Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Researchers Identified Two Undocumented Variants Used Since 2023Eset uncovered two previously undocumented Windows variants of the China-linked SprySocks backdoor tied to FishMonger and iSoon, revealing expanded espionage capabilities, rootkit-based stealth and continued targeting of government organizations across Asia and Central America.

Researchers Say Nation-State Actors Are Evolving Persistence TechniquesAn apparent Chinese nation-state hacking group gussied up its tooling with new modular functionality, say security researchers who observed a cyberespionage campaign affecting Asia-Pacific governments. The activity resembles attack patterns of the threat actor tracked as Mustang Panda

Website Popular in Korean Ethnic Enclave in China Hosts Apps Laced With a BackdoorA North Korean hacking group has been spying on a Korean ethnic enclave in China by infiltrating the Android apps of a regional gaming platform that hosts digital card and board games. Researchers attributed the supply-chain attack to a threat actor that Eset tracks as ScarCruft.

Google Unmasks, Disrupts Group Using Sheets for Command-and-Control PurposesLikely Chinese nation-state hackers used online spreadsheets as infrastructure for hacking campaigns that affected at least 53 telecom operators across 42 countries, Google disclosed Wednesday. Incident responders discovered a backdoor being remotely controlled through Google Sheets.

Hacking Group UNC6148 Steals Credentials With New OVERSTEP Rootkit, Google SaysA cybercrime group used a backdoor in a fully patched SonicWall appliance to steal credentials and may have sold the stolen data to ransomware groups as part of an ongoing campaign, Google Threat Intelligence Group found. The firm attributed the campaign to a cybercrime group it tracks as UNC6148.

Persistent Attack Grants Remote SSH Access via ExploitSomeone - possibly nation-state hackers - appears to be constructing a botnet from thousands of Asus routers in hacking that survives a firmware patch and reboots. Nearly 9,000 routers have been compromised and the number is growing, say researchers.

MirrorFace Expands Operations, Revives Anel Backdoor for EspionageA threat actor associated with Chinese cyberespionage campaigns against Japan stepped outside its East Asian comfort zone to target a European organization with a refreshed set of hacking tools. A hacking group tracked as MirrorFace and Earth Kasha deployed a backdoor once exclusively used by APT10.

Juniper Networks Urges Immediate Updating and Malware Scans to Block AttackersHackers have been infecting outdated Juniper MX routers with backdoor malware as part of an apparent cyberespionage campaign that traces to a Chinese-affiliated hacking team tracked as UNC 3886, warned Google's Mandiant incident response group.

Hackers Targeted a PAN-OS Flaw Days After Its DisclosureA suspected Chinese hacking campaign that began in November is exploiting a vulnerability in Palo Alto firewalls to install a custom malware backdoor for espionage. UNC5325 activity aligns with the Chinese hacking strategy of targeting edge devices.

Secret Blizzard Used Third-party Amadey Bots to Hack Ukrainian Military DevicesA Russian state-backed hacker group used third-party data-stealing bots and possibly a backdoor used by another Russia-based threat group to infiltrate and spy on devices used by frontline Ukrainian military units, according to a report from the Microsoft threat intelligence team.

Kapeka Shows Similarities to Russian GRU Hacking Group's GreyEnergy MalwareLikely Russian military intelligence hackers known as Sandworm since at least mid-2022 have deployed a new and highly flexible back door against Eastern European targets, warn security researchers. Security firm WithSecure dubs the backdoor "Kapeka."

Latest APT29 Campaign Uses a Previously Unseen Malware BackdoorA Russian hacking group is targeting German political parties as part of a Moscow-backed espionage campaign. The latest APT29 campaign marks the first time the group has been seen targeting political organizations, according to researchers at Mandiant.