• 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

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 

Hardcoded credentials found in HPE Aruba Instant On Wi-Fi devices

 | 

MuddyWater deploys new DCHSpy variants amid Iran-Israel conflict

 | 
  • 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
  • Cyber Crime
  • Hacking
  • Intelligence
  • FireEye detected Molerats attacks on a large scale based on Xtreme RAT

FireEye detected Molerats attacks on a large scale based on Xtreme RAT

Pierluigi Paganini June 08, 2014

FireEye Labs recently identified several new Molerats attacks based on Xtreme RAT targeting US financial institutions and European government organizations.

FireEye experts between 29 April and 27 May have identified several new Molerats attacks targeting organizations across the globe. European government organizations, at least one U.S. financial institution and other private entities were hit by cyber attacks based on the remote access trojan (RAT), called Xtreme RAT, for their exploits.

This summer FireEye specialists published details related to the investigation on an attack campaign based on Poison Ivy  which targeted numerous organizations in the Middle East and the United States. All these campaigns were conducted using off-the-shelf Remote Access Tool (RAT), and according the experts, they shouldn’t be automatically linked to Chinese bad actors.

The new wave of attacks observed by FireEye have leveraged free Xtreme RAT tool, which gives attackers the complete remote control of the victim’s machine, including the access to webcams or microphones that transform the PC in a powerful environment bug.

Recent attacks adopt old and consolidated tactics, the hackers reuse of command and control (CnC) infrastructure and a similar set of TTPs, the lits of targets include: list, which includes:

  • Palestinian and Israeli surveillance targets
  • Government departments in Israel, Turkey, Slovenia, Macedonia, New Zealand, Latvia, the U.S., and the UK
  • The Office of the Quartet Representative
  • The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
  • A major U.S. financial institution
  • Multiple European government organizations

Attackers behind Molerats campaigns used spear phishing tactics to serve Xtreme RAT malware through malicious emails containing infected link and attachments.

molerats Xtreme RAT

“It shows the barrier to entry is quite low,”“[Operations] like Molerats have been conducting these kind of campaigns for several years now and largely sticking to the same tactics, which probably means they are attaining a certain amount of success without enhancing their capabilities.” “It’s not a typical cyber crime operation, where they are looking to make money through credit card fraud, or something like that. But we are still short of understanding the exact motivation of this particular group,” said Nart Villeneuve, senior threat intelligence researcher at FireEye

FireEye experts have identified a series of indicators that led them to believe that the attacks are conducted by the same group, for example the group use to digitally sign malware code to avoid detection.

“Previous Molerats campaigns have used several garden-variety, freely available backdoors such as CyberGate and Bifrost, but, most recently, we have observed them making use of the PIVY and Xtreme RATs. Previous campaigns made use of at least one of three observed forged Microsoft certificates, allowing security researchers to accurately tie together separate attacks even if the attacks used different backdoors. There also appears to be a habitual use of lures or decoy documents – in either English or Arabic-language – with content focusing on active conflicts in the Middle East. The lures come packaged  with malicious files that drop the Molerats’ flavor of the week, which happen to all be Xtreme RAT binaries in these most recent campaigns.”

Analysts are tracking various attacks and it is still not clear if we are faced with a large scale cyber espionage campaign or if the attacks are related to emerging groups, the unique certainly is that we are facing with targeted attacks.

“Molerats campaigns seem to be limited to only using freely available malware; however, their growing list of targets and increasingly evolving techniques in subsequent campaigns are certainly noteworthy.” reports the blog post.

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

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs –  Xtreme RAT, cyber espionage)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

cyber espionage Cybercrime FireEye Molerats Poison Ivy Xtreme RAT

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 26, 2025
Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 26, 2025
Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

    Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

    Cyber Crime / July 26, 2025

    Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

    Intelligence / July 26, 2025

    Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

    Intelligence / July 25, 2025

    Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

    Security / July 25, 2025

    Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

    Malware / July 25, 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