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Chosen Brick, Iran’s Surveillance Malware

UK, US, and Dutch agencies warn Iranian CHOSEN BRICK malware targets dissidents and journalists via Telegram, harvesting contacts, emails, and messages since 2025.

The UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD jointly attributed the CHOSEN BRICK Windows malware family to Iranian intelligence services, used since at least 2025 against dissidents, journalists, and activists worldwide, including in the UK, US, and Netherlands. Operators build rapport over WhatsApp or Telegram, impersonating known contacts or platform support, then deliver lures disguised as installers for Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, or KeePass, or fake MRI results. The malware persists via registry Run keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, and uses per-victim Telegram bot IDs for C2, with newer versions adding HTTPS or SOCKS5 proxies. Some victims' data appeared on pro-Iranian leak sites, raising harassment and physical-safety risks.

Security Affairs · 4h agoMalware in the wild 7 sources

Iranian Hackers Use Telegram-Controlled Malware to Spy on Dissidents and Journalists

FBI, NCSC, and AIVD detail Iran MOIS spyware CHOSEN BRICK/HEAVYGRAM, Telegram-controlled Windows malware spying on dissidents since 2023.

A September 15 joint advisory from the FBI, UK NCSC, and Dutch AIVD attributes the Windows spyware HEAVYGRAM (NCSC name CHOSEN BRICK) to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, with the campaign dating to autumn 2023 and targeting dissidents, journalists, and activists in the UK, US, Netherlands, and worldwide. Delivered via messages impersonating known contacts or tech support, the malware assigns each victim a dedicated Telegram bot for command-and-control and exfiltration, and can take screenshots, record microphone audio, steal Telegram/WhatsApp data, saved passwords, and emails, download more malware, and wipe the computer. Persistence uses a registry Run key (SMQDService or winappx) plus Microsoft Defender exclusions, with stolen data exiting via Telegram and cloud storage services like Vultr and Storj. The US Justice Department seized four pro-Iranian leak sites in March that had published stolen victim data.

The Hacker News · 1d agoMalware in the wild1

Malicious Twitch Browser Extension Leaks OAuth Tokens From Nearly 31,000 Users

Malicious Twitch extension 'Twitch Enhanced Viewer | JeetBot' leaked OAuth tokens from nearly 31,000 users to Russian bot-service proxy servers.

Socket researchers found the 'Twitch Enhanced Viewer | JeetBot' browser extension forwarded users' live Twitch OAuth tokens as an &auth= query parameter to operator-controlled proxy servers, affecting about 30,000 Chrome users and 604 Firefox users. The tokens, written in cleartext to proxy logs, are bearer credentials granting access to chat, whispers, and account settings without password or 2FA. The operator is a Russian commercial Twitch/Kick/VK-Live bot SaaS linked to Cyprus-based developer Aleksandr Popov; earlier v4.x builds also POSTed tokens to a set-token endpoint. Firefox add-on version 85.8.7 stops the token forwarding, but previously transmitted tokens remain valid until revoked.

The Hacker News · 3d agoMalware in the wild