Security News > 2022 > February > Hackers Planted Fake Digital Evidence on Devices of Indian Activists and Lawyers

A previously unknown hacking group has been linked to targeted attacks against human rights activists, human rights defenders, academics, and lawyers across India in an attempt to plant "Incriminating digital evidence."

Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne attributed the intrusions to a group it tracks as "ModifiedElephant," an elusive threat actor that's been operational since at least 2012, whose activity aligns sharply with Indian state interests.

Notable targets include individuals associated with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence in the Indian state of Maharashtra, SentinelOne researchers Tom Hegel and Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade said in a report.

"The phishing emails take many approaches to gain the appearance of legitimacy," the researchers said.

"This includes fake body content with a forwarding history containing long lists of recipients, original email recipient lists with many seemingly fake accounts, or simply resending their malware multiple times using new emails or lure documents."

Also distributed using phishing emails is an unidentified commodity trojan targeting Android that enables the attackers to intercept and manage SMS and call data, wipe or unlock the device, perform network requests, and remotely administer the infected devices.

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