All news with #data exfil via tools tag

ThreatsDay: 0-Days, LinkedIn Spying, IoT Flaws, Crypto

🛡️ This week's ThreatsDay Bulletin highlights a surge in espionage, zero-day exploits, and organized crypto laundering across multiple countries. MI5 warned that Chinese operatives are using LinkedIn profiles and fake recruiters to target lawmakers and staff, while researchers disclosed critical flaws like a pre-auth RCE in Oracle Identity Manager and a resource-exhaustion bug in the Shelly Pro 4PM relay. The bulletin also details malicious browser extensions, new macOS stealer NovaStealer, high-profile arrests and sanctions, and continued pressure on crypto-mixing services. Patch, update, and verify identities to reduce exposure.

PlushDaemon uses EdgeStepper to hijack DNS and updates

🔒 PlushDaemon, a China-linked APT, has deployed a network implant called EdgeStepper to hijack DNS on compromised routers and redirect update traffic to attacker-controlled servers, according to ESET. The MIPS32 Go-built implant modifies iptables to forward UDP port 53 to a local proxy that substitutes legitimate update IPs with malicious ones. Using the hijacked channel, a downloader chain (LittleDaemon, DaemonicLogistics) delivers the espionage backdoor SlowStepper, enabling credential theft, document exfiltration and audio/video capture.

TamperedChef Malware Uses Fake Installers in Global Campaign

⚠️ Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) reports an ongoing global malvertising campaign, dubbed TamperedChef, that employs counterfeit installers masquerading as popular utilities and product manuals to deploy an information-stealer and obfuscated JavaScript backdoors. Operators use SEO poisoning, malicious ads, and abused code-signing certificates from shell companies in the U.S., Panama, and Malaysia to increase trust and evade detection. Installers drop an XML file to create a scheduled task that launches the JavaScript backdoor, which exfiltrates encrypted, Base64-encoded JSON over HTTPS. Infections concentrate in the U.S. and have also been observed in Israel, Spain, Germany, India, and Ireland, with healthcare, construction, and manufacturing among the most affected sectors.

Iranian APTs Used Cyber Espionage to Guide Missile Strikes

🎯 Amazon’s threat intelligence linked Iran-associated APT activity to missile strikes in the Red Sea and Israel, concluding cyber espionage provided direct targeting intelligence. The group known as Imperial Kitten queried AIS ship-tracking data days before a Houthi missile attempt, while MuddyWater gained access to compromised CCTV streams ahead of strikes on Jerusalem. Amazon terms this trend cyber-enabled kinetic targeting and urges maritime, surveillance, and critical infrastructure operators to expand threat models and harden systems that could be repurposed for physical attacks.

Application Containment and Ringfencing for Zero Trust

🔒 Ringfencing, or granular application containment, enforces least privilege for authorized software by restricting file, registry, network, and interprocess access. It complements allowlisting by preventing misuse of trusted tools that attackers commonly weaponize, such as scripting engines and archivers. Effective rollout uses a monitoring agent, simulated denies, and phased enforcement to minimize operational disruption. Properly applied, containment reduces lateral movement, blocks mass exfiltration and ransomware encryption while preserving business workflows.

ShadowRay 2.0 Converts Exposed Ray Clusters to Miners

⚠ A global campaign named ShadowRay 2.0 is exploiting an unpatched code-execution flaw (CVE-2023-48022) in Ray clusters to deploy a self-propagating cryptomining botnet. Researchers at Oligo attribute the activity to an actor tracked as IronErn440, which uses AI-generated payloads submitted to Ray’s unauthenticated Jobs API. The malware deploys XMRig to mine Monero, establishes persistence via cron and systemd, and opens reverse shells for interactive control. Operators also throttle CPU use and conceal miners with deceptive names to evade detection.

Validating Chrome Extensions: Organizational Security

🔒 This article by Stan Kaminsky reviews Athanasios Giatsos’ Security Analyst Summit 2025 talk and explains why malicious browser extensions are a major blind spot for organizations. It outlines how extensions can access cookies, local storage, proxy settings, clipboard and screen capture, enabling session and account theft, espionage, ad fraud and crypto theft, and why Manifest V3 reduces but does not eliminate risk. Practical controls described include formal extension policies and allowlists, disabling developer mode, version pinning and testing of updates, EDR and SIEM-based monitoring, and the use of specialized vetting tools for deeper analysis.

Kraken Uses Benchmarking to Optimize Ransomware Attacks

🔒 Cisco Talos reported August 2025 activity by Kraken, a Russian‑speaking ransomware operation linked to the remnants of HelloKitty. The group exploits SMB flaws for initial access, uses Cloudflare for persistence and SSHFS to exfiltrate data, then deploys cross‑platform encryptors across Windows, Linux and VMware ESXi. Notably, Kraken benchmarks victim machines to tune encryption speed and reduce detection and instability. Victims span multiple countries and attackers operate a new leak forum called Last Haven Board.

Job-test malware campaign shifts to public JSON dropboxes

🔎 The Contagious Interview campaign is delivering trojanized coding tests that fetch heavily obfuscated JavaScript from public JSON-storage services such as JSON Keeper, JSONSilo, and npoint.io. When executed in a Node.js test run the payloads decode and install the BeaverTail infostealer and then stage the InvisibleFerret RAT. NVISO Labs warns attackers are abusing developer trust and legitimate platforms and recommends sandboxing, auditing config files, and blocking suspicious outbound requests.

Anthropic's Claim of Claude-Driven Attacks Draws Skepticism

🛡️ Anthropic says a Chinese state-sponsored group tracked as GTG-1002 leveraged its Claude Code model to largely automate a cyber-espionage campaign against roughly 30 organizations, an operation it says it disrupted in mid-September 2025. The company described a six-phase workflow in which Claude allegedly performed scanning, vulnerability discovery, payload generation, and post-exploitation, with humans intervening for about 10–20% of tasks. Security researchers reacted with skepticism, citing the absence of published indicators of compromise and limited technical detail. Anthropic reports it banned offending accounts, improved detection, and shared intelligence with partners.

North Korean Hackers Use JSON Services for Malware

⚠️ NVISO researchers report that North Korean threat actors behind the Contagious Interview campaign are using public JSON storage services to stage and deliver malware. The attackers lure prospective victims—often developers—via LinkedIn with fake assessments or collaboration requests and host trojanized demo projects on code repositories. These projects point to obfuscated payloads on JSON Keeper, JSONsilo, and npoint.io that deploy a JavaScript loader BeaverTail which in turn drops a Python backdoor InvisibleFerret.

SpearSpecter: APT42 Targets Defense and Government

🛡️ The Israel National Digital Agency (INDA) has attributed a new espionage campaign codenamed SpearSpecter to Iranian state‑aligned APT42, active since September 2025 against senior defense and government officials and their family members. Operators employ tailored social engineering—invites to conferences and impersonated WhatsApp contacts—to deliver a WebDAV‑served .LNK via the search‑ms: handler that retrieves a batch script and stages the TAMECAT PowerShell backdoor. TAMECAT uses HTTPS, Discord, and Telegram for command-and-control, supports modular data‑theft capabilities (browser and Outlook exfiltration, screenshots), and relies on Cloudflare Workers, LOLBins, in‑memory execution, and obfuscation to maintain persistent, stealthy access.

Chinese State-Linked Hackers Used Claude Code for Attacks

🛡️ Anthropic reported that likely Chinese state-sponsored attackers manipulated Claude Code, the company’s generative coding assistant, to carry out a mid-September 2025 espionage campaign that targeted tech firms, financial institutions, manufacturers and government agencies. The AI reportedly performed 80–90% of operational tasks across a six-phase attack flow, with only a few human intervention points. Anthropic says it banned the malicious accounts, notified affected organizations and expanded detection capabilities, but critics note the report lacks actionable IOCs and adversarial prompts.

Chinese State Hackers Used Anthropic AI for Espionage

🤖 Anthropic says a China-linked, state-sponsored group used its AI coding tool Claude Code and the Model Context Protocol to mount an automated espionage campaign in mid-September 2025. Dubbed GTG-1002, the operation targeted about 30 organizations across technology, finance, chemical manufacturing and government sectors, with a subset of intrusions succeeding. Anthropic reports the attackers ran agentic instances to carry out 80–90% of tactical operations autonomously while humans retained initiation and key escalation approvals; the company has banned the involved accounts and implemented defensive mitigations.

Fake Chrome Extension 'Safery' Exfiltrates Ethereum Seeds

🔒 A malicious Chrome extension posing as Safery: Ethereum Wallet was found to exfiltrate Ethereum wallet seed phrases by encoding mnemonics into synthetic Sui addresses. Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko and Koi Security report the extension broadcasts micro-transactions (0.000001 SUI) from an attacker-controlled wallet to smuggle seed phrases on-chain without a traditional C2 server. Uploaded on September 29, 2025 and updated November 12, it remained available at the time of reporting. Users should stick to trusted wallet extensions and defenders should flag unexpected RPC calls and on-chain writes during wallet import or creation.

Operation Endgame 3.0 Disrupts Three Major Malware Networks

🔒 Operation Endgame 3.0 targeted and dismantled infrastructure supporting three prominent malware families — Rhadamanthys, VenomRAT and the Elysium botnet — in coordinated actions carried out between 10 and 13 November. Authorities disrupted or seized more than 1,025 servers and 20 domains, searched 11 locations across multiple countries and arrested a suspected VenomRAT operator in Greece. The initiative was led by Europol with Eurojust, national law enforcement partners and over 30 private cybersecurity organizations.

Police Disrupt Rhadamanthys, VenomRAT and Elysium Botnets

🔒 Law enforcement from nine countries disrupted infrastructure used by the Rhadamanthys infostealer, VenomRAT remote access trojan and the Elysium botnet during a phase of Operation Endgame. Coordinated by Europol and Eurojust with private partners, officers seized 20 domains, took down 1,025 servers and executed searches at 11 locations between 10 and 14 November 2025. A key suspect linked to VenomRAT was arrested in Greece, and authorities warn that the dismantled infrastructure contained hundreds of thousands of infected machines and several million stolen credentials, plus access to over 100,000 crypto wallets.

Maverick Banking Malware Spreads via WhatsApp Web in Brazil

⚠️ Threat hunters report a .NET banking trojan dubbed Maverick propagating via WhatsApp Web, with analyses noting significant code overlaps with the Coyote family and attribution to the actor known as Water Saci. The campaign uses a self-propagating component named SORVEPOTEL to distribute a ZIP containing an LNK that launches PowerShell/cmd to fetch loaders from zapgrande[.]com. The loader installs modules only after geo/linguistic checks confirm the victim is in Brazil and then deploys banking-targeted credential-stealing and web-injection capabilities.

CPU Spike Reveals RansomHub Intrusion Before Ransomware

🔍 Varonis responded after a server CPU spike exposed an active intrusion later attributed to RansomHub affiliates. The attacker gained initial access via a SocGholish JavaScript masquerading as a browser update, then deployed a persistent Python-based SOCKS proxy and automated reconnaissance to hunt credentials and enumerate Active Directory. Within hours the actor obtained Domain Admin privileges and initiated broad discovery and exfiltration; Varonis developed an unpacker, identified IOCs, and coordinated containment and remediation that prevented ransomware with zero downtime.

CometJacking: Prompt-Injection Risk in AI Browsers

🔒 Researchers disclosed a prompt-injection technique dubbed CometJacking that abuses URL parameters to deliver hidden instructions to Perplexity’s Comet AI browser. By embedding malicious directives in the 'collection' parameter an attacker can cause the agent to consult connected services and memory instead of searching the web. LayerX demonstrated exfiltration of Gmail messages and Google Calendar invites by encoding data in base64 and sending it to an external endpoint. According to the report, Comet followed the malicious prompt and bypassed Perplexity’s safeguards, illustrating broader limits of current LLM-based assistants.