Security News > 2023 > April > Chinese hackers use new Linux malware variants for espionage
Hackers are deploying new Linux malware variants in cyberespionage attacks, such as a new PingPull variant and a previously undocumented backdoor tracked as 'Sword2033.
PingPull is a RAT first documented by Unit 42 last summer in espionage attacks conducted by the Chinese state-sponsored group Gallium, also known as Alloy Taurus.
Unit 42 continued to monitor these espionage campaigns and today reports that the Chinese threat actor uses new malware variants against targets in South Africa and Nepal.
The Linux variant of PingPull is an ELF file that only 3 out of 62 anti-virus vendors currently flag as malicious.
Unit 42 comments that the command handlers used in PingPull match those observed in another malware named 'China Chopper,' a web shell seen heavily used in attacks against Microsoft Exchange servers.
In conclusion, Gallium continues to refine its arsenal and broadens its target range using the new Linux variants of PingPull and the newly discovered Sword2023 backdoor.
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