The Harvester APT group has developed a highly-evasive Linux version of its GoGra backdoor that leverages Microsoft Graph API and Outlook mailboxes as a covert command-and-control channel to bypass traditional network defenses. Initial VirusTotal submissions originated from India and Afghanistan, indicating these regions as primary targets. The attackers use social engineering with tailored decoy documents masquerading as legitimate files, including references to Indian food delivery services. The backdoor uses hardcoded Azure AD credentials to poll mailboxes every two seconds, executing commands received via email and exfiltrating results back to operators. Analysis confirms this Linux variant shares nearly identical code with a previously known Windows version, including matching spelling errors, demonstrating the group's multi-platform development strategy and continued expansion of capabilities targeting South Asia for espionage purposes.
In March 2026, trojans represented 21% of attachment-based threats, while phishing attacks using fake pages dropped from 42% to 15% month-over-month. Script-based malware increased significantly, with HTML at 14% and JavaScript at 11%. Compressed files including ZIP (14%), RAR (8%), and 7Z (5%) were common distribution methods. Document-based threats utilized PDF (13%), XLS (5%), and DOCX (2%) files. Attackers impersonated courier services like FedEx and DHL, as well as financial institutions including Hana Bank and Woori Bank. Distribution methods included HTML scripts and PDF hyperlinks leading to credential-stealing pages. Notable malware families included RemcosRAT and AgentTesla, with command-and-control infrastructure utilizing Telegram API tokens and external mail servers for data exfiltration.
A new variant of the LOTUSLITE backdoor, version 1.1, has been identified targeting India's banking sector and South Korean diplomatic circles. The backdoor is delivered via DLL sideloading using legitimate Microsoft-signed executables and initially through CHM files containing malicious JavaScript. It communicates with dynamic DNS-based command-and-control servers over HTTPS, supporting remote shell access, file operations and session management. Code-level analysis reveals direct lineage to LOTUSLITE v1.0, including identical command structures, shared persistence mechanisms, and residual exports from the original codebase. The campaign demonstrates incremental improvements including updated magic values, API resolution techniques, and delivery mechanisms evolving from CHM-based to JavaScript loaders to DLL sideloading. Infrastructure hosted under Dynu Systems shows continuity with previous operations.
Lazarus Group is conducting an active campaign targeting businesses through ClickFix attacks, distributing a newly identified macOS malware kit called "Mach-O Man". The attack begins with fake meeting invitations via Telegram, redirecting victims to fraudulent collaboration platforms impersonating Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet. Victims are tricked into executing terminal commands that install the malware. The kit consists of Go-based Mach-O binaries including a stager, profiler, persistence mechanism, and stealer. The malware collects credentials, browser data, and macOS Keychain entries, exfiltrating data through Telegram. Primary targets include fintech, crypto, and high-value environments where macOS is prevalent. The campaign leverages social engineering and native macOS binaries to evade traditional EDR detection, ultimately enabling account takeover, unauthorized infrastructure access, and financial loss.
ESET researchers have identified a new NGate malware variant targeting Android users in Brazil since November 2025. The threat actors trojanized the legitimate HandyPay NFC payment application, likely using AI-generated code, to relay NFC data from victims' payment cards to attacker-controlled devices. The malware enables unauthorized ATM withdrawals and payments while also capturing and exfiltrating payment card PINs to command-and-control servers. Distribution occurs through two channels: a fake Rio de Prêmios lottery website where victims always win a rigged prize, and a fraudulent Google Play page offering a fake card protection app. Both distribution sites are hosted on the same domain. This campaign represents an evolution in NFC-based fraud, with attackers choosing to patch existing legitimate applications rather than using established malware-as-a-service offerings.
A highly targeted destructive wiper campaign dubbed 'Lotus Wiper' was discovered targeting the energy and utilities sector in Venezuela during late 2025 and early 2026. The attack begins with batch scripts coordinating execution across networks using domain shares as trigger mechanisms. These scripts disable security services, lock out users, and prepare the environment for the final payload. The Lotus Wiper systematically destroys data by wiping physical drives with zeros, deleting restore points, clearing USN journals, and recursively deleting files. Unlike ransomware, this wiper has no financial motivation or ransom demands, designed purely for data destruction. Evidence suggests attackers maintained long-term domain access prior to the attack, with the wiper compiled months before deployment. The malware targets older Windows systems and uses legitimate system tools like diskpart, robocopy, and fsutil.
Void Dokkaebi, also known as Famous Chollima, has evolved its operations into a self-propagating supply chain threat targeting software developers. The North Korea-aligned group uses fabricated job interviews to lure developers into cloning malicious repositories. Once compromised, the victim's machine becomes an infection vector through two mechanisms: malicious VS Code task configurations that execute automatically when workspaces are opened, and active injection of obfuscated JavaScript into source code files with Git history tampering to conceal modifications. This creates a worm-like propagation chain where each compromised developer seeds new repositories with infection vectors. Analysis in March 2026 identified over 750 infected repositories, with contamination reaching organizations including DataStax and Neutralinojs. The campaign delivers payloads via blockchain infrastructure including Tron, Aptos, and Binance Smart Chain, deploying variants of DEV#POPPER RAT and other tools to steal cryptocurre...
RedSun.exe is a publicly available proof-of-concept exploit targeting a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Defender on Windows systems. It enables local privilege escalation from a standard user to SYSTEM-level access by exploiting flawed Defender remediation logic for cloud-tagged malicious files and redirecting high-privilege file operations to overwrite protected system locations such as C:\Windows\System32. This allows arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM without needing administrator privileges or kernel exploits. The exploit is reliable, actively weaponized, and potentially unpatched in some environments, posing a significant risk for persistence, lateral movement, and defense evasion. No official patch or remediation guidance is currently available. Organizations should enforce least privilege principles and deploy behavior-based detection focused on suspicious Defender-related file operations and privilege escalation attempts. Monitoring for filesystem manipulation targeting protected system directories is also recommended. Rapid patching should be applied once vendor updates are released.
StepDrainer is a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform engineered to steal digital assets from cryptocurrency wallets, including fungible tokens and high-value NFT collections. The malware supports more than 20 blockchain networks and incorporates multiple draining techniques, particularly abusing ERC-20 token permissions and NFT approval mechanisms.
The platform includes automated asset transfer capabilities, compatibility with widely used mobile wallets, and encrypted logging via Telegram channels for attacker monitoring. StepDrainer is commercially distributed within cybercriminal ecosystems, with pricing models ranging from approximately $750 for full source code access to $150 for a shared version that imposes a 20% commission on successful thefts.
A sophisticated ClickFix campaign targets both Windows and macOS users through fake CAPTCHA pages that trick victims into executing malicious commands. The macOS variant deploys an AppleScript-based infostealer that harvests sensitive data including keychain databases, credentials, and session cookies from 12 browsers, over 200 browser extensions, and 16 cryptocurrency wallets. The malware employs a persistent, non-closable dialog box mimicking legitimate system prompts to force victims into providing their system password. Stolen session cookies enable attackers to bypass multi-factor authentication by hijacking active sessions. The campaign uses client-side JavaScript to filter victims by user-agent, directing desktop users to OS-specific payloads while ignoring mobile devices. Latest macOS updates include native terminal security warnings designed to alert users against pasting potentially malicious commands.
In early 2026, phishing attacks remain a top threat vector in security operations. This analysis covers a novel attack method exploiting Microsoft's OAuth 2.0 Device Authorization Grant (Device Code Flow) to compromise user accounts. Attackers use phishing emails containing Mailchimp's Mandrill service links to bypass security controls, leading victims to fake Adobe-themed websites. The sites abuse legitimate Microsoft authentication mechanisms to obtain access and refresh tokens, granting persistent delegated access to critical resources like Graph API, Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint. The technique leverages shared client IDs across tenants and family of client IDs (FOCI) for lateral movement. Two variants exist: one using external phishing infrastructure with dynamic code generation, and another relying solely on fake meeting invitations containing pre-generated device codes. The attack is particularly effective as it uses legitimate Microsoft services, making detection challenging.
The Gentlemen ransomware-as-a-service program has rapidly expanded since mid-2025, claiming over 320 victims with 240 attacks occurring in early 2026. The service provides multi-platform lockers for Windows, Linux, NAS, BSD, and ESXi, enabling comprehensive coverage of corporate environments. During an incident response engagement, an affiliate deployed SystemBC proxy malware for covert tunneling and payload delivery. Analysis of the SystemBC command-and-control server revealed a botnet of over 1,570 victims, primarily corporate and organizational targets. The intrusion progressed from domain controller compromise through credential validation, remote execution via administrative shares, and deployment of Cobalt Strike payloads. Attackers disabled defenses, established persistence through scheduled tasks and services, and ultimately deployed ransomware via Group Policy. The operation demonstrates sophisticated lateral movement capabilities, defense evasion techniques, and integration of mature post-exploit...
IOCs related to FlowerStorm phishing‑kit–driven campaign that delivers fake Microsoft authentication pages via compromised domains fronted by Cloudflare. The activity abuses legitimate cloud and CDN services for delivery while credential harvesting occurs on attacker‑controlled infrastructure, with incidental contact to Microsoft services during normal browser behavior.that uses its own web servers to target victims' login credentials and access to their personal details and login details on its servers.
A highly sophisticated multi-stage post-exploitation framework targeting organizations in the Middle East and EMEA financial sectors exploits legitimate digitally signed Intel utilities through .NET AppDomainManager mechanism abuse. The attack leverages trusted binary proxy execution, bypassing EDR and antivirus solutions through JIT-based memory execution and sandbox evasion using computational delays and cryptographic key derivation loops. Initial access occurs via spear-phishing with Arabic-language decoys impersonating Saudi government documents. Once executed, the framework establishes command-and-control communication through Amazon CloudFront CDN domain fronting, employing reflective DLL loading, direct syscall usage, and anti-forensic memory cleanup techniques. The modular plugin-based architecture demonstrates capabilities consistent with advanced persistent threat actors, featuring sophisticated evasion mechanisms including PEB-based API resolution, custom PE export walking, and heap-walking cont...
AdaptixC2 is an emerging open-source post-exploitation framework rapidly adopted by threat actors in APT attacks and ransomware campaigns. Written in Go and C++, it supports Windows, macOS, and Linux with extensive modularity through Beacon Object Files (BOFs). The framework enables diverse command-and-control channels including HTTP/S, TCP, mTLS, DNS, DoH, and SMB with RC4 encryption throughout. It implements sophisticated evasion techniques targeting both network detection systems and endpoint defenses. Despite advanced obfuscation capabilities, network-level detection remains viable through analysis of distinctive communication patterns, header structures, and behavioral indicators. The framework supports credential harvesting via LSASS dumping, LAPS exploitation, and Kerberos attacks, alongside defense evasion through process injection and lateral movement via WinRM and PsExec. Combined NDR and EDR solutions provide effective multi-layered detection coverage against AdaptixC2 operations across network ...
In late February 2026, following escalating Middle East tensions and coordinated military actions, Iranian APT group Seedworm launched sophisticated social engineering attacks via Microsoft Teams. Attackers impersonated IT support personnel using deceptive Microsoft 365 tenant domains to convince victims to execute malicious MSI installers. The campaign deployed a custom backdoor called Dindoor, which leveraged legitimate Deno runtime to execute obfuscated payloads in-memory, minimizing detection. The operation included multiple components for persistence, command-and-control communications, and data exfiltration. Infrastructure overlapped with previously reported MuddyWater operations. The attack demonstrates the group's evolution in using collaboration platforms as initial access vectors while combining dual-use tooling with living-off-the-land techniques to bypass traditional security controls.
A sophisticated five-stage malware operation delivers two new malware families: Direct-Sys Loader and CGrabber Stealer. The attack begins with ZIP archives distributed via GitHub user attachment URLs, exploiting a legitimate Microsoft-signed binary (Launcher_x64.exe) for DLL sideloading. Direct-Sys Loader employs ChaCha20 encryption, direct syscall execution, and multiple anti-analysis checks including text file verification, enumeration of 67 analysis tool processes, and hypervisor detection. CGrabber Stealer collects extensive system metadata, browser credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, password managers, VPN configurations, and application artifacts from over 150 applications and extensions. The stealer excludes CIS region systems and uses ChaCha20 encryption with HMAC SHA256 authentication for data exfiltration via custom HTTP headers. Both families share identical cryptographic implementations, suggesting common development origin and representing operationally mature infrastructure designed for larg...
Microsoft Threat Intelligence uncovered a macOS-focused cyber campaign by North Korean threat actor Sapphire Sleet utilizing social engineering to compromise systems. The attack chain begins with a malicious AppleScript file disguised as a Zoom SDK update, which executes cascading payloads through curl-to-osascript chains. The campaign deploys multiple backdoors including com.apple.cli, services, icloudz, and com.google.chromes.updaters for persistence and command execution. Credential harvesting occurs through fake system dialogs that mimic legitimate macOS password prompts. The threat actor bypasses Transparency, Consent, and Control protections by directly manipulating the TCC database, enabling extensive data exfiltration targeting cryptocurrency wallets, browser credentials, Telegram sessions, SSH keys, and Apple Notes. Operations focus on cryptocurrency, finance, and blockchain organizations with the primary objective of stealing digital assets.
A compromised Joomla website displayed suspicious product links unrelated to the business. Investigation revealed heavily obfuscated PHP code injected at the top of index.php that contacted external command-and-control servers to receive instructions and manipulate content. The malware acts as a remote loader, assembling strings from two-character chunks to evade signature-based detection. It contacts primary C2 cdn.erpsaz.com and fallback cdn.saholerp.com, sending server fingerprint data and receiving dynamic instructions. Based on responses, it redirects visitors, injects spam content, or serves fake SEO pages to search engines. This approach allows attackers to control compromised sites remotely without modifying local files again, enabling dynamic spam injection, visitor redirection, and search engine manipulation while remaining undetected for extended periods.
A cargo theft threat actor maintained access to a decoy environment for over a month, providing extensive visibility into post-compromise operations. The attacker established redundant persistence using multiple remote access tools, including four ScreenConnect instances, Pulseway RMM, and SimpleHelp RMM. A previously unknown signing-as-a-service capability was employed to evade detection by re-signing ScreenConnect installers with fraudulent code-signing certificates. Extensive reconnaissance targeted financial platforms, payment systems, cryptocurrency wallets, and transportation-specific services including fuel card providers, fleet payment platforms, and load board operators. The activity strongly aligns with financially motivated crimes against the transportation industry, including freight diversion and cargo theft operations.
