A gang of cybercriminals known for breaking into computer systems and selling access to them has been discovered exploiting an Apache Log4j vulnerability, Log4Shell, in unpatched VMware Horizon to plant cryptominers and backdoors on targeted systems.
In a blog published Wednesday, Blackberry’ researchers Ryan Gibson, Codi Starks and Will Ikard revealed that Prophet Spider was behind the attacks, which could be reliably detected by monitoring ws_TomcatService.exe, the Tomcat service used by VMware Horizon.
The researchers explained that after exploiting the Log4Shell vulnerability to penetrate a system, the attackers use PowerShell commands to download a second-stage payload. In the case of Prophet Spider, the payloads were primarily cryptocurrency mining software, although in some instances, Cobalt Strike beacons—a kind of system backdoor—were also installed on the computers.
More Stories
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Facts on Your Phone
Text “SQUID” to 1-833-SCI-TEXT for daily squid facts. The website has merch. As usual, you can also use this squid...
Law Enforcement Crackdowns Drive Novel Ransomware Affiliate Schemes
Increased law enforcement pressure has forced ransomware groups like DragonForce and Anubis to move away from traditional affiliate models Read...
SAP Fixes Critical Vulnerability After Evidence of Exploitation
A maximum severity flaw affecting SAP NetWeaver has been exploited by threat actors Read More
M&S Shuts Down Online Orders Amid Ongoing Cyber Incident
British retailer M&S continues to tackle a cyber incident with online orders now paused for customers Read More
Security Experts Flag Chrome Extension Using AI Engine to Act Without User Input
Researchers have found a Chrome extension that can act on the user’s behalf by using a popular AI agent orchestration...
Cryptocurrency Thefts Get Physical
Long story of a $250 million cryptocurrency theft that, in a complicated chain events, resulted in a pretty brutal kidnapping....