Tag: CERTUA

PicassoLoader and Cobalt Strike Beacon Detection: UAC-0057 aka GhostWriter Hacking Group Attacks the Ukrainian Leading Military Educational Institution
PicassoLoader and Cobalt Strike Beacon Detection: UAC-0057 aka GhostWriter Hacking Group Attacks the Ukrainian Leading Military Educational Institution

On June 16, 2023, CERT-UA researchers issued a new alert covering the recently discovered malicious activity targeting the National Defense University of Ukraine, named after Ivan Cherniakhovskyi, the country’s leading military educational institution. In this ongoing campaign, threat actors spread PicassoLoader and Cobalt Strike Beacon on the compromised systems via a malicious file containing a […]

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Shuckworm Espionage Group Attack Detection: russia-backed Threat Actors Repeatedly Attack Ukrainian Military, Security, and Government Organizations
Shuckworm Espionage Group Attack Detection: russia-backed Threat Actors Repeatedly Attack Ukrainian Military, Security, and Government Organizations

Since russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the aggressor’s offensive forces have launched an avalanche of cyber-espionage campaigns against Ukraine and its allies, mainly targeting government agencies and frequently leveraging the phishing attack vector. The infamous hacking collective dubbed Shuckworm (Armageddon, Gamaredon), which is known to have links with russia’s FSB, has been observed behind a […]

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Asylum Ambuscade Attack Detection: Hacking Collective Engaged in Multiple Cyber-Espionage and Financially-Motivated Cybercrime Campaigns
Asylum Ambuscade Attack Detection: Hacking Collective Engaged in Multiple Cyber-Espionage and Financially-Motivated Cybercrime Campaigns

On February 24, 2022, a little more than a year ago, the russian federation started an offensive invasion of Ukraine by land, air, and sea. The war escalated in cyberspace as well. As a result, we are now witnessing the first-ever full-fledged cyber war in human history, with multiple offensive counterparts engaged in attacks against […]

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UAC-0099 Activity Detection: Hackers Conduct Cyber-Espionage Operations Against Ukrainian State Bodies and Media Organizations
UAC-0099 Activity Detection: Hackers Conduct Cyber-Espionage Operations Against Ukrainian State Bodies and Media Organizations

Just a couple of weeks ago, CERT-UA raised awareness among the global cyber defender community about an ongoing cyber-espionage campaign targeting Ukraine and organizations in Central Asia linked to the UAC-0063 group. In early June, CERT-UA researchers issued another alert covering the long-term cyber-espionage activity mainly exploiting the email attack vector and targeting Ukrainian government […]

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Detect SmokeLoader Malware: UAC-0006 Strikes Again to Target Ukraine in a Series of Phishing Attacks
Detect SmokeLoader Malware: UAC-0006 Strikes Again to Target Ukraine in a Series of Phishing Attacks

Hot on the heels of the massive phishing attacks launched by UAC-0006 at the beginning of  May 2023, CERT-UA warns cyber defenders of a new wave of cyber attacks resulting in SmokeLoader infections. The latest investigation indicates that adversaries increasingly spread phishing emails with financial subject lures and use ZIP/RAR attachments to drop malicious samples […]

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UAC-0063 Cyber-Espionage Activity Detection: Hackers Target Organizations in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Izrael, and India to Gather Intelligence
UAC-0063 Cyber-Espionage Activity Detection: Hackers Target Organizations in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Izrael, and India to Gather Intelligence

Since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, cyber defenders have identified the growing volumes of cyber-espionage campaigns aimed at collecting intelligence from the Ukrainian state bodies. On May 22, 2023, CERT-UA researchers issued a new alert warning the global cyber defender community of an ongoing cyber-espionage campaign targeting the information and communication system […]

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SmokeLoader Malware Detection: UAC-0006 Group Reemerges to Launch Phishing Attacks Against Ukraine Using Financial Subject Lures
SmokeLoader Malware Detection: UAC-0006 Group Reemerges to Launch Phishing Attacks Against Ukraine Using Financial Subject Lures

The financially-motivated hacking collective tracked as UAC-0006 comes back to the cyber threat arena exploiting the phishing attack vector and distributing the SmokeLoader malware. According to the latest CERT-UA cybersecurity alert, threat actors massively distribute phishing emails exploiting the compromised accounts with the financially related email subject and using a malicious ZIP attachment to deploy […]

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WinRAR as Cyberweapon: UAC-0165 Targets Ukrainian Public Sector with RoarBat
WinRAR as Cyberweapon: UAC-0165 Targets Ukrainian Public Sector with RoarBat

Since the outbreak of the global cyber war, state bodies of Ukraine and its allies have become targets of diverse malicious campaigns launched by multiple hacking collectives. Experts estimate a 250% surge of cyber attacks against Ukraine in 2022 and over 2,000 of them launched by russia-affiliated threat actors since the beginning of the full-fledged […]

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APT28 aka UAC-0001 Group Leverages Phishing Emails Disguised As Instructions for OS Updates Targeting Ukrainian State Bodies
APT28 aka UAC-0001 Group Leverages Phishing Emails Disguised As Instructions for OS Updates Targeting Ukrainian State Bodies

The infamous russian nation-backed hacking collective tracked as APT28 or UAC-0001, which has a history of targeted attacks against Ukrainian government agencies, reemerges in the cyber threat arena.  The latest CERT-UA#6562 alert confirms that over April 2023, the hacking collective has been leveraging the phishing attack vector to massively distribute spoofed emails among Ukrainian state […]

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DarkCrystal RAT Malware Detection: UAC-0145 Hackers Exploit Unlicensed Microsoft Office Software as the Initial Attack Vector
DarkCrystal RAT Malware Detection: UAC-0145 Hackers Exploit Unlicensed Microsoft Office Software as the Initial Attack Vector

With a 250% surge of cyber attacks against Ukraine in 2022 and over 2,000 of them launched by russia-affiliated threat actors since the outbreak of the full-fledged war, cyber defenders are looking for ways to help Ukraine and its allies boost their cyber resilience. On April 3, 2023, CERT-UA issued a new alert covering the […]

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