Security News > 2024 > January > Google: Russian FSB hackers deploy new Spica backdoor malware
Google says the ColdRiver Russian-backed hacking group is pushing previously unknown backdoor malware using payloads masquerading as a PDF decryption tool.
"COLDRIVER presents these documents as a new op-ed or other type of article that the impersonation account is looking to publish, asking for feedback from the target. When the user opens the benign PDF, the text appears encrypted," Google TAG said.
Even though this fake decryption software will display a decoy PDF document, it will backdoor the victims' devices using a malware strain dubbed Spica by security researchers with Google's Threat Analysis Group, who spotted the attacks.
The Spica Rust-based malware uses JSON over websockets to communicate with its command-and-control server, and it helps to run arbitrary shell commands, steal Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge cookies, upload and download files, and exfiltrate documents.
"TAG has observed SPICA being used as early as September 2023, but believe that COLDRIVER's use of the backdoor goes back to at least November 2022," Google TAG said.
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