Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Also: Signal Blocks Recall, Europe Sanctions Stark IndustriesThis week, Qakbot leader indicted, Signal blocked Recall and a judge said Trump illegally removed watchdogs. Ivanti and Palo Alto hacks linked, Stark Industries sanctioned, Marks and Spencer's hack costs 300M pounds. Pro-Ukraine hackers hit a Russian clinic and an outbreak of PureRAT in Russia.

Also: Gootloader Malware, GCHQ Intern Pleads Guilty, Check Point Breach UpdateThis week, a "Fast Flux" warning, Gootloader malware, an GCHQ intern pleaded guilty to stealing top secret data and Check Point undercuts hacking claim. Also, Google rolled out end-to-end encryption for some Gmail users, Apple backported patches and Dutch prosecutors cut internet access.

South Korean VPN provider IPany was breached in a supply chain attack by the "PlushDaemon" China-aligned hacking group, who compromised the company's VPN installer to deploy the custom 'SlowStepper' malware. [...]

An APT hacking group known as GoldenJackal has successfully breached air-gapped government systems in Europe using two custom toolsets to steal sensitive data, like emails, encryption keys, images, archives, and documents. [...]

Also: Prison Sentences for BEC Scammers and a West African Cybercrime CrackdownThis week, AI nudify sites spread malware, BEC scammers head to prison, London man charged with hacking, and a Spanish insurance company with a breach. Also, a North Korean hacking group and a West African crackdown on online scammers. And, a Schrödinger Windows vulnerability: Is it real?

A Chinese hacking group tracked as StormBamboo has compromised an undisclosed internet service provider (ISP) to poison automatic software updates with malware. [...]

A financially motivated hacking group named Magnet Goblin uses various 1-day vulnerabilities to breach public-facing servers and deploy custom malware on Windows and Linux systems. [...]

Also: Cloudflare Was Hacked With Stolen Okta TokenThis week, former CIA programmer gets 40-year sentence, zero trust prevents widespread damage, possible ransomware attack in Georgia, alleged hacker detained in Ukraine, USB-spread malware in Italy, LockBit attack on non-bank home mortgage lender, and Ukrainian critical infrastructure disrupted.

Microsoft says a North Korean hacking group has breached Taiwanese multimedia software company CyberLink and trojanized one of its installers to push malware in a supply chain attack targeting potential victims worldwide. [...]

The North Korean Lazarus hacking group repeatedly compromised a software vendor using flaws in vulnerable software despite multiple patches and warnings being made available by the developer. [...]

Microsoft says that the North Korean Lazarus and Andariel hacking groups are exploiting the CVE-2023-42793 flaw in TeamCity servers to deploy backdoor malware, likely to conduct software supply chain attacks. [...]

The North Korean 'Lazarus' hacking group targeted employees of an aerospace company located in Spain with fake job opportunities to hack into the corporate network using a previously unknown 'LightlessCan' backdoor. [...]

A WinRar zero-day vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-38831 was actively exploited to install malware when clicking on harmless files in an archive, allowing the hackers to breach online cryptocurrency trading accounts. [...]

Web hosting giant GoDaddy made headlines this month when it disclosed that a multi-year breach allowed intruders to steal company source code, siphon customer and employee login credentials, and foist malware on customer websites. Media coverage understandably focused on GoDaddy's admission that it suffered three different cyberattacks over as many years at the hands of the same hacking group.  But it's worth revisiting how this group typically got in to targeted companies: By calling employees and tricking them into navigating to a phishing website.

Hackers breached CircleCi in December after an engineer became infected with information-stealing malware that stole the employee's 2FA-backed SSO session, allowing access to the company's internal systems. [...]

The North Korean 'Lazarus' hacking group is linked to a new attack spreading fake cryptocurrency apps under the made-up brand, "BloxHolder," to install the AppleJeus malware for initial access to networks and steal crypto assets. [...]

Many organizations are already struggling to combat cybersecurity threats from ransomware purveyors and state-sponsored hacking groups, both of which tend to take days or weeks to pivot from an opportunistic malware infection to a full blown data breach. But few organizations have a playbook for responding to the kinds of virtual "smash and grab" attacks we've seen recently from LAPSUS$, a juvenile data extortion group whose short-lived, low-tech and remarkably effective tactics are putting some of the world's biggest corporations on edge.