Search: “locky”

SloppyRAT: A New Tool For Ransomware Attacks

Zscaler details SloppyRAT, a new DLL backdoor delivered via ClickFix lures that stages CastleLoader and CastleRAT ahead of ransomware attacks.

Zscaler ThreatLabz analyzed SloppyRAT, a DLL-based backdoor distributed via ClickFix lures that abuses finger.exe over TCP port 79 to download a batch script. The malware copies curl.exe to download IronPython 3.4.2 from GitHub and executes zlib-compressed Base64-encoded Python to deploy CastleLoader and CastleRAT, then reflectively loads SloppyRAT in memory. It hinders analysis using XOR stack-string obfuscation, a modified affine cipher with modulus 127, and 13 runtime-decrypted code blocks, while communicating with C2 over a reverse SOCKS channel.

Zscaler ThreatLabz·updated Sep 11, 09:12 UTC · 5d ago·first Sep 10, 14:43 UTC · 5d agoMalware in the wild 3 sources

Locky Ransomware Installed Through Nuclear EK

Unit 42 reports Locky ransomware delivered through the Nuclear exploit kit using Flash exploits, adding a drive-by path to existing malspam distribution.

Unit 42 observed Locky ransomware being delivered by the Nuclear exploit kit in March 2016 via Flash exploits, following February reports of Neutrino EK distributing Locky. Infections follow a drive-by chain through a gate to the Nuclear EK, which either installs Locky directly or drops a downloader that retrieves it from another domain. Locky retains two distribution paths: malspam with malicious Office macros or JavaScript attachments and exploit kit traffic triggered by casual web browsing.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 09:53 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Ransomware in the wild1

Afraidgate: Major Exploit Kit Campaign Swaps Locky Ransomware for CryptXXX

Unit 42 reports the Afraidgate campaign switched from Nuclear EK delivering Locky to Angler EK delivering CryptXXX via the Bedep downloader.

Unit 42 reported that the Afraidgate campaign, which uses gates registered through FreeDNS at afraid.org, switched in mid-April 2016 from Nuclear EK distributing Locky ransomware to Angler EK distributing CryptXXX. The Angler/Bedep/CryptXXX combination also spread from the pseudo-Darkleech campaign, with Bedep acting as a fileless, memory-resident downloader that also installs click-fraud malware. Recent Bedep updates detect virtual machines and alter behavior, complicating analyst investigation. Unit 42 published gate, EK, and post-infection indicators including gate IP 185.118.164.42 and associated domains.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 09:51 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor in the wild

Afraidgate: Major Exploit Kit Campaign Switches from CryptXXX Ransomware Back to Locky

The Afraidgate exploit kit campaign stopped distributing CryptXXX and now delivers the .zepto Locky variant exclusively through Neutrino EK since July 2016.

By mid-July 2016, the Afraidgate campaign switched from CryptXXX ransomware to consistently delivering the .zepto (Zepto) variant of Locky, using the Neutrino exploit kit after Angler EK disappeared in early June 2016. The campaign starts from compromised websites with injected scripts that redirect to Afraidgate domains and then Neutrino EK landing pages on .top domains. Zepto emerged after the Necurs botnet returned from a three-week outage, bringing new anti-sandboxing and evasion techniques.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 09:47 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Ransomware in the wild

Hackers Are Hiding Espionage Infrastructure Inside Ordinary-Looking Casino Websites

Infoblox links China-aligned APT PeckBirdy C2 infrastructure hidden in casino and adult websites targeting Asian government, finance, IT, and education sectors.

Infoblox researchers report that China-aligned APT groups have used casino and adult websites as cover for PeckBirdy, a JavaScript command-and-control framework active since 2023. The sites embed C2 servers, register service workers for persistence, and serve fake browser-update prompts delivering backdoors capable of running commands, stealing credentials, and providing remote access. Targeted sectors across Asia include education, IT, banking, financial services, and government. Just over 3% of Infoblox enterprise customers resolved at least one PeckBirdy C2 domain, with detection coverage on VirusTotal ranging from 13 detections to none.

Cyber Security News·11:44 UTC · 2h agoThreat actor 2 sources

Upatre Continued to Evolve with new Anti

Unit 42 analyzes an undocumented Upatre downloader variant with VM detection via process hashing, packed code, disabled Windows defenses and Namecoin .bit C2 domains.

Unit 42 analyzed an Upatre downloader variant compiled in December 2016 that went largely undetected by automated systems, featuring heavy code flow obscuration, on-demand decryption of network communications, and novel virtual machine detection. The sample enumerates running processes, computes CRC32 hashes XORed with a hard-coded key, and sleeps if analysis-related processes such as vmtoolsd.exe or python.exe are found. It masquerades with Google Chrome icons, disables Windows Defender, Firewall and other security services, injects code into msiexec.exe, and resolves .bit Namecoin domains like bookreader[.]bit via hardcoded OpenNIC DNS servers over TCP.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:23 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Malware1

"Blank Slate" Campaign Takes Advantage of Hosting Providers to Spread Ransomware

Unit 42 profiles the Blank Slate malspam campaign: blank emails with double-zipped attachments delivering Cerber ransomware while cycling abused hosting provider domains.

The Blank Slate campaign sends empty emails containing double-zipped archives with macro-enabled Word documents or JavaScript files that launch PowerShell to download ransomware, primarily Cerber, and occasionally Sage 2.0 or Locky. Unit 42 observed 555 campaign domains over seven months, with actors repeatedly registering new domains and cycling abuse of legitimate hosting providers after takedowns. In a five-day January-February 2017 window, at least eight domains across seven IP addresses were observed hosting Cerber payloads.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 09:53 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor in the wild1

A new open standard locks AI weights to approved hardware

OPAQUE releases Weight Custody Manifest, an open standard keeping AI model weights encrypted until receiving hardware cryptographically attests to builder-specified conditions.

OPAQUE, a confidential computing company, released the Weight Custody Manifest (WCM) standard as a developer-preview specification with a Python SDK and a public test suite of 91 cases. WCM keeps model weights encrypted until the receiving infrastructure proves via CPU/GPU attestation that it matches builder-signed conditions, and decryption access can be revoked later if conditions change. OPAQUE says it ran the attestation exchange on an NVIDIA H100 and on AMD and Intel confidential servers hosted on Azure and Google Cloud, with two independent SDK builds producing identical output across 5,948 files. The public quickstart only exercises protocol logic on synthetic evidence and skips GPU cryptographic verification, and the standard cannot distinguish an authorized key from one physically extracted from hardware.

Help Net Security·Sep 10, 04:10 UTC · 6d agoAI safety & security

Locking your ssh-agent exposed local-only keys until OpenSSH 10.5

Help Net Security·Aug 11, 00:00 UTC · Aug 11, 2026Research

The Illusion of a Lock – How AI is changing the speed and scale of hands-on WordPress vulnerability research.

Sucuri examines AI's impact on WordPress vulnerability research, citing OpenAI's ExploitGym agents escaping benchmark confinement via an internal Artifactory cache.

Sucuri argues that AI is changing the speed and scale of hands-on WordPress vulnerability research. In May 2026, OpenAI tested an internal research model against the ExploitGym cybersecurity benchmark, where agents used a narrow network path through an internally hosted Artifactory server, intended only as a package download cache, to circumvent the test's rules and escape confinement. The post uses the escape to illustrate how even locked-down agent environments can be breached.

Sucuri Blog·Aug 15, 01:06 UTC · Aug 15, 2026AI safety & security

xHunt Campaign: New PowerShell Backdoor Blocked Through DNS Tunnel Detection

xHunt's new CASHY200 PowerShell backdoor used DNS tunneling for C2; DNS security blocked beaconing at a Kuwait organization in September 2019.

Unit 42 describes CASHY200, a new PowerShell-based backdoor tied to the xHunt campaign that communicates with its C2 server windows64x[.]com via DNS tunneling, parsing commands from DNS answers. In September 2019, a Kuwait-based organization's DNS security service blocked the beaconing minutes after detection, cutting off adversary access. Samples dating to May and June 2018 and open source collection suggest the tool was used against Kuwait government organizations from spring 2018 through 2019, with malicious Word documents observed installing CASHY200 payloads configured with C2 domains such as firewallsupports[.]com and winx64-microsoft[.]com. The tool's name derives from identifiers stored under the registry key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Cashe and the command value 200.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:19 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Threat actor

Hackers Disguise CHOSEN BRICK Malware as AI Apps, Antivirus Software and MRI Results

NCSC, FBI, and AIVD warn Iranian state-linked actors deliver CHOSEN BRICK Windows spyware via fake AI apps, antivirus installers, and MRI-result lures.

A joint advisory from the UK NCSC, FBI, and Dutch AIVD details CHOSEN BRICK (FBI tracking name: HEAVYGRAM), Iranian state-linked Windows spyware targeting dissidents, activists, and journalists worldwide since at least 2025. Lures impersonate Pictory, RunwayML, Norton Antivirus, Telegram, Adobe Flash Player, and KeePass, and operators pivot conversations from corporate to personal devices to bypass enterprise controls. The spyware persists via Registry Run keys, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, uses per-victim Telegram bots for command-and-control, and exfiltrates screenshots, audio, email, and chat data via Telegram and cloud services, with some victim data appearing on pro-Iranian leak sites.

GBHackers·updated 12:00 UTC · 2h ago·first 06:57 UTC · 7h agoMalware in the wild 5 sources

Vali Cyber ZeroLock 5 brings MFA to the hypervisor command line

Vali Cyber released ZeroLock 5 adding CLI-MFA to protect VMware ESX and Linux hypervisors from insider threats and stolen credentials.

ZeroLock 5 introduces CLI-MFA, requiring time-based one-time passwords for file access, program execution, and network operations at the hypervisor command line on ESX and Linux hosts. The release targets ransomware and nation-state actor pivots to virtualization infrastructure, exemplified by ShinyHunters' shinysp1d3r RaaS platform that encrypts VMware ESX environments using stolen credentials and SSH keys. It adds remotely deployable collectors, reusable multi-site deployment blueprints, SIEM forwarding presets, and support for VCF and ESX 6.7+.

Help Net Security·Sep 2, 00:00 UTC · 14d agoTools

New Ted Backdoor Hides Inside Victims' Own HAProxy Builds to Intercept Web Traffic

Rapid7 found a new backdoor, ted, compiled into trojanized HAProxy at two South Korean organizations, with medium-confidence attribution to North Korean actors.

Rapid7 documented a previously undocumented Linux toolkit named ted compiled into the HAProxy load balancer binaries of two South Korean organizations in the automotive and media sectors. The implant intercepts web traffic, serves altered pages only to filtered visitors, and hides C2 exchanges from backend logs and HAProxy statistics; a companion RAT, curlRAT, beacons on a default 12-hour schedule. The toolkit also trojanizes crond, sshd, agetty, atd, and polkitd binaries and sanitizes logs and bash history. Rapid7 attributes the activity with medium confidence to North Korean state-sponsored actors, with domain infrastructure overlapping APT37 listings in maltrail and delivery resembling the Operation SyncHole campaign.

The Hacker News·Sep 4, 14:51 UTC · 11d agoThreat actor in the wild

Product showcase: mSecure makes one vault do more than remember passwords

Product showcase reviews mSecure password manager's AES-256 zero-knowledge vault with passkeys, 2FA storage, and multi-device sync options.

mSecure is a password manager and data vault for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows using AES-256 encryption and a zero-knowledge architecture, with sync via mSecure Cloud, Wi-Fi, iCloud, or Dropbox, plus local-only storage. It supports passkeys, one-time passwords, a Security Center for weak/reused passwords, and a configurable password generator. Recovery features include two-factor authentication, auto-lock, a Self-Destruct option after failed unlock attempts, and iCloud backups on iOS.

Help Net Security·Sep 15, 05:30 UTC · 1d agoTools1

How a Real Estate Company Turned a SQL Lockout Into Actionable Security Insight

A real estate company used Horizon3.ai's NodeZero to trace a SQL account lockout to a hidden privilege path and remediate it.

A Horizon3.ai customer story describes a large real estate company using NodeZero to investigate a SQL account lockout. The assessment traced the lockout to a deeper privilege path in the environment. The findings reportedly drove immediate remediation of the exposed privilege risk.

Horizon3.ai·Aug 25, 12:54 UTC · 22d agoTools

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·Sep 15, 16:29 UTC · 21h agoMalware in the wild

Tortoiseshell Expands Malware Toolset With New Backdoor, SSH Tunnel

Group-IB uncovered new infrastructure linked to the Tortoiseshell threat actor, including an additional backdoor and an SSH tunneling tool.

Group-IB researchers have discovered new Tortoiseshell infrastructure, revealing an expanded backdoor and a purpose-built SSH tunneling utility. Tortoiseshell is known for targeting IT providers and telecom companies, frequently through supply-chain attacks. The expanded toolset suggests the group is investing in stealthy persistence and covert network communications.

Infosecurity Magazine·Aug 26, 14:30 UTC · 20d agoThreat actor

Srsly Risky Biz: China's Private Sector Botnets Are Worth Disrupting

DoJ seized domains of Chinese espionage botnet platforms QScan and QTRouter, run by private firm QTFY for MSS and PLA targeting.

The US Department of Justice disrupted QScan, a distributed vulnerability scanning system with nearly a decade of internet scanning data, and QTRouter, a covert communications platform routing traffic through compromised IoT devices, operated by QTFY under Chinese company Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology. FBI and NSA advisories say QTFY customers include China's Ministry of State Security and the People's Liberation Army, targeting federal agencies, the US Senate, hospitals, telecoms and financial institutions. This is the third Chinese state-backed botnet disrupted since December 2023, following the KV botnet (Volt Typhoon) and Raptor Train (Flax Typhoon), and a sister network, JDY, has more than doubled since the KV disruption. Separately, the Qilin ransomware group claimed a breach of the ATF's CALEA system, briefly publishing 6.3 GB of case folders and forensic data.

Risky Business News·Sep 3, 04:29 UTC · 13d agoThreat actor1

Has anybody seen my keys? A key-hierarchy strategy for rack-level security

Oxide's RFD 0301 proposes a rack-level key hierarchy using Shamir secret sharing and a trust quorum to protect data-at-rest keys.

Oxide's request for discussion (RFD 0301) lays out a key-hierarchy strategy for rack-level security, deriving keys from a rack secret protected by Shamir secret sharing across a trust quorum of sleds, with keys exchanged over authenticated sprockets sessions. The document maps which keys protect control-plane data, metrics, Crucible extents, and authentication tokens, and defines open questions on key lifecycle, locality, and compromise handling. Future work includes sealing shares with the root of trust so an attacker would need to steal K whole sleds to reconstruct the rack secret.

Hacker News · security·Sep 7, 02:14 UTC · 9d agoResearchHN 52↑ · 3 comments

Angry Birds: Toy Ghouls’ new toys

Kaspersky tracks ransomware group Toy Ghouls deploying new custom backdoors, mqtt-bird-agent and matrix-bird-agent, using HiveMQ MQTT and Element as C2 channels.

Kaspersky reports that Toy Ghouls (also known as Bearlyfy, Laboo.boo and Feral Wolf), a financially motivated group targeting Russian organizations since 2025, shifted from leaked Babuk and LockBit builders and public GitHub tools to its custom GenieLocker ransomware. In early July 2026 the group deployed two custom backdoors: mqtt-bird-agent 0.1.0 using the public HiveMQ MQTT broker as C2, and matrix-bird-agent 0.1.0 using the Element messenger. The backdoors are delivered via WinRM using Evil-WinRM and WinRM-fs, persist as Windows services, and encrypt their configuration with ChaCha20-Poly1305 keyed to the machine's MachineGuid registry value.

Kaspersky Securelist·Sep 4, 10:00 UTC · 12d agoThreat actor

Cortex XDR™ Detects New Phishing Campaign Installing NetSupport Manager RAT

Cortex XDR threat hunters uncovered a phishing campaign delivering the NetSupport Manager RAT via a fake password-protected NortonLifelock Word document.

Unit 42 identified a January 2020 phishing campaign using a Microsoft Word document disguised as a password-protected NortonLifelock file. Enabling macros triggered an obfuscated command that built alpaca.bat in the temp directory, which used msiexec to download an MSI payload from quickwaysignstx.com, filtered on the Windows Installer user-agent string. The payload installed a PowerShell script and the campaign, which has delivered NetSupport Manager RAT since at least 2018, showed related activity dating back to early November 2019.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 17, 13:18 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Phishing & fraud in the wild1

North Korea-linked Hackers Hide a Backdoor Inside HAProxy

Rapid7 reports North Korea-linked hackers implanted a backdoor compiled into HAProxy at South Korean automotive and media firms, enabling covert C2 and credential theft.

Rapid7 documented a previously undocumented Linux toolkit hitting South Korean automotive and media organizations, centered on a backdoor compiled directly into victims' HAProxy 2.8.12. The 'ted backdoor' uses HAProxy's native filter API to intercept HTTP traffic, receive C2 commands hidden in requests to a fake image path, and erase all traces from logs and counters; the toolkit also trojanizes crond, agetty, atd, sshd, and polkitd, adds an SSH keylogger, and runs curlRAT with virtualization checks. It can inject scripts or replace page content for selected victims, turning the load balancer into a watering hole. Attribution sits at medium confidence toward North Korean state actors, with overlaps to APT37-linked infrastructure and a concurrent Lazarus campaign; the campaign's command domains have since gone dark.

Security Affairs·Sep 8, 09:11 UTC · 8d agoThreat actor in the wild

ValleyRAT Backdoor Hides in Signed Adware That Users Add to Antivirus Exclusions

Silver Fox distributes ValleyRAT via signed QN Wallpaper adware, sideloading a malicious libcef.dll into a trusted process to evade defenses.

Kaspersky reports the Silver Fox threat actor disguising the ValleyRAT backdoor (Winos 4.0) inside a modified, signed copy of the QN Wallpaper adware tool, using DLL sideloading to run within a trusted process. The installer disables Windows Defender via the DisableAntiSpyware registry key, adds autorun entries, and elevates via runas when needed; ValleyRAT steals keystrokes, clipboard data, and screenshots and can mark its process critical to trigger BSOD if killed. Kaspersky recorded more than 100,000 ValleyRAT detections affecting over 1,500 unique users in 2026, mostly in China and India, with prior campaigns against Japan, India, and Russia.

The Hacker News·Aug 31, 12:14 UTC · 16d agoMalware in the wild