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Pro-Ukraine Hacking Cat group deploying new malware against Russian targets
Kaspersky links pro-Ukraine hacktivist group Hacking Cat to Gorilla RAT and Monkey Ransomware in destructive attacks on Russian targets.
Kaspersky reports that pro-Ukraine group Hacking Cat, active since February 2024, has shifted from defacements to destructive encryption attacks, using a previously undocumented Gorilla RAT remote-access tool and Monkey Ransomware, which appends the .monkey extension to files. Initial access in some attacks came from exploited Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities, and rapid multi-language malware variants suggest possible generative AI assistance. Shared tools like Nemo Wiper across groups including Ukrainian Cyber Alliance complicate attribution, and targets include Rosatom contractor and heating provider Donbassteploenergo.
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StopAndProtect Turns 2,000 Hacked WordPress Sites Into a Criminal Network
Check Point uncovered StopAndProtect, a cybercrime operation using ~2,000 hacked WordPress sites for ClickFix-driven malware delivery, data theft, surveillance, and ransomware.
Check Point Research identified the StopAndProtect operation in May 2026; it abuses close to 2,000 compromised WordPress sites, many running outdated software, to host malware stages, act as C2, and store stolen data. Infection starts with fake CAPTCHA ClickFix prompts that trick visitors into running a PowerShell command, followed by .NET downloaders deploying ransomware, SMB/USB worm, lockscreen, chat, and credential-stealing components. Rather than always encrypting, operators selectively exfiltrate file lists and specific files; researchers found 700+ stolen-data archives, roughly 31,000 screenshots, and 6,000+ unique victim IP addresses, including WhatsApp activity monitoring.
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FBI Seizes China-Linked Hacking Platforms QScan and QTRouter Used Against Critical Infrastructure
FBI seizes China-linked QScan and QTRouter hacking platforms used by QTFY to obfuscate intrusions against US federal agencies.
The DOJ and FBI seized domains hard-coded into QScan and QTRouter, two platforms operated by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company on behalf of state-sponsored group QTFY. QScan automatically infected thousands of IoT devices which were added to QTRouter, an obfuscation network routing malicious traffic through compromised and proxy devices outside China. Targets included NASA, the Federal Reserve, Departments of Energy, Justice, and HHS, NIH, and the US Senate, exploiting flaws in Fortinet SSL-VPN, Citrix ADC, Microsoft Exchange, F5 BIG-IP, Log4j, and others.
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Risky Bulletin: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras
Slovakia's NBU found an SMS-triggered backdoor in Russian-made NERO R-ONE traffic cameras, pausing a 279-unit deployment.
Slovakia's national security service NBU issued an alert against NERO R-ONE high-speed traffic cameras after finding a backdoor that grants shell and network access via SMS from hardcoded Russian phone numbers. The cameras are a rebranded version of the Russian CORDON PRO.M model by St. Petersburg firm Semicon, purchased via a Cyprus shell company under a €30 million EU-funded project. The report also found SecureBoot disabled, vulnerable web management, and unauthenticated live streams; the Interior Ministry paused deployment of 279 cameras pending independent assessment.
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Anthropic caught Russia-linked spies using Claude in hacking operations
Anthropic disrupted Russia-linked APT29 using Claude in espionage against 20+ organizations, including Ukrainian government targets and a military drone maker whose vision SDK was stolen.
Anthropic's threat report covering December 2025 to August 2026 attributes the campaign to Midnight Blizzard (APT29/Cozy Bear, Storm-2945), which it links to Russia's SVR. The group compromised hotel Wi-Fi providers, altered DNS records to redirect travelers, accessed mailboxes at two drone-component manufacturers, and stole a proprietary SDK for a drone vision system, which it reverse-engineered using Claude. The group also used Claude to monitor whether security products detected its implants and to modify and redeploy flagged artifacts. The report also covers ShinyHunters affiliates using AI for credential scanning and extortion, a Chinese-speaking group's autonomous zero-day research, and a French-speaking hacktivist.
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FBI takes down China-linked hacking network behind attacks on NASA, DOJ and U.S. Senate
FBI seized domains disabling QScan and QTRouter malware run by China-linked QTFY group behind intrusions at NASA, DOJ, Senate and other agencies.
The Justice Department and FBI seized domains hard-coded into two malware tools, QScan and QTRouter, operated by a Chinese state-sponsored group called QTFY, tied to a Nanjing-based company that sold hacking services to China's Ministry of State Security and the PLA. QScan infected IoT devices worldwide while QTRouter combined them with commercial proxies and rented servers to build an obfuscation network that masked attack origins. Victims include NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Departments of Energy and Justice, HHS, NIH, and the U.S. Senate. The FBI and NSA published a joint advisory with indicators of compromise, the latest in operations against Mustang Panda, Flax Typhoon, and Volt Typhoon infrastructure.
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Three Threat Groups Target Russian Enterprises With Backdoors, Ransomware, and Wipers
Kaspersky details NightEagle, Hacking Cat, and Toy Ghouls targeting Russian enterprises with Exchange backdoors, Gorilla RAT, and destructive Monkey ransomware.
Kaspersky reports three threat clusters targeting Russian enterprises: NightEagle (APT-Q-95), the pro-Ukrainian hacktivist group Hacking Cat, and Toy Ghouls. NightEagle uses compromised VPN credentials and the GhostContainer modular backdoor to fully compromise Microsoft Exchange servers, chaining CVE-2020-0688 exploitation, BlueKeep (CVE-2019-0708), Active Directory vulnerabilities, and DCSync to seize domain controllers. Hacking Cat exploits Exchange flaws including CVE-2021-26855 and CVE-2026-42897 to deliver the Gorilla RAT and multiple Monkey ransomware variants written in Rust, .NET, C++, and Golang targeting Windows, Linux, and VMware ESXi, with some variants acting as wipers that never store the encryption key.
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FBI Disrupts Chinese Proxy Tools Used in Mass Hacking of US Agencies and Infrastructure
FBI disrupted Chinese state-linked proxy infrastructure used in hacking campaigns against NASA, the Federal Reserve, the US Senate, and other US targets.
The FBI disrupted Chinese proxy tools used in a mass hacking campaign against US agencies and critical infrastructure, according to the DOJ. Targets included NASA, the Federal Reserve, the US Senate, and the Justice Department. The operation dismantled infrastructure that Chinese state-sponsored hackers relied on to obfuscate their access.
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StopAndProtect Uses Nearly 2,000 Hacked WordPress Sites to Spread Malware and Steal Data
Check Point details StopAndProtect: ~2,000 compromised WordPress sites deliver ClickFix fake-CAPTCHA malware toolkit combining ransomware, credential theft, screenshots, and WhatsApp surveillance.
Check Point researcher Jaromír Hořejší reports the campaign begins with ClickFix fake-CAPTCHA prompts that trigger a PowerShell command, then two .NET downloader stages that launch six components: SilentEncryptor, NetworkShareScanner, a VBS spreader, LockScreen, SimpleChatProxy, and SilentDataCollector. Hacked WordPress sites host malware stages, serve C2 commands, and receive exfiltrated logs; the actors installed a self-deleting WordPress plugin enabling arbitrary PHP upload anywhere under the WordPress root. From mid-May to late July 2026 the operators exfiltrated more than 700 archives including screenshots every 30 seconds, keylogger output, and WhatsApp contact data, and opsec failures exposed their Visual Basic automation tooling and lists of nearly 2,000 compromised domains.
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