• 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

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

 | 

Europol shuts down Archetyp Market, longest-running dark web drug marketplace

 | 

Kelly Benefits data breach has impacted 550,000 people, and the situation continues to worsen as the investigation progresses

 | 

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 

Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

U.S. CISA adds TeleMessage TM SGNL flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

A sophisticated cyberattack hit the International Criminal Court

 | 

Esse Health data breach impacted 263,000 individuals

 | 

Europol dismantles €460M crypto scam targeting 5,000 victims worldwide

 | 

CISA and U.S. Agencies warn of ongoing Iranian cyber threats to critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Canada bans Hikvision over national security concerns

 | 

Denmark moves to protect personal identity from deepfakes with new copyright law

 | 
  • 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
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Microsoft sued North Korea-linked Thallium group

Microsoft sued North Korea-linked Thallium group

Pierluigi Paganini December 30, 2019

Microsoft sued Thallium North Korea-linked APT for hacking into its customers’ accounts and networks via spear-phishing attacks.

Microsoft sued a North Korea-linked cyber espionage group tracked as Thallium for hacking into its customers’ accounts and networks via spear-phishing attacks. The hackers target Microsoft users impersonating the company, according to a lawsuit unsealed Dec. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

The group is charges of violations of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act and Electronic Communications Privacy Act; federal trademark infringement, dilution, and false designation of origin; cybersquatting; common law trespass to chattels; unjust enrichment; conversion; intentional interference with contracts.

The Thallium APT group aimed at stealing sensitive accounts from Microsoft accounts.

Thallium cyberespionage group targets government employees, university staff members, human rights organizations, and individuals and organizations working on nuclear proliferation issues.

The APT group has been active since at least 2010, Microsoft revealed that the hackers launched spear-phishing using legitimate services, including Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.

“Plaintiff MICROSOFT CORP. (“Microsoft”) hereby complains and alleges that JOHN DOES 1-2 (collectively “Defendants”), have established an Internet-based cybertheft operation referred to as “Thallium.” Through Thallium. Defendants are engaged in breaking into the Microsoft accounts and computer networks of Microsoft’s customers and stealing highly sensitive information.” reads the complaint.

“To manage and direct Thallium, Defendants have established and operate a network of websites, domains, and computers on the Internet, which they use to target their victims, compromise their online accounts, infect their computing devices, compromise the security of their networks, and steal sensitive information from them.”

Thallium APT

Thallium uses a technique where victims after clicking on the malicious link included in the spear-phishing messages are redirected to a legitimate Microsoft domain. With this trick, attackers attempt to deceive the victims and let them into thinking the “link is not compromised because the domain is Microsoft’s and incorporates Microsoft’s trademarks.”

The Thallium cyberespionage group also uses malware to steal sensitive data from its targets, according to the complaint two of the most common malware implants used by the APT group are tracked as ‘BabyShark‘ and ‘KimJongRAT.’ 

“The Thallium defendants use misleading domains and Microsoft’s trademarks to cause victims to click on the links that result in installation of this malware on the victims’ computers,” continues Microsoft.

“Once installed on a victim’s computer, this malware exfiltrates information from the victim computer, maintains a persistent presence on the victim computer, and waits for further instructions from the Thallium.”

Bloomberg Law published a list of 50 domains used by Thallium in its cyber espionage campaigns and reported in Appendix A of Microsoft’s complaint against the threat actors.

The activity of the Thallium APT group was also monitored by experts from Netscout’s ATLAS Security Engineering & Response Team (ASERT) that tracked it as STOLEN PENCIL.

ASERT observed the group targeting academic institutions with spear-phishing messages containing a link to a website where a decoy document that attempts to trick users into installing a malicious Google Chrome extension. Most of the victims were at multiple universities with significant expertise in biomedical engineering. 

Attackers were ensuring persistence using off-the-shelf tools, but according to NetScout, they had poor OPSEC (i.e. Korean keyboards, open web browsers in Korean, English-to-Korean translators).

This isn’t the first time Microsoft sued threat actors, in July 2017 the company used the lawsuit to disrupt a large number of cyber espionage campaigns conducted by the infamous Fancy Bear APT hacking group.

In March 2019, Microsoft announced that it had taken control of 99 domains used by an Iran-linked APT group tracked by the company as Phosphorus.

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

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Thallium, hacking)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Cyberespionage Hacking information security news Microsoft Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News Thallium APT

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 05, 2025
North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 04, 2025
Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

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

    Malware / July 05, 2025

    Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

    Security / July 04, 2025

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

    Laws and regulations / July 04, 2025

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

    Malware / July 04, 2025

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

    APT / July 03, 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