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This diagram illustrates the typical infection chain of this Android malware. The infection starts from an SMS message that contains a malicious link that leads to the malicious APK.

Rewards plus: Fake mobile banking rewards apps lure users to install info-stealing RAT on Android devices

Our analysis of a recent version of a previously reported info-stealing Android malware, delivered through an ongoing SMS campaign, demonstrates the continuous evolution of mobile threats. Masquerading as a banking rewards app, this new version has additional remote access trojan ... continue reading
Security
An organizational chart of the different threat actors that worked together in attacking the Albanian government. The top level mentions Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security as the sponsor organization. A table on the left side lists down the threat actor group names and their corresponding aliases.

Microsoft investigates Iranian attacks against the Albanian government

Shortly after the destructive cyberattacks against the Albanian government in mid-July, the Microsoft Detection and Response Team (DART) was engaged by the Albanian government to lead an investigation into the attacks. At the time of the attacks and our engagement ... continue reading
Security
Screenshot of a section of a configuration file.

MagicWeb: NOBELIUM’s post-compromise trick to authenticate as anyone

Microsoft security researchers have discovered a post-compromise capability we’re calling MagicWeb, which is used by a threat actor we track as NOBELIUM to maintain persistent access to compromised environments. NOBELIUM remains highly active, executing multiple campaigns in parallel targeting government ... continue reading
Security
Screenshot of a Sliver implant configuration data extracted from the process memory of a Sliver backdoor.

Looking for the ‘Sliver’ lining: Hunting for emerging command-and-control frameworks

Microsoft has observed the Sliver command-and-control (C2) framework now being adopted and integrated in intrusion campaigns by nation-state threat actors, cybercrime groups directly supporting ransomware and extortion, and other threat actors to evade detection. We’ve seen these actors use Sliver ... continue reading
Security
A screenshot of the ransom noted displayed by the H0lyGh0st ransomware. The page has a white background with black text, and presents information on how the ransomware victim can restore their files.

North Korean threat actor targets small and midsize businesses with H0lyGh0st ransomware

A group of actors originating from North Korea that Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) tracks as DEV-0530 has been developing and using ransomware in attacks since June 2021. This group, which calls itself H0lyGh0st, utilizes a ransomware payload with the ... continue reading
Security
Exposing POLONIUM activity and infrastructure targeting Israeli organizations

Exposing POLONIUM activity and infrastructure targeting Israeli organizations

Microsoft successfully detected and disabled attack activity abusing OneDrive by a previously undocumented Lebanon-based activity group Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) tracks as POLONIUM. The associated indicators and tactics were used by the OneDrive team to improve detection of attack ... continue reading
Security
A screenshot of a table of chat messages translated from Russian to English. The table includes details when the message was sent, who it was from, to whom it was sent, the original text in Russian, and the translated English version.

Using Python to unearth a goldmine of threat intelligence from leaked chat logs

Dealing with a great amount of data can be time consuming, thus using Python can be very powerful to help analysts sort information and extract the most relevant data for their investigation. The open-source tools library, MSTICPy, for example, is ... continue reading
Security
Figure 1 displays a diagram depicting a typical attack flow for XorDdos malware. The attacker communicates with a bot to SSH brute force a target device and download XorDdos. The malware then performs several techniques for evasion and persistence before connecting with the attacker's C2 server to send data and receive commands.

Rise in XorDdos: A deeper look at the stealthy DDoS malware targeting Linux devices

In the last six months, we observed a 254% increase in activity from a Linux trojan called XorDdos. First discovered in 2014 by the research group MalwareMustDie, XorDdos was named after its denial-of-service-related activities on Linux endpoints and servers as ... continue reading
Security
World map with circles of varying sizes located in several countries regions to indicate the threat's impact.

Dismantling ZLoader: How malicious ads led to disabled security tools and ransomware

As announced today, Microsoft took action against the ZLoader trojan by working with telecommunications providers around the world to disrupt key ZLoader infrastructure. We used our research into this threat to enrich our protection technologies and ensure this infrastructure could ... continue reading
Security
Screenshot of an application UI with lines of code. One of said code lines is highlighted, with an annotation written in a non-English language.

SpringShell RCE vulnerability: Guidance for protecting against and detecting CVE-2022-22965

On March 31, 2022, vulnerabilities in the Spring Framework for Java were publicly disclosed. Microsoft is currently assessing the impact associated with these vulnerabilities. This blog is for customers looking for protection against exploitation and ways to detect vulnerable installations ... continue reading