Wednesday , May 14 2025
telco

China-linked spies target Asian Telcos since 2021

A group believed to be linked to China has hacked multiple telecom operators in an Asian country since 2021, according to the Symantec Threat Hunter Team.

The attackers used tools linked to Chinese spying groups. They installed several backdoors on targeted companies’ networks to steal passwords.

CVSS 10.0 Flaw
Critical flaw in Siemens OZW Web Servers Enable Unauthenticated RCE

Siemens issued a security advisory (SSA-047424) for two serious vulnerabilities—CVE-2025-26389 and CVE-2025-26390—impacting the OZW672 and OZW772 web servers. These servers...
Read More
CVSS 10.0 Flaw  Critical flaw in Siemens OZW Web Servers Enable Unauthenticated RCE

Microsoft Patch Tuesday May 2025: 72 flaws, 5 Actively Exploited Zero-Day

Microsoft has released its Patch Tuesday updates for May 2025, addressing a total of 78 vulnerabilities across its product ecosystem,...
Read More
Microsoft Patch Tuesday May 2025: 72 flaws, 5 Actively Exploited Zero-Day

OTP glitch disrupted NID services across the country

NID services in Bangladesh are temporarily suspended due to issues with delivering One-Time Passwords (OTP) needed to access the NID...
Read More
OTP glitch disrupted NID services across the country

Google to pay Texas $1.4 billion for location tracking practices

Google will pay about $1.4 billion to Texas to settle two lawsuits regarding location tracking and biometric data storage without...
Read More
Google to pay Texas $1.4 billion for location tracking practices

YouTube geo-blocks at least 4 Bangladeshi TV channels in India

YouTube has restricted access to at least four Bangladeshi television channels in India following a takedown request from the Indian...
Read More
YouTube geo-blocks at least 4 Bangladeshi TV channels in India

Microsoft Patches Four Critical Azure and Power Apps Vulns

Microsoft has fixed critical vulnerabilities in its core cloud services, including Azure Automation, Azure Storage, Azure DevOps, and Microsoft Power...
Read More
Microsoft Patches Four Critical Azure and Power Apps Vulns

Qilin Ransomware topped April 2025 with 45+ data leak disclosures

The cyber threat landscape is rapidly changing, with a notable increase in ransomware activity in April 2025, driven by the...
Read More
Qilin Ransomware topped April 2025 with 45+ data leak disclosures

SonicWall Patches 3 Flaws in SMA 100 Devices

SonicWall has released patches for three security flaws in SMA 100 Secure Mobile Access appliances that could allow remote code...
Read More
SonicWall Patches 3 Flaws in SMA 100 Devices

Top Ransomware Actively Attacking Financial Sector: 406 Incidents Disclosed

From April 2024 to April 2025, Flashpoint analysts noted that the financial sector was a major target for threat actors,...
Read More
Top Ransomware Actively Attacking Financial Sector: 406 Incidents Disclosed

Critical (CVSS 10) Flaw in Cisco IOS XE WLCs Allows RRA

Cisco has issued a security advisory for a critical vulnerability in its IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs)....
Read More
Critical (CVSS 10) Flaw in Cisco IOS XE WLCs Allows RRA

“The attacks have been underway since at least 2021, with evidence to suggest that some of this activity may even date as far back as 2020. Virtually all of the organizations targeted were telecoms operators, with the addition of a services company that serves the telecoms sector and a university in another Asian country.” reads the report published by Broadcom Symantec Threat Hunter Team.

The experts have found evidence indicating that the cluster activity may have started in 2020.

In a recent espionage operation, the attackers used custom malware linked to various Chinese APT groups. Some of the malware used by the attackers are:

Coolclient: A backdoor associated with the Fireant group (also known as Mustang Panda or Earth Preta) hasA backdoor was found to be associated with the Fireant group, also known as Mustang Panda or Earth Preta. It records keystrokes, handles files, and communicates with a C2 server. This campaign utilized a disguised version of VLC Media Player (named googleupdate.exe) to load a Coolclient loader. The loader is responsible for decrypting and executing the payloads.

Quickheal: There is a backdoor linked to the Needleminer group. It is also known as RedFoxtrot or Nomad Panda. The attackers used a 32-bit DLL variant in recent attacks. It communicates with a fixed C&C server using a custom protocol that imitates SSL traffic.

Rainyday: A recent espionage campaign used a backdoor connected to the Firefly group, also known as Naikon.

Other TTPs
Aside from the aforementioned custom backdoors, the attackers employed a diverse range of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs):
Keylogging malware, possibly custom-developed
Port scanning: At least three distinct port-scanning tools were deployed
Credential theft through the dumping of registry hives
Responder: A publicly available tool that acts as a Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution (LLMNR) NetBIOS Name Service (NBT-NS) and multicast DNS (mDNS) poisoner
Enabling RDP

The cyber espionage group used custom backdoors and a variety of tactics and tools to attack their targets. They used keylogging malware, port scanning tools, credential theft, a tool called Responder, and enabled RDP.

“Tools used in this campaign have strong associations with multiple Chinese groups and at least three of the custom backdoors deployed are believed to be used exclusively by Chinese espionage actors.” concludes the report.” “The nature of the link between the actors involved in the current campaign remains unclear. Possibilities include, but are not limited to:

Attacks by multiple separate actors.
One actor using tools and/or personnel obtained or shared from other groups.
Multiple actors collaborating in a single campaign.

The ultimate motive of the intrusion campaign remains unclear.”

(Media Disclaimer: This report is based on research conducted internally and externally using different ways. The information provided is for reference only, and users are responsible for relying on it. Infosecbulletin is not liable for the accuracy or consequences of using this information by any means)

Check Also

SK Telecom

South Korea’s largest SK Telecom Hit by Malware: SIM-related info leaked

South Korea’s largest mobile operator, SK Telecom, is warning that a malware infection allowed threat …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *