Command and Control
AI platforms can be abused for stealthy malware communication
AI assistants like Grok and Microsoft Copilot with web browsing and URL-fetching capabilities can be abused to intermediate command-and-control (C2) activity. Researchers at cybersecurity company Check Point discovered that threat actors can use AI services to relay communication between the C2 server and the target machine. Attackers can exploit this mechanism to deliver commands and retrieve […]
APT41 malware abuses Google Calendar for stealthy C2 communication
The Chinese APT41 hacking group uses a new malware named ‘ToughProgress’ that exploits Google Calendar for command-and-control (C2) operations, hiding malicious activity behind a trusted cloud service. The campaign was discovered by Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, which identified and dismantled attacker-controlled Google Calendar and Workspace infrastructure and introduced targeted measures to prevent such abuse in the […]
New FinalDraft malware abuses Outlook mail service for stealthy comms
A new malware called FinalDraft has been using Outlook email drafts for command-and-control communication in attacks against a ministry in a South American country. The attacks were discovered by Elastic Security Labs and rely on a complete toolset that includes a custom malware loader named PathLoader, the FinalDraft backdoor, and multiple post-exploitation utilities. The abuse of Outlook, […]
QR codes bypass browser isolation for malicious C2 communication
Mandiant has identified a novel method to bypass browser isolation technology and achieve command-and-control operations through QR codes. Browser isolation is an increasingly popular security technology that routes all local web browser requests through remote web browsers hosted in a cloud environment or virtual machines. Any scripts or content on the visited web page is executed […]
New Specula tool uses Outlook for remote code execution in Windows
Microsoft Outlook can be turned into a C2 beacon to remotely execute code, as demonstrated by a new red team post-exploitation framework named “Specula,” released today by cybersecurity firm TrustedSec. This C2 framework works by creating a custom Outlook Home Page using WebView by exploiting CVE-2017-11774, an Outlook security feature bypass vulnerability patched in October 2017. “In […]