Cyber Risks · Cisco Talos

A wolf in sheep's clothing: Actors spread malware by leveraging trust in Amnesty International and fear of Pegasus

Summary: Cisco Talos reports that threat actors set up a fake Amnesty International website advertising an anti-Pegasus tool called "AVPegasus" that actually installs the Sarwent remote access tool, which can enable RDP and VNC access and exfiltrate data. The campaign's command-and-control domains were active in the United Kingdom, United States, Russia, India, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Romania and Colombia, and Talos assesses with moderate confidence the actor has used Sarwent or similar malware since 2014.

Key Takeaway: The lure targets people who believe they are being surveilled by Pegasus, and Talos could not determine whether the actor is financially motivated or state-supported - so the people most worried about government-grade targeting are the ones being asked to install a backdoor.

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Topics
Vulnerabilities & Patching
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