Skip to main content

A mysterious new Chinese malware strain is targeting large firms across the globe

A new malware strain called ValleyRAT is being deployed among large organizations around the world, researchers have warned.

Cybersecurity experts from Proofpoint published a report alleging that Chinese businesses on the mainland, but also other firms elsewhere, are being targeted by multiple new malware strains, possibly used by more than one new threat actor.

Among those is a new tool called ValleyRAT: “The campaigns distributing this malware were conducted in Chinese, and, following the trend of other Chinese malware campaigns, the majority used invoice themes related to various Chinese businesses,” the researchers said, stating that they saw multiple campaigns distributing this particular malware. 

RAT-infested emails

ValleyRAT was first spotted in March 2023, Proofpoint further stated, and while it's probably the most interesting one, it’s hardly the only variant being deployed. The researchers also spotted Sainbox (a variant of the infamous Gh0stRAT), as well as Purple Fox. With the latter, the attackers mostly went after Japanese targets:

“While historic activity aligns with what Proofpoint considers Chinese-themed, it is rarely observed in our threat data,” the researchers said when discussing Purple Fox. “Notably, one observed campaign used Japanese-language invoice themes targeting organizations in Japan to deliver zipped attachments that led to installation, while others used Chinese language invoice themed messages with URLs.”

So far, Proofpoint says it identified more than two dozen of these campaigns. In them, the attackers would impersonate major corporations and reach out to their employees via email, in an attempt to get them to download and run some of the abovementioned RATs. 

While the evidence seems inconclusive when it comes to the attackers’ identities, the researchers speculate that this could be the work of multiple groups, which most likely share valuable resources. They base these conclusions on the fact that “some activity clusters do overlap.”

The motives of the attackers are also unknown at this time.

More from TechRadar Pro



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TechRadar's Year in Review: AI revolution, smartphone evolution, and visions of the future

If I had to sum up 2023 in one word it would be AI. Okay, technically that’s two initials, but let’s not quibble – because there’s no doubt that it provided the year in tech with its main story arc. Artificial intelligence was everywhere this year, as every company in the world gawped at the massive impact of ChatGPT, and decided they wanted to jump aboard that bandwagon. You could barely move for new chatbots, new image generators, and new AI-enhanced features in every device released in 2023. And there’s no sign of that changing in 2024; in fact, we expect it to be an even bigger deal. Elsewhere, phones and laptops did much the same as they had the previous year – well, except where they had new AI-enhanced features – so it was in the virtual reality space where bigger changes were afoot. If the Meta Quest 3 was impressive then the Apple Vision Pro looks to be genuinely game-changing, and we can’t wait to see what impact it has in the next 12 months. Of course we also saw plenty ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Microsoft and Sony enter "binding agreement" to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Microsoft has announced that it has reached a "binding agreement" with Sony, pledging to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With Microsoft having won its anti-trust case with the US Federal Trade Commission , its planned acquisition of Call of Duty developers Activision Blizzard has taken a big step closer to becoming a reality. In order to alleviate the concerns of monopoly-building that got Microsoft in legal hot water to begin with, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, announced yesterday via Tweet that it has entered into an "agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation."  This agreement will no doubt come as a relief to fans concerned that Microsoft's acquisition plans might result in Call of Duty becoming an Xbox exclusive, following in the footsteps of future Bethesda releases. Since Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda caused the studio to break its tradition of offering titles cross-platform for upcomi...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Stardew Valley-like farming sim plays at the bottom of your screen so you work and play at the same time

Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are among some of the best choices out there if you're looking for a game to get swept up in for hours at a time. But, if you're a fan of management sims and a multitasker as well, this upcoming farming sim will likely pique your interest.  Developed by Mister Morris Games, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulation game that runs at the bottom of your gaming monitor, allowing you to focus on other tasks like working while you tend to your crops. Set to release in Q1 2024 on Steam , the idle sim puts you in the shoes of a wholesome robot as you grow crops and use them to produce clean and energy-efficient biofuel. Having gathered this "vital robot power source," you'll then need to sell your harvest to the other machine inhabitants of your settlement. This, in turn, will let you reinvest the money into expanding your farm. If you're a terrible procrastinator (like me) this might not sound like your cup of tea...
Post a Comment
Read more