Cybercriminals target World Cup, Indian banks’ clients face new attacks and LockBit operator arrest
Cyber threat actors exploit the popularity of Qatar 2022 World Cup, new phishing campaigns target clients of top Indian banks, and the arrest of an alleged LockBit ransomware operator. Catch all this and more in this week’s edition of Cybersecurity Weekly.
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1. Cybercriminals exploit popularity of football before World Cup
The FIFA World Cup starts this week in Qatar, and cybercriminals are exploiting its popularity to achieve their targets. Digital Shadows, a cybersecurity company, asked its external security team to track cyber threats around the Qatar World Cup over the past 90 days. The team discovered 174 malicious domains and 53 fraudulent apps impersonating Qatar World Cup’s official website and mobile properties. Researchers also cited the possibility of state-sponsored APT groups targeting the event.
2. New massive malicious campaigns target top Indian banks' customers
Trend Micro researchers have identified five different malware targeting customers of seven banks in India. Targets include clients of some of the most well-known banks in the country, including ICICI Bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), and Axis Bank, among others. All malware families have a common entry point—they rely on SMS messages that contain a phishing link urging potential victims to share their credit card and personal details to get rewards like credit card points. The smishing attacks are just the latest in a series of similar reward-themed attacks that other companies documented over the past year.
3. Russian national arrested in Canada over LockBit ransomware attacks
Canadian police have arrested a dual Russian-Canadian national over his alleged role in LockBit ransomware attacks. The 33-year-old individual, named Mikhail Vasiliev, has been described as one of the world’s most renowned ransomware operators. The U.S. Justice Department has charged him with conspiracy to internationally damage secure computers and to transmit ransomware. Europol said Vasiliev’s ransom payment demands ranged between €5 million and €70 million.
4. More malware is being hidden in PNG images, so watch out
Researchers have found evidence of a new threat group hiding information-stealing malware in PNG images. Avast and ESET confirmed seeing the group named Worok using this tactic since September 2022. Worok hackers use DLL sideloading to deploy the CLRLoader malware, which then transmits the PNGLoader DLL, capable of deciphering the obfuscated code concealed in PNG files. That code converts to DropBoxControl, an infostealer that exploits Dropbox files for data theft. Researchers said Worok seems to be using its own proprietary toolkits, as they haven’t seen anyone else using them.
5. New IceXLoader malware loader variant infected thousands of victims worldwide
An updated variant of IceXLoader malware loader is suspected of comprising thousands of corporate and personal Windows machines worldwide. IceXLoader 3.3.3adds a multi-stage delivery chain and is traditionally distributed via phishing campaigns. Essentially, emails containing ZIP archives function as a trigger to deploy the malware. The latest version of IceXLoader is designed to gather system metadata, which is exfiltrated to a remote adversary-controlled domain.
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In this Series
- Cybercriminals target World Cup, Indian banks’ clients face new attacks and LockBit operator arrest
- Canada Flipper Zero ban and new RustDoor macOS malware
- AnyDesk hack and iPhone patched kernel flaw
- Tesla Pwn2Own hacks and iOS push alerts abuse
- TeamViewer breach and Atlassian Jira outage
- Moscow ISP revenge hack and Microsoft Sharepoint bug warning
- X verified accounts hack and SpectralBlur macOS malware
- CISA default password alert and SOHO KV-botnet campaign
- New 5G modem flaws and Apple’s data breach report
- Staples cyberattack, Agent Racoon backdoor and other news
- British Library ransomware attack, Windows fingerprint authentication bypass
- Samsung UK data breach and ransomware actor’s SEC complaint
- ICBC ransomware attack and ChatGPT outage
- Boeing Lockbit ransomware attack, Apple’s vulnerability and WhatsApp mods spyware
- Octo Tempest hacking group and new iLeakage attack
- Okta support system breach and Google Ads fake KeePass campaign
- Skype DarkGate malware, Shadow PC breach and AvosLocker ransomware warning
- 23andMe data theft, MGM’s $100M ransomware loss and the Azure VM breach
- Malicious Bing Chat ads and FBI’s dual ransomware warning
- T-Mobile app glitch and fake Booking.com pages
- Airbus data leak, Cisco Webex ad malware and €345 million TikTok fine
- New Apple iMessage exploit and CISA’s Apache RocketMQ warning
- Forever 21 data breach and Android BadBazaar espionage
- Duolingo data leak and the Met Police IT hack
- Discord.io data breach and Ivanti Avalanche vulnerabilities
- UK Electoral Commission hack and Microsoft’s role in China email breach
- Salesforce email zero-day exploit and Microsoft Power Platform criticism
- Airlines disclose pilot data breach and the Microsoft Teams bug
- GravityRAT Android Trojan and new MOVEit Transfer flaw
- University of Manchester hack and Honda API flaws
- MOVEit zero-day exploit and the U.S. iPhone hack accusation
- Daam Android virus and Barracuda zero-day flaw
- TP-Link router exploit and 18-year-old charged with hacking DraftKings accounts
- Discord support hack and Toyota location data leak
- Twitter private tweets bug and Cisco phone router vulnerabilities
- Cisco XSS zero-day flaw and PaperCut vulnerabilities
- 3CX hackers hit critical infrastructure and secondhand routers cause security concerns
- Hyundai data breach and Microsoft’s warning to accountants
- Western Digital cloud breach and the MSI ransomware hack
- TMX loan data breach, Italy bans ChatGPT and WordPress Elementor Pro exploit
- ChatGPT data leak and Gmail message theft by North Korean hackers
- U.S. federal agency hack and the return of FakeCalls Android malware
- Massive AT&T data breach and fake jobs targeting security researchers
- U.S. Marshals service breach and TPM 2.0 security flaws
- Dangerous ChatGPT apps and food giant Dole ransomware attack
- GoDaddy malware installations, record-breaking DDoS attack and the new WhiskerSpy malware
- Reddit’s employees phished, healthcare firms targeted and the new Screenshotter malware
- JD Sports data breached, VMware ESXi servers attacked and the HeadCrab malware
- Yandex source code leaked, 4500+ WordPress sites hacked and the new SwiftSlicer malware
- PayPal accounts breached, Fortinet VPN flaw exploited, and the new Hook malware
- Twitter users’ emails leaked, ChatGPT used to write malware and Slack’s repository breach
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