Security News

An Iranian state-sponsored actor has been observed scanning and attempting to abuse the Log4Shell flaw in publicly-exposed Java applications to deploy a hitherto undocumented PowerShell-based modular backdoor dubbed "CharmPower" for follow-on post-exploitation. Log4Shell aka CVE-2021-44228 concerns a critical security vulnerability in the popular Log4j logging library that, if successfully exploited, could lead to remote execution of arbitrary code on compromised systems.

The OceanLotus group of state-sponsored hackers are now using the web archive file format to deploy backdoors to compromised systems. A report from Netskope Threat Labs shared with Bleeping Computer in advance notes that OceanLotus' campaign using web archive files is still active, although the targeting scope is narrow and despite the command and control server being disrupted.

A novel multi-platform backdoor dubbed SysJoker has been successfully evading security solutions since mid-2021. "In the Linux and macOS versions, it masquerades as a system update. In the Windows version, it masquerades as Intel drivers. The update names are somewhat generic: In the macOS version, the file is relocated and named 'updateMacOs' and in the Linux version it is named 'updateSystem'," Avigayil Mechtinger, security researcher at Intezer, has shared with Help Net Security.

Hackers believed to be part of the Iranian APT35 state-backed group has been observed leveraging Log4Shell attacks to drop a new PowerShell backdoor. As part of their research, the analysts also spotted something new in the form of a PowerShell modular backdoor named 'CharmPower.

A new multi-platform backdoor malware named 'SysJoker' has emerged in the wild, targeting Windows, Linux, and macOS with the ability to evade detection on all three operating systems. The discovery of the new malware comes from researchers at Intezer who first saw signs of its activity in December 2021 after investigating an attack on a Linux-based web server.

A new multi-platform backdoor malware named 'SysJocker' has emerged in the wild, targeting Windows, Linux, and macOS with the ability to evade detection on all three operating systems. The discovery of the new malware comes from researchers at Intezer who first saw signs of its activity in December 2021 after investigating an attack on a Linux-based web server.

Dubbed SysJoker by Intezer, the backdoor is used for establishing initial access on a target machine. A possible attack vector for SysJoker is an infected npm package, according to Intezer's analysis - an increasingly popular vector for dropping malware on targets.

Multiple backdoors have been discovered during a penetration test in the firmware of a widely used voice over Internet Protocol appliance from Auerswald, a German telecommunications hardware manufacturer, that could be abused to gain full administrative access to the devices. "Two backdoor passwords were found in the firmware of the COMpact 5500R PBX," researchers from RedTeam Pentesting said in a technical analysis published Monday.

A U.S. federal government commission associated with international rights has been targeted by a backdoor that reportedly compromised its internal network in what the researchers described as a "Classic APT-type operation." "This attack could have given total visibility of the network and complete control of a system and thus could be used as the first step in a multi-stage attack to penetrate this, or other networks more deeply," Czech security company Avast said in a report published last week.

According to Jens Zimmermann, the German coalition negotiations had made it "Quite clear" that the incoming government of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the business-friendly liberal FDP would reject "The weakening of encryption, which is being attempted under the guise of the fight against child abuse" by the coalition partners. Which are already enshrined in the interim solution of the ePrivacy Regulation, for example, "Diametrically contradict the character of the coalition agreement" because secure end-to-end encryption is guaranteed there, Zimmermann said.