Beginning in August 2025, a sophisticated intrusion was discovered where attackers used log poisoning techniques to deploy a web shell on vulnerable phpMyAdmin panels. The threat actors exploited misconfigured web applications to plant China Chopper web shells, controlled via AntSword, before deploying Nezha, an open-source monitoring tool, to facilitate remote command execution. This led to the deployment of Ghost RAT on compromised systems. Analysis revealed over 100 compromised machines, predominantly located in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. The attackers demonstrated technical proficiency through multi-stage operations, utilizing AWS and VPS infrastructure, with indicators pointing to China-nexus threat actors. The campaign highlights increasing abuse of legitimate publicly available tools to achieve malicious objectives while maintaining plausible deniability.
A Russian APT group has been conducting targeted phishing campaigns against government entities in the Baltic and Balkan regions since at least 2023. The attackers use spoofed email attachments mimicking official documents to trick victims into submitting credentials on sophisticated fake login pages. These phishing pages feature blurred backgrounds and complex password validation, yet stolen credentials are exfiltrated regardless of password strength. The campaign specifically targets countries including Moldova, Ukraine, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Spain, and Bulgaria. The stolen credentials are sent to third-party services, enabling potential unauthorized access to sensitive government systems. This ongoing campaign poses a medium-level threat due to its targeted nature and potential for credential theft leading to further compromise. Defenders should focus on phishing awareness, email filtering, and credential monitoring to mitigate risks. The threat is particularly relevant to European government organizations in the affected regions due to geopolitical tensions and strategic importance.
