legitimate files, such as emails or pre-installed software. However, it has recently been observed that these dangerous threat actors are modifying their operating techniques when their methods are identified and publicly exposed. 

RAT is particularly dangerous because it can imitate trustworthy remote access apps. Victims won’t know that they have installed RAT as it doesn’t appear in a list of active programs or running processes. These attacks are less against the general public and more to gather sensitive data from the aviation industry. 

“The targeting of particular industries is now often pointing to particular malware gangs. Many gangs have become more specialized, targeting a specific industry that they have especially good experience and success in. To increase the chances of getting a potential victim to execute malware, the attacker has to make the social-engineering and phishing attack seem as close to an internal or partner communication as possible. Specializing in a particular industry helps to do this,” Roger Grimes, data analyst at KnowBe4 stated.
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Trojan
malware Phishing email Telegram ToxicEye Trojan

ToxicEye: Trojan Abuses Telegram to Steal Data

 

The Telegram service is being exploited by operators of a new Remote Access Trojan (RAT) to keep control of their malware. ToxicEye is a ransomware that uses Telegram as part of its command-and-control (C2) infrastructure to steal data. 

In a blog post published on Thursday, Check Point Research's Omer Hofman stated that the latest remote malware has been seen in the wild, with over 130 attacks reported in the last three months.

Telegram is a communication platform and instant messaging service that has recently seen a boost in popularity as a result of the recent controversy surrounding WhatsApp's data-sharing policies with Facebook. The platform, which has over 500 million monthly active users, has also proven popular among cybercriminals who use it to distribute and execute malicious software. 

ToxicEye operators start the attack chain by creating a Telegram account and a bot. Bots are used for several tasks, such as reminders, searches, issuing orders, and launching surveys. In this case, however, the malware's configuration includes a bot for malicious purposes. 

According to researchers, "Any victim infected with this malicious payload can be attacked via the Telegram bot, which connects the user's device back to the attacker's C2 via Telegram." 

Phishing emails with malicious document attachments are sent to intended victims. ToxicEye is launched if a victim allows the resulting malicious.exe file to be downloaded. The ToxicEye RAT has a variety of features, which include the ability to search for and steal credentials, computer OS data, browser history, clipboard content, and cookies, as well as pass and deletes files, disable PC processes, and hijack task management. 

Furthermore, the malware can install keyloggers and gain access to microphones and camera peripherals to capture audio and video. The researchers discovered ransomware characteristics such as the ability to encrypt and decrypt victim data. 

The user should check for "C:UsersToxicEyerat.exe" if suspects an infection. This applies to both personal and business use, and if a file is discovered, it should be deleted immediately. 

Researchers stated, "Given that Telegram can be used to distribute malicious files, or as a C2 channel for remotely controlled malware, we fully expect that additional tools that exploit this platform will continue to be developed in the future.”
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RAT
BazarCall Cyber Security email security Phishing email RAT

Hackers use BazarCall Malware to Infect Victims

 

The most current strategy for tainting your PC is astoundingly antiquated: It utilizes a telephone call. Online researchers are documenting a new malware campaign that they've named "BazarCall." One of its primary malware "payloads" is the BazarLoader remote-access Trojan, which can give a hacker full authority over your PC and be utilized to install more malware. 

In the same way as other malware campaigns, BazarCall begins with a phishing email but from that point goes amiss to a novel distribution method - utilizing phone call centers to circulate pernicious Excel documents that install malware. Rather than bundling attachments with the email, BazarCall emails brief clients to call a telephone number to cancel a subscription before they are naturally charged. These call centres would then direct clients to a specially crafted website to download a "cancellation form" that installs the BazarCall malware. 

All BazarCall assaults begin with a phishing email targeting corporate clients that express the recipient's free trial is about to run out. Be that as it may, these emails don't give any insights about the supposed subscription. The emails at that point brief the client to contact a listed telephone number to cancel the subscription before they are charged $69.99 to $89.99 for a renewal. While the greater part of the emails seen by BleepingComputer has been from a fictitious company named "Medical reminder service, Inc.", the emails have additionally utilized other phony organization names, for example, 'iMed Service, Inc.', 'Blue Cart Service, Inc.', and 'iMers, Inc.' 

All these emails use similar subjects, for example, "Thank you for using your free trial" or "Your free trial period is almost over!" Security researcher ExecuteMalware has put together a more broad list of email subjects utilized by this assault. At the point when a recipient calls the listed telephone number, they will be set on a short hold and afterward be welcomed by a live individual. When asked for more data or how to cancel the subscription, the call center agent asks the victim for a unique customer ID enclosed in the email.

Randy Pargman, Vice President of Threat Hunting and Counterintelligence at Binary Defense, disclosed to BleepingComputer that this unique customer ID is a core component of the assault and is utilized by the call center to decide whether the caller is a targeted victim.
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reCAPTCHA
Cyber Security Google Microsoft Phishing email reCAPTCHA

Google reCAPTCHA used by Phishing Attackers

 


Thousands of phishing emails threaten Microsoft users to obtain their Office 365 credentials during an active attack. The attackers add to the campaign an air of authenticity by the use of a bogus Google reCAPTCHA scheme and top domain landing pages which include symbols of victims' organizations. Though more than 2,500 phishing emails connected with the campaign have been blocked by the organization. Security company Zscaler's Threat Analysis Unit, ThreatLabZ, has noticed that since December 2020 phishing is increasing, with mostly senior staff working in the banking industry being targeted. 

Google reCAPTCHA is a service that effectively prevents spam and misuse on websites by using a Turing test to separate human beings and bots (by asking the user to click on a fire hydrant out of a series of images, for instance). The campaign starts with an attacker sending phishing emails to targets, which tend to come from some kind of single contact system to simplify corporate communication. There is a malicious email attachment in the email. The victims are diverted to a .xyz phishing website, which is masked by the official Google reCAPTCHA page, to trick visitors when they open the embedded HTML file. This shows that an attacker has done his research which allows him to configure his landing pages to fit his victim's profile, also making the attack more credible. Phishing emails claim to be programmed emails from the unified communication resources of victimizations which say they have a voice message link. 

Following, checking the reCAPTCHA, the victims will be sent to a false Microsoft login page. When victims submit their username and password, they are encouraged to add credibility to the campaign by falsifying a message " validation successful." The researchers added that “Users are then shown a recording of a voicemail message that they can play, allowing threat actors to avoid suspicion.” 

"These attacks can be categorized as BEC [business email compromise] although the sender, in this case, involves the use of popular unified communication systems used by the organizations," Gayathri Anbalagan, the lead researcher on the Zscaler study points out. "We are not able to attribute this campaign to a specific threat actor but looking at the operational theme and the target profiles, it is likely to be a single coordinated campaign." 

“Similar phishing campaigns utilizing fake Google reCAPTCHA have been observed for several years, but this specific campaign targeting executives across specific industry verticals started in December 2020,” noted researchers. Phishing attackers have also acquired multiple approaches to make the scams look more credible, such as Google Translate or customized font.
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