Tag: spear-phishing
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Gut feeling does nothing against AI spear phishing texts
A banker at a credit union sat down at a table with a dozen printed text messages, all of them written for that banker personally, and put them in order from the one most … First seen on helpnetsecurity.com Jump to article: www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/08/07/ai-spear-phishing-research/
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HollowFrame Loader Deploys Matryoshka Backdoor in Spear-Phishing Attack on Law Firm
Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a previously undocumented Go-based loader framework called HollowFrame and a Rust-based malware family tracked as Matryoshka.According to Blackpoint Cyber, the intrusion sequence begins with a spear-phishing message containing a link to an encrypted archive, which holds a Windows Shortcut (LNK). Executing the file triggers a multi-stage chain that First…
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AegisAI, founded by former Google security execs, lands $36M to stop AI-driven spear phishing
The Series A was led by Battery Ventures, bringing AegisAI total funding to $49 million. First seen on techcrunch.com Jump to article: techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/aegisai-founded-by-former-google-security-execs-lands-36m-to-stop-ai-driven-spear-phishing/
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Spear-Phishing Campaign Uses Proton Drive Links and LNK Files to Deliver SpyGlace
The APT-C-60 threat actor has continued targeting Japanese organizations with a spear-phishing campaign that abuses Proton Drive, Windows shortcut files, trusted developer platforms, and native Windows utilities to deliver the SpyGlace malware. While the group retains several established tradecraft elements, including the abuse of legitimate services and the use of git.exe to execute malicious scripts,…
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Operation Capsule Vault Uses Malicious ISO Files and Process Injection to Deliver RokRAT
Operation Capsule Vault began with spear-phishing emails sent on June 22, 2026, posing as notices distributing materials from a legitimate academic event. The lures referenced the “Why Wonsan-Kalma Tourism Now?” conference, held at Seoul COEX on June 12, and incorporated publicly available event details, including its subject matter and host organizations. By reusing real-world conference…
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Attackers Exfiltrate AnyDesk Configuration Data via Blat SMTP in Aerospace Phishing Campaign
A targeted spear-phishing campaign that configures AnyDesk for silent, persistent remote access and exfiltrates its configuration using the Blat SMTP utility. The campaign uses an aerospace-themed invoice lure that impersonates the Russian research institute VNIIR via a freshly registered spoof domain (vniir-avia.space) and delivers a password-protected archive that, when opened, triggers a multi-stage dropper and…
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Suspected China-Nexus Hackers Use Fake Indian Tax Filing Utility to Deploy DcRAT
A suspected China-nexus threat activity cluster has been observed targeting Indian taxpayers, tax professionals, and corporate finance teams to deliver a remote access trojan designed to steal sensitive data from compromised hosts.The multi-stage campaign, codenamed Operation DragonReturn by Seqrite Labs, involves sending spear-phishing emails impersonating the Income Tax Department of India. First seen on thehackernews.com…
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Hackers Use RedLine C2 Infrastructure to Target South Korean Maritime Industry
A single RedLine Stealer command-and-control (C2) indicator has revealed a focused spear-phishing campaign targeting the South Korean maritime industry, exposing a cluster of attacker-owned domains and mail infrastructure used to distribute credential-stealing payloads. The initial signal originated from a VMRay UniqueSignal feed: an IP observed running RedLine activity on a non-standard high port (194[.]156.79.122:55615). That…
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Gamaredon Expands Ukraine Attacks with New Malware and Cloud Service Abuse
A Russian advanced persistent threat (APT) group has continued to evolve and expand its malware arsenal as part of its ongoing cyber onslaught against Ukraine throughout 2025.Slovakian cybersecurity company ESET said it observed 35 distinct spear-phishing campaigns mounted by Gamaredon against new targets, with most of them taking place in the second half of the…
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Russia’s Gamaredon Adapts Tactics to Target Ukraine
Tags: cloud, data, espionage, infrastructure, malware, phishing, russia, spear-phishing, tactics, ukraineEset Documents New Malware Families and Infrastructure Tactics. Eset found Russia’s FSB-linked Gamaredon expanded its malware toolkit, launched dozens of spear-phishing campaigns, and increasingly relied on legitimate cloud, tunneling and social platforms to conceal C2 infrastructure, exfiltrate data and sustain espionage operations targeting Ukraine. First seen on govinfosecurity.com Jump to article: www.govinfosecurity.com/russias-gamaredon-adapts-tactics-to-target-ukraine-a-32068
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Fake Microsoft Alerts Used to Deploy North Korean NarwhalRAT Malware
The North Korean state-sponsored hacking group known as ScarCruft (aka APT37) has been observed using spear-phishing messages impersonating Microsoft Account security notifications to deliver malware called NarwhalRAT.”The attack email contained a message impersonating an MS account security alert,” the Genians Security Center (GSC) said. “It was designed to create concern over possible First seen on…
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Meta claims NSO Group still targets WhatsApp users despite court order
Meta claims it disrupted spear-phishing attempts linked to NSO Group and is asking a US federal court to hold the spyware vendor in contempt for allegedly violating an … First seen on helpnetsecurity.com Jump to article: www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/06/08/meta-whatsapp-nso-group-phishing-campaign/
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Meta Blocks NSO Group’s New WhatsApp Phishing Attack, Files Contempt Order
Meta on Monday said it detected and blocked spear-phishing attempts linked to Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group.In addition, the tech giant said it’s filing a federal court contempt order against the company for violating a permanent injunction that barred it from targeting WhatsApp and its users.”They tried to trick people into clicking on malicious links…
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China Uses Dual-Method Cyberattack on Czech Orgs
China is stealing data from high-value targets via a sneaky, double-layer spear-phishing campaign that includes the Azureveil malware. First seen on darkreading.com Jump to article: www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/china-uses-dual-method-attack-czech-taiwan-orgs
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Pakistan-Linked SideCopy Targets Afghanistan Finance Ministry with Xeno RAT
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a spear-phishing campaign likely undertaken by the Pakistan-aligned SideCopy group targeting Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance with an open-source remote access trojan called Xeno RAT.”The campaign opens with a spear phishing delivery – a ZIP archive containing a malicious LNK file bearing a carefully crafted Pashto-language filename,” First seen on…
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China-Aligned Groups Ramp Up Attacks: Dragon Weave Hits Czech Republic & Taiwan
Tags: attack, china, cyber, email, espionage, finance, government, group, phishing, service, spear-phishing, technologyA new cyber espionage campaign codenamed Operation Dragon Weave has been observed targeting officials and citizens in the Czech Republic and Taiwan to deliver an AdaptixC2 agent.According to Seqrite Labs, targets of the campaign include government, research, academic, technology, and financial services sectors. The activity entails distributing spear-phishing emails containing ZIP attachments First seen on…
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China-Aligned Groups Ramp Up Attacks: Dragon Weave Hits Czech Republic & Taiwan
Tags: attack, china, cyber, email, espionage, finance, government, group, phishing, service, spear-phishing, technologyA new cyber espionage campaign codenamed Operation Dragon Weave has been observed targeting officials and citizens in the Czech Republic and Taiwan to deliver an AdaptixC2 agent.According to Seqrite Labs, targets of the campaign include government, research, academic, technology, and financial services sectors. The activity entails distributing spear-phishing emails containing ZIP attachments First seen on…
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China-Aligned Groups Ramp Up Attacks: Dragon Weave Hits Czech Republic & Taiwan
Tags: attack, china, cyber, email, espionage, finance, government, group, phishing, service, spear-phishing, technologyA new cyber espionage campaign codenamed Operation Dragon Weave has been observed targeting officials and citizens in the Czech Republic and Taiwan to deliver an AdaptixC2 agent.According to Seqrite Labs, targets of the campaign include government, research, academic, technology, and financial services sectors. The activity entails distributing spear-phishing emails containing ZIP attachments First seen on…
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China-Aligned Groups Ramp Up Attacks: Dragon Weave Hits Czech Republic & Taiwan
Tags: attack, china, cyber, email, espionage, finance, government, group, phishing, service, spear-phishing, technologyA new cyber espionage campaign codenamed Operation Dragon Weave has been observed targeting officials and citizens in the Czech Republic and Taiwan to deliver an AdaptixC2 agent.According to Seqrite Labs, targets of the campaign include government, research, academic, technology, and financial services sectors. The activity entails distributing spear-phishing emails containing ZIP attachments First seen on…
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Malicious PDF LNK Files Deploy Cobalt Strike in Operation Dragon Whistle
A newly uncovered cyber campaign dubbed “Operation Dragon Whistle” is targeting China’s education sector with highly tailored spear-phishing attacks that deploy Cobalt Strike beacons via deceptive PDF/LNK files. The attackers crafted emails that impersonate official university communications, urging students and faculty to review an important testing notice. The message includes a ZIP attachment named in…
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Iran-linked hackers target key US, allied sectors with sophisticated spear-phishing messages
Companies, particularly those in the affected industries, should harden their defenses against impersonation schemes, Palo Alto Networks said. First seen on cybersecuritydive.com Jump to article: www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/iran-cyberattacks-espionage-us-israel-uae/820990/
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Kimsuky Uses LNK, JSE Lures to Target Recruiters, Crypto Users, Defense Officials
Kimsuky Hackers Use LNK and JSE Lures to Target Recruiters, Crypto Users, and Defense Officials. North Korea-linked threat group Kimsuky has launched at least four distinct spear-phishing campaigns in early 2026, targeting recruiters, cryptocurrency users, developers, defense personnel, and academic administrators. Despite using different themes and delivery methods, all campaigns follow a consistent attack chain:…
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‘FrostyNeighbor’ APT Carefully Targets Govt Orgs in Poland, Ukraine
Attackers uniquely fingerprint victims before delivering spear-phishing payloads aimed at espionage, in the latest campaign from the Belarussian nation-state threat group. First seen on darkreading.com Jump to article: www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/frostyneighbor-apt-govt-orgs-poland-ukraine