spyware

Pierluigi Paganini April 18, 2023
Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream is shutting down amidst spyware accusations

The Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream is allegedly shutting down its operations after Citizen Lab and Microsoft uncovered their spyware. Last week Citizen Lab researchers reported that at least five civil society members were victims of spyware and exploits developed by the Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream. The victims include journalists, political opposition figures, and an NGO worker […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 12, 2023
QuaDream surveillance firm’s spyware targeted iPhones with zero-click exploit

At least five members of civil society worldwide have been targeted with spyware and exploits developed by surveillance firm QuaDream. Citizen Lab researchers reported that at least five civil society members were victims of spyware and exploits developed by the Israeli surveillance firm QuaDream. The victims include journalists, political opposition figures, and an NGO worker […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 30, 2022
Google links three exploitation frameworks to Spanish commercial spyware vendor Variston

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) linked three exploitation frameworks to a Spanish surveillance spyware vendor named Variston. While tracking the activities of commercial spyware vendors, Threat Analysis Group (TAG) spotted an exploitation framework likely linked Variston IT, a Spanish firm. Officially, Variston claims to provide custom security solutions and custom patches for embedded system. The […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 11, 2022
Long-running surveillance campaigns target Uyghurs with BadBazaar and MOONSHINE spyware

Lookout researchers discovered two long-running surveillance campaigns targeting the ethnic minority Uyghurs. Researchers from mobile security firm Lookout uncovered two long-running surveillance campaigns targeting the Uyghurs minority. The threat actors behind the campaigns used two Android spyware to spy on the victims and steal sensitive information. The campaigns involved a new piece of malware called […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 06, 2022
A new Android malware used to spy on the Uyghur Community

Experts spotted new Android spyware that was used by China-linked threat actors to spy on the Uyghur community in China. Researchers from Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs (CRIL) started their investigation after MalwareHunterTeam experts shared information about a new Android malware used to spy on the Uyghur community. The malware disguised as a book titled “The China […]

Pierluigi Paganini July 22, 2022
Candiru surveillance spyware DevilsTongue exploited Chrome Zero-Day to target journalists

The spyware developed by Israeli surveillance firm Candiru exploited recently fixed CVE-2022-2294 Chrome zero-day in attacks on journalists. Researchers from the antivirus firm Avast reported that the DevilsTongue spyware, developed, by Israeli surveillance firm Candiru, was used in attacks against journalists in the Middle East and exploited recently fixed CVE-2022-2294 Chrome zero-day. The flaw, which […]

Pierluigi Paganini July 19, 2022
CloudMensis spyware went undetected for many years

Researchers spotted previously undocumented spyware, dubbed CloudMensis, that targets the Apple macOS systems. Researchers from ESET discovered a previously undetected macOS backdoor, tracked as CloudMensis, that targets macOS systems and exclusively uses public cloud storage services as C2. The malware was designed to spy on the target systems, exfiltrate documents, acquire keystrokes, and screen captures. […]

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 […]