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Persistent Attempts at Cyberespionage Against Southeast Asian Government Target Have Links to Alloy Taurus
Alloy Taurus (GALLIUM) compromised Southeast Asian government networks from 2022 to 2023 using Exchange web shells and undocumented .NET backdoors Reshell and Zapoa.
Unit 42 tracked persistent multiwave intrusions at a Southeast Asian government starting in early 2022 and continuing through 2023, attributing the activity with moderate confidence to Alloy Taurus (aka GALLIUM), a Chinese state-aligned espionage group. Attackers exploited Exchange Server vulnerabilities to deploy web shells including China Chopper, then ran reconnaissance with Fscan and WebScan, created administrative accounts, and installed undocumented .NET backdoors named Reshell and Zapoa. They established resilience by installing SoftEther VPN, brute-forced Active Directory credentials with Kerbrute, and dumped credential stores with GoDumpLsass and LsassUnhooker. The campaign reflects long-term espionage tradecraft to maintain a foothold.
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⚡ Weekly Recap: WhatsApp Worm, Critical CVEs, Oracle 0
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Fake Software Installers Disable Windows Update and Weaken Microsoft Defender
Fake software-download sites distribute installers that disable Windows Update and weaken Defender, attributed to China-linked cluster Silver Fox.
Microsoft says an active campaign uses counterfeit vendor websites on .com.cn and .hl.cn infrastructure with Chinese-language lures to deliver server-side generated installers that establish scheduled-task persistence, add Defender exclusions, delete shadow copies, and stop services including wuauserv, UsoSvc, uhssvc and WaaSMedicSvc. Victims span healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government and education, primarily China-based operations of multinationals and Chinese-speaking users. Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence the activity matches the Silver Fox (Yinhu) cluster, historically tied to Gh0st RAT and ValleyRAT, with C2 over non-standard ports like 5090 and 7088-7090 via domains iualef[.]net and oijfwe[.]net. Kaspersky separately detailed a QN Wallpaper DLL-sideloading chain delivering ValleyRAT.
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