Threat Intelligence

IBM X-Force tracks dozens of threat actor groups. One group in particular, tracked by X-Force as Hive0137, has been a highly active malware distributor since at least October 2023. Nominated by X-Force as having the “Most Complex Infection Chain” in a campaign in 2023, Hive0137 campaigns deliver DarkGate, NetSupport, T34-Loader and Pikabot malware payloads, some […]

  The 2024 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index reported that phishing was one of the top initial access vectors observed last year, accounting for 30% of incidents. To carry out their phishing campaigns, attackers often use phishing kits: a collection of tools, resources and scripts that are designed and assembled to ease deployment. Each phishing […]

Since March 2024, IBM X-Force has been tracking several large-scale phishing campaigns distributing the Grandoreiro banking trojan, which is likely operated as a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS). Analysis of the malware revealed major updates within the string decryption and domain generating algorithm (DGA), as well as the ability to use Microsoft Outlook clients on infected hosts to […]

As of April 2024, IBM X-Force is tracking new waves of Russian state-sponsored Hive0051 (aka UAC-0010, Gamaredon) activity featuring new iterations of Gamma malware first observed in November 2023. These discoveries follow late October 2023 findings, detailing Hive0051’s use of a novel multi-channel method of rapidly rotating C2 infrastructure (DNS Fluxing) to deliver new Gamma malware […]

As of March 2024, X-Force is tracking multiple ongoing ITG05 phishing campaigns featuring lure documents crafted to imitate authentic documents of government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Europe, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and North and South America. The uncovered lures include a mixture of internal and publicly available documents, as well as possible actor-generated […]

CVE-2023-20078 catalogs an unauthenticated command injection vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco 6800, 7800, and 8800 Series IP Phones with Multiplatform Firmware installed; however, limited technical analysis is publicly available. This article presents my findings while researching this vulnerability. In the end, the reader should be equipped with the information necessary to understand […]

The 2024 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index revealed attackers continued to pivot to evade detection to deliver their malware in 2023. The good news? Security improvements, such as Microsoft blocking macro execution by default starting in 2022 and OneNote embedded files with potentially dangerous extensions by mid-2023, have changed the threat landscape for the better. […]

IBM X-Force has assisted several organizations in responding to successful compromises involving the Ivanti appliance vulnerabilities disclosed in January 2024.

Explore top findings from the 2024 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, and learn how your organization can defend against evolving threats.

As of December 2023, IBM X-Force has uncovered multiple lure documents that predominately feature the ongoing Israel-Hamas war to facilitate the delivery of the ITG05 exclusive Headlace backdoor. The newly discovered campaign is directed against targets based in at least 13 nations worldwide and leverages authentic documents created by academic, finance and diplomatic centers. ITG05’s […]

While investigating CVE-2023-27992, a vulnerability affecting Zyxel network-attached storage (NAS) devices, the IBM X-Force uncovered two new flaws, which when used together, allow for pre-authenticated remote code execution. Zyxel NAS devices are typically used by consumers as cloud storage devices for homes or small to medium-sized businesses. When used together, the flaws X-Force discovered allow […]

This article was made possible thanks to the hard work of writer Charlotte Hammond and contributions from Ole Villadsen and Kat Metrick. IBM X-Force researchers have been tracking developments to the WailingCrab malware family, in particular, those relating to its C2 communication mechanisms, which include misusing the Internet-of-Things (IoT) messaging protocol MQTT. WailingCrab, also known […]