spyware

Pierluigi Paganini June 24, 2022
Google TAG argues that Italian surveillance firm RCS Labs was helped by ISPs to infect mobile users

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that the Italian spyware vendor RCS Labs was supported by ISPs to spy on users. Researchers from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) revealed that the Italian surveillance firm RCS Labs was helped by some Internet service providers (ISPs) in Italy and Kazakhstan to infect Android and iOS users with […]

Pierluigi Paganini June 17, 2022
Experts link Hermit spyware to Italian surveillance firm RCS Lab and a front company

Experts uncovered an enterprise-grade surveillance malware dubbed Hermit used to target individuals in Kazakhstan, Syria, and Italy since 2019. Lookout Threat Lab researchers uncovered enterprise-grade Android surveillance spyware, named Hermit, used by the government of Kazakhstan to track individuals within the country. The latest samples of this spyware were detected by the researchers in April 2022, four […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 13, 2022
EU officials were targeted with Israeli surveillance software

According to a report published by Reuters, an Israeli surveillance software was used to spy on senior officials in the European Commission. One of the officials targeted with the infamous spyware there is Didier Reynders, a senior Belgian statesman who has served as the European Justice Commissioner since 2019. The report did not attribute the […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 17, 2022
European Data Protection Supervisor call for bans on surveillance spyware like Pegasus

The European Data Protection Supervisor authority called for a ban on the development and the use of Pegasus-like commercial spyware. The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) authority this week called for a ban on the development and the use of surveillance software like the Pegasus spyware in the EU. Pegasus is a surveillance malware developed by […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 10, 2022
Spyware, ransomware and Nation-state hacking: Q&A from a recent interview

I transcribed a recent interview, here some questions and answers about nation-state hacking, spyware, and cyber warfare. Enjoy” How has spyware changed the rules of cyber security in recent years? What will cyber security look like now that those tools are all over the internet? In the last decade, we have observed a progressive weaponization […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 28, 2022
Finnish diplomats’ devices infected with Pegasus spyware

Finland Ministry for Foreign Affairs revealed that devices of Finnish diplomats have been infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs revealed that the devices of some Finnish diplomats have been compromised with the infamous NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The diplomats were targeted with the popular surveillance software as part of a […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 21, 2022
Experts warn of anomalous spyware campaigns targeting industrial firms

Researchers spotted several spyware campaigns targeting industrial enterprises to steal credentials and conduct financial fraud. Researchers from Kaspersky Lab have uncovered multiple spyware campaigns that target industrial firms to steal email account credentials and carry out fraudulent activities. Threat actors sent spear-phishing messages from compromised corporate accounts to their contacts, the email carry malicious attachments. […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 03, 2021
NSO Group spyware used to compromise iPhones of 9 US State Dept officials

Apple warns that the mobile devices of at least nine US Department of State employees were compromised with NSO Group ‘s Pegasus spyware. The iPhones of at least nine US state department officials were compromised with the NSO Group’s spyware Pegasus. The US officials targeted by the surveillance software were either based in Uganda or focused […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 11, 2021
Donot Team targets a Togo prominent activist with Indian-made spyware

A Togolese human rights advocate was hit by mobile spyware that has been allegedly developed by an Indian firm called Innefu Labs. Researchers from Amnesty International have uncovered a cyberespionage campaign tracked as ‘Donot Team‘ (aka APT-C-35) which was orchestrated by threat actors in India and Pakistan. Experts believe the attackers used a spyware developed […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 29, 2021
Experts observed for the first time FinFisher infections involving usage of a UEFI bootkit

Experts spotted a new variant of the FinFisher surveillance spyware that is able to hijack and replace the Windows UEFI bootloader to infect Windows machines. Malware researchers at Kaspersky have spotted a new improvement of the infamous commercial FinSpy surveillance spyware (also known as Wingbird), it can now hijack and replace the Windows UEFI (Unified […]