The December 2025 security issues campaign focuses on cyber threats affecting the financial sector worldwide, with detailed incidents in Korea, Indonesia, and Africa. The report identifies multiple attack vectors including malware infections, phishing attacks, and ransomware campaigns. A notable incident is the database leak from Indonesia's largest bank, exposing sensitive financial data of approximately 3 million customers, which poses a high risk of identity theft and fraud. Concurrently, the INC Ransom group executed a ransomware attack on a major African financial services company, exfiltrating 100GB of data before encrypting systems, demonstrating advanced extortion tactics. The campaign leverages MITRE ATT&CK techniques such as T1082 (System Information Discovery), T1005 (Data from Local System), T1083 (File and Directory Discovery), T1041 (Exfiltration Over C2 Channel), T1048 (Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol), T1566 (Phishing), T1078 (Valid Accounts), and T1486 (Data Encrypted for Impact). The threat actors exploit phishing to gain initial access, use stolen credentials to move laterally, and exfiltrate data before deploying ransomware. Indicators of compromise include multiple malware hashes and suspicious domains. Although the campaign primarily targets Asian and African financial institutions, the interconnected nature of global finance means European organizations could be indirectly affected through supply chain or partner networks. The report emphasizes the potential for chain attacks and cascading impacts, urging financial institutions to adopt proactive defense measures. No CVSS score is assigned, but the medium severity reflects the significant data exposure and ransomware impact balanced against the absence of direct European targeting and no known exploits in the wild.

For European organizations, the impact of this threat is primarily indirect but significant. The exposure of sensitive financial data in large-scale breaches increases the risk of fraud, identity theft, and reputational damage if European customers or partners are affected. The ransomware attack by INC Ransom group illustrates the potential for operational disruption and financial loss through extortion, which could spread via interconnected financial networks or third-party providers. European financial institutions may also face increased phishing attempts leveraging leaked credentials or malware strains identified in this campaign. The threat of chain attacks means that a breach in one region could cascade to others, including Europe, especially given the globalized nature of financial services and shared infrastructure. Regulatory compliance risks are heightened due to data breaches involving personal financial information, potentially triggering GDPR penalties. Overall, the campaign underscores the need for heightened vigilance and robust cybersecurity postures within European financial entities to mitigate cascading risks and protect customer data integrity and availability.

European financial organizations should implement targeted mitigations beyond generic advice: 1) Enhance phishing detection and user awareness training focused on the specific phishing tactics and malware strains identified in this campaign. 2) Deploy advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying behaviors associated with the MITRE ATT&CK techniques used, such as system discovery and data exfiltration. 3) Conduct thorough audits of third-party and supply chain partners, especially those with ties to Asian and African financial sectors, to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities. 4) Implement strict access controls and multi-factor authentication to prevent credential abuse and lateral movement. 5) Regularly back up critical data with offline or immutable storage to mitigate ransomware impact. 6) Monitor dark web and deep web sources for leaked credentials or data related to European entities to enable proactive incident response. 7) Establish incident response plans that include scenarios for chain attacks and ransomware extortion. 8) Collaborate with national cybersecurity agencies and financial sector information sharing organizations to stay updated on emerging threats and indicators. 9) Apply network segmentation to limit the spread of infections and exfiltration paths. 10) Utilize threat intelligence feeds containing the provided malware hashes and domains to enhance detection capabilities.