Security News

Mitiga researchers have documented a new post-exploitation technique attackers can use to gain persistent remote access to AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances (virtual servers), as well as...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new post-exploitation technique in Amazon Web Services that allows the AWS Systems Manager Agent to be run as a remote access trojan on Windows and Linux environments. "The SSM agent, a legitimate tool used by admins to manage their instances, can be re-purposed by an attacker who has achieved high privilege access on an endpoint with SSM agent installed, to carry out malicious activities on an ongoing basis," Mitiga researchers Ariel Szarf and Or Aspir said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Various European customers of different banks are being targeted by an Android banking trojan called SpyNote as part of an aggressive campaign detected in June and July 2023. What makes the malware strain notable is its dual functions as spyware and perform bank fraud.

Organizations in Italy are the target of a new phishing campaign that leverages a new strain of malware called WikiLoader with an ultimate aim to install a banking trojan, stealer, and spyware...

Threat actors are creating fake websites hosting trojanized software installers to trick unsuspecting users into downloading a downloader malware called Fruity with the goal of installing remote trojans tools like Remcos RAT. "Among the software in question are various instruments for fine-tuning CPUs, graphic cards, and BIOS; PC hardware-monitoring tools; and some other apps," cybersecurity vendor Doctor Web said in an analysis. "Such installers are used as a decoy and contain not only the software potential victims are interested in, but also the trojan itself with all its components."

A legitimate Windows search feature is being exploited by malicious actors to download arbitrary payloads from remote servers and compromise targeted systems with remote access trojans such as AsyncRAT and Remcos RAT. The novel attack technique, per Trellix, takes advantage of the "Search-ms:" URI protocol handler, which offers the ability for applications and HTML links to launch custom local searches on a device, and the "Search:" application protocol, a mechanism for calling the desktop search application on Windows. It's worth noting that clicking on the link also generates a warning "Open Windows Explorer?," approving which "The search results of remotely hosted malicious shortcut files are displayed in Windows Explorer disguised as PDFs or other trusted icons, just like local search results," the researchers explained.

Businesses operating in the Latin American region are the target of a new Windows-based banking trojan called TOITOIN since May 2023. "This sophisticated campaign employs a trojan that follows a multi-staged infection chain, utilizing specially crafted modules throughout each stage," Zscaler researchers Niraj Shivtarkar and Preet Kamal said in a report published last week.

A new Android malware campaign has been observed pushing the Anatsa banking trojan to target banking customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since the start of March 2023. "The actors behind Anatsa aim to steal credentials used to authorize customers in mobile banking applications and perform Device-Takeover Fraud to initiate fraudulent transactions," ThreatFabric said in an analysis published Monday.

ThreatFabric discovered a previous Anatsa campaign on Google Play in November 2021, when the trojan was installed over 300,000 times by impersonating PDF scanners, QR code scanners, Adobe Illustrator apps, and fitness tracker apps. In March 2023, after a six-month hiatus in malware distribution, the threat actors launched a new malvertizing campaign that leads prospective victims to download Anatsa dropper apps from Google Play.

A new phishing campaign codenamed MULTI#STORM has set its sights on India and the U.S. by leveraging JavaScript files to deliver remote access trojans on compromised systems. The multi-stage attack chain commences when an email recipient clicks the embedded link pointing to a password-protected ZIP file hosted on Microsoft OneDrive with the password "12345."