The North Korean state-sponsored threat actor known as Kimsuky (aka Velvet Chollima) has been attributed to a fresh set of cyber attacks targeting South Korean military and corporate entities through March and April 2026. “Kimsuky employed a range of tailored social engineering tactics, such as spoofing security software installation pages and crafting a fake Webex…
Tag: statesponsored
AI, china, Global Security News, Government & Policy, Russia
Oil shipments, drone makers, and a poisoned code library targeted in recent APT campaigns
Geopolitical pressure drove much of the state-sponsored cyber activity recorded between October 2025 and March 2026, according to ESET’s latest APT Activity Report. Espionage groups aligned with China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran adjusted their targets to match the economic and security concerns of their governments. Attack sources (Source: ESET) “In Asia, the campaigns primarily…
AI, Europe, Global Security News
Iranian Hackers Deploy MiniFast and MiniJunk V2 via Phishing and SEO Poisoning
The Iranian state-sponsored threat actor known as Nimbus Manticore (aka Screening Serpens and UNC1549) has been attributed to a fresh campaign using lures impersonating organizations in the aviation and software sectors across the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East following the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against the country in late February 2026. The activity, besides…
Cybersecurity, Global Security News, Russia
Turla Turns Kazuar Backdoor Into Modular P2P Botnet for Persistent Access
The Russian state-sponsored hacking group known as Turla has transformed its custom backdoor Kazuar into a modular peer-to-peer (P2P) botnet that’s engineered for stealth and persistent access to compromised hosts. Turla, per the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is assessed to be affiliated with Center 16 of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB)
Exploits, Global Security News, Network Security
Palo Alto Networks firewall zero-day exploited for nearly a month
Palo Alto Networks warned customers that suspected state-sponsored hackers have been exploiting a critical-severity PAN-OS firewall zero-day vulnerability for nearly a month. […]
AI, APAC, china, Global Security News
Iranian state-backed spies pose as ransomware slingers in false flag attacks
An Iranian state-sponsored espionage group is pretending to be a regular ransomware gang in a new wave of ransomware attacks targeting enterprises. APT group MuddyWater (aka Seedworm) is masquerading as the Chaos ransomware-as-a-service group to confuse incident response and mask its spying and cyber-sabotage, according to research by security vendor Rapid7. The attacks — geared…
Global Security News
MuddyWater Uses Microsoft Teams to Steal Credentials in False Flag Ransomware Attack
The Iranian state-sponsored hacking group known as MuddyWater (aka Mango Sandstorm, Seedworm, and Static Kitten) has been attributed to a ransomware attack in what has been described as a “false flag” operation. The attack, observed by Rapid7 in early 2026, has been found to leverage social engineering techniques via Microsoft Teams to initiate the infection…
AI, china, Global Security News
ScarCruft Hacks Gaming Platform to Deploy BirdCall Malware on Android and Windows
The North Korea-aligned state-sponsored hacking group known as ScarCruft has compromised a video game platform in a supply chain espionage attack, trojanizing its components with a backdoor called BirdCallto likely target ethnic Koreans residing in China. While prior versions of the backdoor have primarily targeted Windows users only, the supply chain attack is assessed to…
Cybersecurity, Global Security News, malware
New Cisco firewall malware can only be killed by pulling the plug
Suspected state-sponsored attackers are using a custom backdoor to persistently compromise Cisco security devices (firewalls), the US CISA and the UK National Cyber Security Centre warned on Thusday. “The [Firestarter] malware (…) is relevant for both Cisco Firepower and Secure Firewall devices; however, CISA has only observed a successful implant of the malware in the…
Global Security News
Tropic Trooper APT Takes Aim at Home Routers, Japanese Targets
The Chinese state-sponsored cyber threat is known for moving fast and trying odd attack vectors; now it’s branching out in tools, victimology, and TTPs.
AI, china, Cybersecurity, Data Breaches, Exploits, Global Security News, Government & Policy, malware, Network Security
US, UK agencies warn hackers were hiding on Cisco firewalls long after patches were applied
A state-sponsored hacking group has implanted a custom backdoor on Cisco network security devices that can survive firmware updates and standard reboots, U.S. and British cybersecurity authorities disclosed Thursday, marking a significant escalation in a campaign that has targeted government and critical infrastructure networks since at least late 2025. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency…
AI, Exploits, Global Security News, malware
With AI’s help, North Korean hackers stumbled into a near-undetectable attack
For many years, state-sponsored hacking was defined by human expertise in finding security holes, writing malware and exploits, pulling off social engineering and phishing attacks, and much more. Since the advent of LLM-powered AI assistants and tools, less skilled attackers have been able to carry out attacks and compromises that might otherwise have been out…
Global Security News
KelpDAO suffers $290 million heist tied to Lazarus hackers
State-sponsored North Korean hackers are likely behind the $290 million crypto-heist that impacted the KelpDAO DeFi project on Saturday. […]
AI, Europe, Exploits, Global Security News, Government & Policy, malware, Network Security, Russia
Feds quash widespread Russia-backed espionage network spanning 18,000 devices
Russian state-sponsored attackers compromised more than 18,000 routers spread across more than 120 countries to gain deeper access to sensitive networks for a large-scale espionage campaign before it was recently neutralized, researchers and authorities said Tuesday. Forest Blizzard, also known as APT28 and Fancy Bear, exploited known vulnerabilities to steal credentials for thousands of TP-Link…
AI, Exploits, Global Security News
The Kill Chain Is Obsolete When Your AI Agent Is the Threat
In September 2025, Anthropic disclosed that a state-sponsored threat actor used an AI coding agent to execute an autonomous cyber espionage campaign against 30 global targets. The AI handled 80-90% of tactical operations on its own, performing reconnaissance, writing exploit code, and attempting lateral movement at machine speed. This incident is worrying, but there’s a…
AI, Global Security News, malware, Russia
APT28 Uses BEARDSHELL and COVENANT Malware to Spy on Ukrainian Military
The Russian state-sponsored hacking group tracked as APT28 has been observed using a pair of implants dubbed BEARDSHELL and COVENANT to facilitate long‑term surveillance of Ukrainian military personnel. The two malware families have been put to use since April 2024, ESET said in a new report shared with The Hacker News. APT28, also tracked as…
Exploits, Global Security News, Russia
APT28 hackers deploy customized variant of Covenant open-source tool
The Russian state-sponsored APT28 threat group is using a custom variant of the open-source Covenant post-exploitation framework for long-term espionage operations. […]
AI, Global Security News, Government & Policy, Russia
Dutch govt warns of Signal, WhatsApp account hijacking attacks
Russian state-sponsored hackers have been linked to an ongoing Signal and WhatsApp phishing campaign targeting government officials, military personnel, and journalists to gain access to sensitive messages. […]
AI, Europe, Exploits, Global Security News, Russia
APT28 Targeted European Entities Using Webhook-Based Macro Malware
The Russia-linked state-sponsored threat actor tracked as APT28 has been attributed to a new campaign targeting specific entities in Western and Central Europe. The activity, per S2 Grupo’s LAB52 threat intelligence team, was active between September 2025 and January 2026. It has been codenamed Operation MacroMaze. “The campaign relies on basic tooling and the exploitation…
AI, china, Global Security News, Russia
Google Links China, Iran, Russia, North Korea to Coordinated Defense Sector Cyber Operations
Several state-sponsored actors, hacktivist entities, and criminal groups from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have trained their sights on the defense industrial base (DIB) sector, according to findings from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG). The tech giant’s threat intelligence division said the adversarial targeting of the sector is centered around four key themes: striking…
AI, APT, china, Cybersecurity, Global Security News, Government & Policy, malware, Russia, Technology
Google finds state-sponsored hackers use AI at ‘all stages’ of attack cycle
A new report from Google found evidence that state-sponsored hacking groups have leveraged AI tool Gemini at nearly every stage of the cyber attack cycle. The research underscores how AI tools have matured in their cyber offensive capabilities, even as it doesn’t reveal novel or paradigm shifting uses of the technology. John Hultquist, chief analyst…
Global Security News, Security
Germany warns of Signal account hijacking targeting senior figures
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is warning of suspected state-sponsored threat actors targeting high-ranking individuals in phishing attacks via messaging apps like Signal. […]