• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

 | 

Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

 | 

Iranian group Pay2Key.I2P ramps Up ransomware attacks against Israel and US with incentives for affiliates

 | 

Hackers weaponize Shellter red teaming tool to spread infostealers

 | 

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

 | 

Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

 | 

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 

A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

 | 

China-linked group Houken hit French organizations using zero-days

 | 

Cybercriminals Target Brazil: 248,725 Exposed in CIEE One Data Breach

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • Intelligence
  • Malware
  • Earth Empusa targets minority group with Android ActionSpy spyware

Earth Empusa targets minority group with Android ActionSpy spyware

Pierluigi Paganini June 15, 2020

The Earth Empusa threat group is distributing new Android spyware, dubbed ActionSpy, through watering hole attacks to targets Turkic minority group.

Researchers warn that the Earth Empusa (aka POISON CARP/Evil Eye) threat group is targeting the Uyghurs, a Turkic minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia, with new Android spyware dubbed ActionSpy.

The threat actors are spreading the malware through watering hole attacks targeting Tibet, Turkey, and Taiwan,

The malware was first spotted in April 2020, but experts believe the ActionSpy spyware has been active at least since 2017.

The spyware leverages a sequence of iOS exploits in the wild since 2016, since April 2020 ActionSpy is being spread via several pages distributed in the wild via phishing emails disguised as a download page of an Android video application that is popular in Tibet.

“ActionSpy, which may have been around since 2017, is an Android spyware that allows the attacker to collect information from the compromised devices,” reads the report published by Trend Micro. “It also has a module designed for spying on instant messages… and collecting chat logs from four different instant messaging applications.”

Attackers injected the malicious code to deploy the spyware in websites, some of them were actually fake. One of the pages used to deliver the malicious code replicated news pages from the World Uyghur Congress website.

The pages were injected with a script to load the cross-site scripting framework BeEF used to selectively deliver their malicious script.

Unfortunately, Trend Micro researchers were not able to detect any script while accessing the phishing pages employed in the watering hole attacks.

Earth Empusa ActionSpy malware

“In addition, we have also identified a news website and political party website in Turkey that have been compromised and injected with the same attack. In a more recent development, we found the same injection on a university website as well as a travel agency site based in Taiwan in March 2020.” continues the analysis. “These developments have led as to believe that Earth Empusa is widening the scope of their targets.”

The configuration of the ActionSpy is encrypted by DES and the decryption key is generated in native code, it includes the C&C server address. The traffic between C&C and ActionSpy is encrypted by RSA and transferred via HTTP.

Every 30 seconds, ActionSpy will collect basic device information, including IMEI, phone number, manufacturer, battery status, and send it to the C&C server. The server, in turn, may send some commands to the compromised device.

ActionSpy supports multiple modules that allow the spyware to implement a broad range of capabilities, including collect device location, contact info, call logs and SMS messages, make a device connect or disconnect to Wi-Fi, take photos with the camera and screenshots of the device and get chat logs from messaging apps (WhatsApp, China messaging services like QQ and WeChat, and Japanese messaging tool Viber).

ActionSpy prompts users to turn on the Android Accessibility service claiming that it is a memory garbage cleaning service.

Upon enabling the Accessibility service, ActionSpy will monitor “AccessibilityEvents” on the device.

“We have observed these injections on multiple Uyghur-related sites since the start of 2020. In addition, we have also identified a news website and political party website in Turkey that have been compromised and injected with the same attack. In a more recent development, we found the same injection on a university website as well as a travel agency site based in Taiwan in March 2020.” concludes the report. “These developments have led as to believe that Earth Empusa is widening the scope of their targets.”

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Earth Empusa, cybersecurity)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

ActionSpy Earth Empusa Hacking hacking news information security news malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 10, 2025
DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 09, 2025
Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

    APT / July 10, 2025

    Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

    Data Breach / July 09, 2025

    Iranian group Pay2Key.I2P ramps Up ransomware attacks against Israel and US with incentives for affiliates

    Malware / July 09, 2025

    Hackers weaponize Shellter red teaming tool to spread infostealers

    Malware / July 09, 2025

    Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

    Security / July 08, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT