Threats Affecting Hong Kong

BambooToken is an emerging multiplatform malware family active since at least February 2023, utilizing the Message Queueing and Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol for covert command and control operations. The campaign targets Windows and Linux systems across Asia and South America, with infections observed on backend servers for mobile applications, legal and financial services, software companies, hotels, and GitLab instances. The malware leverages sideloading techniques through Tendyron's OnKey authentication software, commonly used in Chinese banking and government networks. Analysis reveals extensive host enumeration capabilities, plugins for antivirus detection, and potential keylogging and clipboard theft functions. Infrastructure analysis shows C2 domains ranking in Cloudflare's top 500,000, indicating widespread infections. The actor demonstrates sophisticated operational security, using MQTT's publish-subscribe architecture to hide infrastructure and employing Cloudflare proxies for additional o...

MediumMalwareArgentinaCambodiaChile+6#supply chain#mqtt#iocontrol

A threat actor exploited CVE-2026-15409, a critical unauthenticated server-side request forgery vulnerability in SonicWall SMA1000 appliances, to gain command execution and steal credentials. The attacker used a modified public proof-of-concept exploit to access internal Erlang services on the appliance, enabling remote code execution. This allowed extraction of LDAP configurations, Active Directory credentials, and deployment of tools to dump secrets from internal Windows systems. The campaign targeted at least 250 SonicWall SMA1000 devices across multiple countries and sectors, with confirmed credential theft in France, India, Italy, and the US. The attack leveraged compromised appliances as pivots into internal networks, exposing sensitive Active Directory data and enabling DCSync attacks against domain controllers. The targeting was opportunistic and technology-driven rather than sector-specific. The campaign was uncovered through an open directory left exposed by the attacker, providing a comprehensive view of the operation.

MediumCampaignFranceIndiaItaly+9#threatintelligence+threatintel+websecurityresearch#reddit#campaign

Three distinct implants—SPEAKINGSTONE, DARKLANTERN, and ENDLESSDOORS—have been discovered embedded in ZBT router firmware distributed through a global supply chain reaching the United States, Canada, Australia, Philippines, Germany, and Russia. DARKLANTERN is an unauthenticated UDP backdoor listening on port 9992, offering root shell access from the internet with trivial MAC address bypass. SPEAKINGSTONE is a phone-home surveillance implant that beacons to ZBT's cloud infrastructure, capable of DNS hijacking, ISP credential theft, and remote command execution. A sinkholed backup domain revealed 392 devices, 390 located in China, primarily on China Mobile's network. Internet scans identified 203 DARKLANTERN instances across 22 countries. These implants use plaintext protocols without authentication, making them hijackable by any network adversary. The affected hardware appears in white-labeled consumer products sold through mainstream retailers, representing embedded surveillance capabilities in commerciall...

MediumMalwareUnited StatesAustraliaCanada+8#firmware implants#phone-home implant#darklantern

Researchers identified an exposed web directory on infrastructure supporting a cryptocurrency fraud operation tracked as Operation ASTERIX. The server contained phone-number datasets, account-validation tools, phishing panels, voice-dialing scripts, and fake wallet applications for Ledger, Trezor, and Exodus. The operator validated approximately 885,000 phone numbers against cryptocurrency exchange accounts, achieving a 13.6% hit rate on German numbers. Victims received coordinated phishing emails and vishing calls referencing fake support cases before being directed to counterfeit wallet applications designed to steal recovery phrases via Telegram exfiltration. Notable findings include extensive use of AI coding assistants throughout development, including GitHub Copilot and Claude Code. When one AI model resisted malicious requests, the operator switched providers and attempted to bypass safety controls using a structured jailbreak prompt targeting the model's reasoning patterns and safety mechanisms.

MediumPhishingUnited StatesBulgariaCanada+3#vishing#electron-malware#account-enumeration

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.

MediumMalwareUnited StatesAngolaArgentina+46#phpmyadmin#gh0st rat#china-nexus

Cybercriminals orchestrated a sophisticated malvertising operation leveraging Google Ads to impersonate popular AI developer tools including Claude AI, ChatGPT Codex, Perplexity, Cursor IDE, and JetBrains. Over seven weeks spanning April to June 2026, attackers deployed 106 unique malicious hostnames across six distinct waves, initially hosting ClickFix social engineering pages on GitLab infrastructure before pivoting to weaponize claude.ai's legitimate shared chat feature. The campaign targeted technically proficient users searching for AI development tools, tricking them into executing terminal commands that deployed the MacSync infostealer. This credential-harvesting malware collected browser data, SSH keys, and cryptocurrency wallets. The Asia-Pacific region sustained the heaviest impact with 67.2% of over 2,000 victims, particularly concentrated in Taiwan. Anthropic responded by banning malicious accounts and implementing additional abuse mitigations.

MediumMalwareBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryFranceHong Kong+6#gitlab pages abuse#macsync#ai impersonation

Since late 2025, cybercriminals have been exploiting Wallpaper Engine, a popular live wallpaper application on Steam, to distribute malware through Steam Workshop. Attackers target primarily Chinese and Russian gamers by embedding malicious code within application wallpapers shared on the platform. These compromised wallpapers deliver various malware types including infostealers, backdoors, crypto miners, and ransomware. One analyzed sample dropped DarkKomet backdoor while hijacking Steam sessions to steal account credentials. The malware modifies system libraries to locate Steam installations and exfiltrate data to attacker-controlled servers. Compromised accounts are then used to upload additional malicious wallpapers. The diverse malware families suggest multiple independent hacking groups are exploiting this distribution method. Infected wallpapers received thousands of downloads before removal, with 89% of infections occurring in China.

MediumMalwareBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryCanadaChina+5#account hijacking#vidar#wallpaper engine

An issue was discovered in DedeCMS 5.7.118 allowing attackers to execute code via crafted setup tag values in a module upload.

CriticalVulnerabilityChinaTaiwanHong Kong+7#cve#cve-2026-30643

The government agency confirmed the vulnerability could have been exploited to obtain company details and alter records. The post UK Companies House Exposed Details of Millions of Firms appeared first on SecurityWeek .

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A sophisticated campaign by the Silver Fox APT group has been discovered using a fake version of the popular Chinese antivirus Huorong Security to distribute ValleyRAT, a Remote Access Trojan. The attackers created a convincing lookalike website with a typosquatted domain to trick users into downloading a malicious installer. The malware uses DLL sideloading techniques to deploy a full-featured backdoor with advanced stealth capabilities. It establishes persistence through scheduled tasks, disables Windows Defender, and employs various evasion tactics. Once installed, ValleyRAT provides attackers with extensive control over the victim's system, including keylogging, process injection, and credential theft. The campaign primarily targets Chinese-language systems but may be spreading to other threat actors due to the public leak of the ValleyRAT builder.

MediumCampaignChinaTaiwanHong Kong+5#dll sideloading#huorong security#typosquatting