Android users worldwide hit by sophisticated Google Play malware

By Sudais Asif
A new Android malware campaign dubbed PhantomLance has been found infecting users from…
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Vietnamese hackers exploited Google Play Store for espionage campaign

Hackers with suspected links to the Vietnamese government have been using the Google Play Store to distribute malicious software for the last four years, according to Kaspersky research published Tuesday. The targeted Android campaign, which Kaspersky dubbed “PhantomLance,” affected roughly 300 devices in nearly a dozen countries including Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Algeria, South Africa, Nepal, Myanmar, and Malaysia, the company said. Researchers say with “medium confidence” the espionage campaign is connected to a known hacking group, OceanLotus or APT32, previously linked to the Vietnamese government. While attackers are targeting users in several countries, they appear to be especially focused on users in Vietnam. The effort suggests hackers are running domestic as well as foreign espionage operations, according to Kaspersky. They have been distributing their campaign through applications which promise to help users locate the nearest pub in Vietnam, or providing information on nearby churches. In addition to sharing APT32’s interest in victims located in Vietnam, the PhantomLance campaign’s malware, […]

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A Dozen Nation-Backed APTs Tap COVID-19 to Cover Spy Attacks

Iran’s Charming Kitten and other nation-state actors are using the coronavirus pandemic to their advantage, for espionage. Continue reading A Dozen Nation-Backed APTs Tap COVID-19 to Cover Spy Attacks

Vietnamese cyber-espionage has pivoted to Beijing’s coronavirus response

Hackers working on behalf of the Vietnamese government have been targeting Chinese government organizations tasked with managing the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to FireEye research published Wednesday. The attackers specifically sent spearphishing emails laced with METALJACK malware to employees at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated. The malware, which was delivered via phishing emails, eventually gets loaded into memory. The hackers, which FireEye suspects to be a group called Ocean Lotus or APT32, are just the latest state-backed hacking operation that has pivoted to targeting the health care sector or coronavirus-related organizations in recent months. Mandiant Threat Intelligence, a subsidiary of FireEye, consider APT32’s campaign to be “part of a global increase in cyber-espionage related to the crisis, carried out by states desperately seeking solutions and nonpublic information” and is aimed at collecting more information on […]

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The latest in Facebook’s dragnet: Propaganda from Russian military intelligence

Facebook on Wednesday announced the removal of three networks of accounts it had determined were operating on behalf of foreign governments, including a number of pages that the company tied to Russian intelligence services. Researchers found a network of 78 accounts, 11 Pages, 29 groups and four Instagram pages that often posted about news such as Russia’s involvement in Syria and the downing of the Malaysian airliner MH17 and also had links to Russian military intelligence services, the company said. Sometimes, the account holders misrepresented themselves as citizen journalists, and contacted policymakers, reporters and other known figures in the region who could help amplify their content, Facebook said in a blog post. The other networks originated in Iran, where operators also impersonated journalists, and Vietnam and Myanmar, where the Burmese telecommunications company MyTel, which is indirectly owned by the Burmese and Vietnamese militaries, engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” These takedowns are […]

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Zigzagging office provides a green and comfortable place to work

Vietnam’s VTN Architects (Vo Trong Nghia Architects) continues its pursuit of adding greenery-infused architecture to its homeland with a pair of new projects in Hanoi. The most notable is named the Viettel Offsite Studio and is defined by a … Continue reading Zigzagging office provides a green and comfortable place to work

Vietnamese hacking group has a ‘Swiss Army knife’ of tools at its disposal

A set of remote access tools used by Vietnam’s top hacking group remained largely undetected for years despite their reliance on sloppy code and other hacking techniques that fall short of the group’s normally high standard, according to research published Monday by BlackBerry Cylance. The OceanLotus group, also known as APT32, has gained notoriety in recent years for using carefully crafted tools to breach companies with business interests in Vietnam, particularly in the manufacturing and hospitality sectors. But use of the newfound remote access trojans (RATs), known as Ratsnif, is out of character for OceanLotus, a technically advanced group that projects power in cyberspace in support of Vietnamese interests. BlackBery Cylance’s new analysis shows how state-aligned groups can select from a range of malware that varies in sophistication, only using what is necessary against a target organization. There is “sloppy code [and] programmatical errors and debug messages not typically present in OceanLotus malware,” said Tom Bonner, BlackBerry Cylance’s director of threat research […]

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Will Developing Nations Turn to Cybercrime to Fuel Their Economy?

Vietnam is one developing nation believed to be using cyberattacks to generate money As banks and financial institutions are increasingly targeted by financially motivated malicious actors the world over, protecting these organizations from cyberthrea… Continue reading Will Developing Nations Turn to Cybercrime to Fuel Their Economy?

Fablab Saigon Celebrates a Belated Arduino Day

Okay, we’ve just left May and stepped into June, why are we talking about Arduino Day — traditionally a March 16th event where makers congregate and share projects? I live in Ho Chi Minh City, and the event tends to take place in mid-May, but the enthusiasm and collaborative …read more

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Hacker Abroad: Vietnam’s Electronics and Hardware Markets

Ho Chi Mihn City is the hub for sourcing the materials and tools driving the growing Vietnamese economy. Whether you’re building new, or keeping existing equipment running, the supply chains and service companies aren’t yet in place and the markets of HCMC are the go-to for parts and equipment. Let’s …read more

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