Schneier on Security

JANUARY 24, 2020

Motherboard obtained and published the technical report on the hack of Jeff Bezos's phone, which is being attributed to Saudi Arabia, specifically to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.investigators set up a secure lab to examine the phone and its artifacts and spent two days poring over the device but were unable to find any malware on it.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 2, 2024

Court ordered surveillance firm NSO Group to hand over the source code for its Pegasus spyware and other products to Meta. Meta won the litigation against the Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group , a U.S. from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020). from April 29, 2018, to May 10, 2020).

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Security Affairs

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Threat actors infected the iPhone of New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between June 2018 to June 2021. The iPhone of New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard was repeatedly infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. SecurityAffairs – hacking, NSO Group). Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

MAY 30, 2024

Researchers from ThreatFabric discovered a macOS version of the LightSpy spyware that has been active in the wild since at least January 2024. ThreatFabric observed threat actors using two publicly available exploits (CVE-2018-4233, CVE-2018-4404) to deliver macOS implants. and iOS versions before 11.4.

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Security Affairs

JULY 19, 2021

Pegasus Project investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets revealed the abuse of NSO Group’s spyware. Pegasus Project is the name of a large-scale investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets that revealed the abuse of NSO Group’s spyware.

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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Security researchers from Lookout have discovered new spyware, dubbed Goontcat, that could target both Android and iOS users. Goontact implement common spyware features, including the ability to gather data from the infected devices and gather system info. The spyware is likely used as part of a sextortion campaign.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Vietnam-linked APT32 group targeted Vietnamese human rights defenders (HRDs) between February 2018 and November 2020. The threat actors used by spyware to take over the target systems, spy on the victims, and exfiltrate data. The link points to files containing spyware that could infect both Mac OS or Windows systems.

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Security Affairs

JUNE 22, 2020

Researchers at Amnesty International collected evidence that a Moroccan journalist was targeted with network injection attacks using NSO Group ‘s spyware. The links used in these attacks are similar to the ones detected by in June 2018 by Amnesty International in operations against an Amnesty staff member and a Saudi HRD.

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Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

A Hungarian government official confirmed that his government has bought and used the controversial NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. In July, a large-scale investigation, dubbed Pegasus Project , into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets revealed the abuse of NSO Group’s spyware. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

Lookout researchers provided details about two Android spyware families employed by an APT group tracked as Confucius. Researchers at mobile security firm Lookout have provided details about two recently discovered Android spyware families, dubbed Hornbill and SunBird, used by an APT group named Confucius. ” concludes the report.

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Bleeping Computer

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Vietnam-backed hacking group APT32 has coordinated several spyware attacks targeting Vietnamese human rights defenders (HRDs) between February 2018 and November 2020. [.].

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Security Affairs

JULY 30, 2024

A new version of the Mandrake Android spyware has been found in five apps on Google Play, which have been downloaded over 32,000 times since 2022. Researchers from Kaspersky discovered a new version of the Mandrake Android spyware in five app on Google Play, totaling over 32,000 downloads between 2022 and 2024.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 3, 2023

The phone of an opposition-linked Polish mayor was infected with the powerful Pegasus spyware, local media reported. Reuters reported that the phone of an opposition-linked Polish mayor was infected with the Pegasus spyware. According to rumors, the Polish special services are using surveillance software to spy on government opponents.

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Security Affairs

JULY 11, 2019

Malware researchers from Kaspersky have discovered new and improved versions of the infamous FinFisher spyware used to infect both Android and iOS devices. Experts at Kaspersky have discovered a new improved variant of the FinFisher spyware used to spy on both iOS and Android users in 20 countries. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

JUNE 28, 2019

Allegedly Western nation-state actors breached the systems of Russian tech giant Yandex in 2018, the attack involved a new variant of the Regin malware. According to the Reuters, Western state-sponsored hackers breached the systems of the Russian tech giant Yandex in 2018, the attack involved a new variant of the Regin malware.

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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 12, 2018

Experts from Kaspersky Lab reported that that the recently patched Windows kernel zero-day vulnerability ( CVE-2018-8611 ) has been exploited by several threat actors. Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday updates for December 2018 address nearly 40 flaws, including a zero-day vulnerability affecting the Windows kernel. Pierluigi Paganini.

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The Hacker News

OCTOBER 24, 2021

The iPhone of New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard was repeatedly hacked with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware tool over a three-year period stretching between June 2018 to June 2021, resulting in infections twice in July 2020 and June 2021.

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Hacking Spyware 106

eSecurity Planet

JULY 21, 2021

Reports that the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used by governments to spy on Apple iPhones used by journalists, activists, government officials and business executives is becoming a global controversy for NSO, Apple and a number of governments at the center of the scandal. Both incidents occurred in 2018. Apple Under Fire.

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Spyware Mobile Government Surveillance 125

SecureWorld News

JULY 18, 2022

The controversial Pegasus spyware continues to stay in the news cycle, as a new report from the Citizen Lab details how the technology was used to target pro-democracy activists in Thailand. The increase in surveillance also means the use of Pegasus spyware. Pegasus spyware in Thailand. So, what is the situation in Thailand?

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Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

The threat actors behind the campaigns used two Android spyware to spy on the victims and steal sensitive information. The BadBazaar campaign dates back to late 2018, over the time the researchers obtained 111 unique apps that masquerade as harmless apps such as radio apps, messaging apps, dictionaries, religious apps, and even TikTok.

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Surveillance Spyware Malware Mobile 98

Security Affairs

MARCH 19, 2019

Security experts at Group-IB presented at Money2020 Asia the results of an interesting analysis of hi-tech crime landscape in Asia in 2018. The number of leaked cards increased in 2018 by 56%. The total underground market value of Singaporean banks’ cards compromised in 2018 is estimated at nearly $640 000.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 8, 2019

Bahrain, 08.04.2019 – Group-IB, an international company that specializes in preventing cyberattacks , and NGN International, a global system integrator, analyzed cybersecurity landscape in Gulf countries in 2018. According to Group-IB’s annual Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2018 report, on average, from June 2017 to August 2018, the details of 1.8

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Artificial Intelligence Government Banking Advertising 97

Security Affairs

OCTOBER 10, 2019

NSO Group ‘s surveillance spyware made the headlines again, this time the malware was used to spy on 2 rights activists in Morocco according Amnesty International. Amnesty International collected evidence of new abuses of the NSO Group ‘s surveillance spyware, this time the malware was used to spy two rights activists in Morocco.

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Security Affairs

JUNE 24, 2022

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that the Italian spyware vendor RCS Labs was supported by ISPs to spy on users. The iOS app analyzed by the researchers contained the following exploits: CVE-2018-4344 internally referred to and publicly known as LightSpeed. SecurityAffairs – hacking, RCS Labs).

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Surveillance Mobile Spyware Telecommunications 136

Krebs on Security

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

However, these tools tend to be viewed by prosecutors as malware and spyware when their proprietors advertise them as hacking devices and provide customer support aimed at helping buyers deploy the RATs stealthily and evade detection by anti-malware programs.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 16, 2019

Scranos is a powerful cross-platform rootkit-enabled spyware discovered while investigating malware posing as legitimate software like video players, drivers and even anti-virus products. According to the experts, the operation is in a consolidation stage, first samples date back to November 2018, with a massive spike in December and January.

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Spyware Adware Malware Accountability 103

Security Affairs

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

Israel has been sending text messages, recordings, and hacking radio networks to warn Lebanese citizens to evacuate certain areas. Israel has been sending text messages, recordings, and hacking radio networks to warn Lebanese citizens to evacuate certain areas in the country, likely due to an imminent full-scale strike. Ibrahim said.

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Hacking Spyware Mobile Media 135

Security Affairs

AUGUST 23, 2018

Security researchers from Bitdefender have spotted a new Android spyware framework dubbed Triout that could be used to create malware with extensive surveillance capabilities. The researcher revealed that the command and control (C&C) server has been running since May 2018 and at the time of the report it was still up and running.

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Spyware Surveillance Advertising Malware 71

Security Affairs

AUGUST 12, 2020

Agent Tesla is a spyware that is used to spy on the victims by collecting keystrokes, system clipboard, screenshots, and credentials from the infected system. To do this, the spyware creates different threads and timer functions in the main function. SecurityAffairs – hacking, Agent Tesla). Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Agent Tesla is a spyware that is used to spy on the victims by collecting keystrokes, system clipboard, screenshots, and credentials from the infected system. To do this, the spyware creates different threads and timer functions in the main function.

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Security Affairs

MARCH 13, 2019

In October 2018, FruityArmor exploited another Windows zero-day in targeted attacks aimed at entities in the Middle East. The SandCat APT was discovered by Kaspersky Lab at the end of 2018 when the group used a flaw (CVE-2018-8611) addressed with security updates released by Microsoft in December. Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 22, 2024

The threat actors shared a portion of the stolen data with TechCrunch as proof of the hack, it includes records on current and former government officials, diplomats, and politically exposed people. The list also includes criminals, suspected terrorists, intelligence operatives and a European spyware firm.

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Risk Spyware Hacking Accountability 139

Security Affairs

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Researchers spotted new variants of the Windows GravityRAT spyware that now can also infect Android and macOS devices. The researchers reported that the malware was employed in approximately 100 successful attacks between 2015 and 2018. SecurityAffairs – hacking, GravityRAT ). Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 9, 2018

In July, Citizen Lab collected evidence of attacks against 175 targets worldwide carried on with the NSO spyware. YEAR(S) IN WHICH SPYWARE INFECTION WAS ATTEMPTED. In August, an Amnesty International report confirmed that its experts identified a second human rights activist, in Saudi Arabia, who was targeted with the powerful spyware.

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Security Affairs

APRIL 17, 2020

Syrian hackers are behind a long-running campaign that has been active since January 2018 and that targets Arabic-speaking Android users. “This campaign appears to have been active since the start of January 2018, and targets Arabic-speaking users, likely in Syria and the surrounding region.” ” continues the expert.

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Surveillance Telecommunications Mobile Advertising 131

Security Affairs

JULY 10, 2020

Evilnum threat actor was first spotted in 2018 while using the homonym malware. The JS script would also act as a dropper for additional payloads, including a C# spyware, Golden Chickens components, and Python-based applications. SecurityAffairs – hacking, Evilnum). Pierluigi Paganini.

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Security Affairs

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Israeli Force (IDF) announced it has thwarted an attempt by the Hamas militant group to hack soldiers’ phones by posing as attractive women on social media. Anyway, IDF experts explained that the last campaign was by far the most sophisticated.

Social Engineering 101

Social Engineering Media Advertising Spyware 101