Research conducted by both cyber security firm shows that the attacks first appeared in July 2015 and since then , cybercriminals behind these attacks have targeted hundreds of organizations within the region . According to the research , hackers were using KasperAgent and Micropsia malware to target Windows operating system while SecureUpdate and Vamp malware were being used to target Android OS . The cybercriminals behind these attacks used two different techniques to achieve their goal . One technique involved using an URL shortener service Bit.ly to disguise Attack.Phishing the original malicious links . The motive behind these attacks Attack.Databreach was to steal Attack.Databreach credentials and spy Attack.Databreach on the victims . As per the research , hackers were targeting Educational institutes , Military organization and media companies from Palestine , Israel , Egypt , and the US . SecureUpdate , a malware disguised as Attack.Phishing an Android update was designed to download malicious payloads into the victim ’ s device while the Vamp was focused on stealing Attack.Databreach data from victims ’ smartphones including call recordings , contact information , and stealing Attack.Databreach other important documents . The malware designed to target Windows operating systemsKasperAgent and Micropsia were capable of downloading other payloads , executing arbitrary commands , stealing Attack.Databreach files , capturing Attack.Databreach a screenshot , logging Attack.Databreach keystrokes and much more . Essentially the hackers were interested in stealing Attack.Databreach credentials of the infected devices . At first , no connection was established between the attacks since all the malware were different from each other . On close inspection , however , the security firms found a link . The Same email address was used to register infectious domains which eventually revealed that the attacks were linked after all . Researchers revealed that more than 200 samples of the Windows malware and at least 17 samples of Android malware were discovered which means that potential victims of this malware could be numerous . The researchers at Palo Alto firm stated “ Through this campaign , there is little doubt that the attackers have been able to gain Attack.Databreach a great deal of information from their targets , ” The campaign also illustrates that for some targets old tricks remain sufficient to run a successful espionage campaign , including the use of URL shortening services , classic phishing techniques as well as using archive files to bypass some simple file checks . This is not the first time when a sophisticated malware attack was aimed at the Middle Eastern countries . Just last month StoneDrill malware was discovered targeting not only the Middle East but also Europe . Also , Shamoon malware from Iran is currently targeting Saudi Arabian cyber infrastructure

Unit 42 , Palo Alto Networks ’ threat intelligence research arm , has uncovered evidence of links between attacks using two new malware families and two families of Google Android malware . This has been discovered as part of work on preventing and detecting targeted attacks in the Middle East . The attackers favour using URL shortening services to disguise Attack.Phishing the true links they are sending Attack.Phishing in spear phishing emails . A number of samples analysed were linked via the URL shortening service “ bit.ly ” . The URL shortening service then redirects users to the malicious payload hosted on attacker controlled pages . Another method favoured by the attackers was the setting up Attack.Phishing of fake news sites

In this day and age of online attacks , it becomes all the more important to protect one ’ s computer and other devices against the various threats . Criminals often try to bypass existing security solutions on the device in question , but they also distribute Attack.Phishing fake tools that allegedly prevent these attacks from happening . This trend is called “ rogue security software Attack.Phishing , ” and has been proven to be quite successful over the past few years . This rogue Attack.Phishing anti-spyware program is a clone Attack.Phishing of the Total Virus Protection malware whose origin points to the Russian Federation . The software offers you an option to purchase a license in order to remove those programs when in fact the “ infections ” are critical system files . Many more clones of this software exist , and 2017 variants have been spotted in the wild already . ANG Antivirus only targets Microsoft Windows users , the good news is that it is not too harmful because it ’ s main goal is to scare you into buying a software license . However , some variants have proven to be more harmful and may even steal Attack.Databreach sensitive user information . Do not confuse this “ tool ” with the official Microsoft Security Essentials software , as they are nothing alike . Security Essentials 2010 is a malware strain first discovered in February of 2010 . Its most powerful threat is how the malware prevents users from launching over 150 different programs , including most browsers and the Windows Command Prompt . Unlike ANG Antivirus , Security Essentials uses 3rd party trojans that disguise Attack.Phishing themselves as flash updates that are required to view online videos . Once baited Attack.Phishing , the trojan will install a number of malware including Security Essentials 2010 . Similar to the previous scareware , this one will also prompt you to purchase a license to supposedly remove quite a few threats , all of which are obviously fake . Thankfully , this malware has not been reported of stealing Attack.Databreach personal information or any more sensitive info and is no longer an active threat . The funny part about this program is that it started as Attack.Phishing a legitimate anti-spam system that tried to automate the complaint process for email spam . The program would allow for a user to send a complaint about a spam email to the software . However , some say that the program collected Attack.Databreach the list of emails in order to sell it to other spammers as a fresh list of targets . It did not take long for this security tool to get shut down completely , which occurred in May of 2006 . The company bailed after a thread popped up on a security forum accusing Blue Security of initiating a massive spam attack Attack.Phishing on it ’ s users , Blue Frog was gone one week later . Macintosh users are also in need of proper security tools to keep their computer safe from harm . Mac Defender tried to fill this need , even though its developers had less honorable intentions . It was the first major malware threat to MacOS , its object was to trick Attack.Phishing users into paying the license fee , ranging between US $ 59 and US $ 79 . Moreover , the malware collected Attack.Databreach payment card information used for the license and would use that for further fraudulent purposes . Do not be fooled into thinking this is a software tool that will keep a computer safe from spyware . Instead , the Zinaps software wants to perform Attack.Phishing fake computer scans and trick Attack.Phishing users into buying a license . This is a very common theme among rogue Attack.Phishing security software , as most developers hope to make a lot of money by tempting users into paying for their useless creations . What makes this malware so dangerous is that Zinaps would edit the Windows Registry , ensuring the software runs as soon as the computer boots up . It also makes removing the software much harder and almost almost always leaves traces after its gone . This scareware rogue Attack.Phishing security program will not fix Vulnerability-related.PatchVulnerability any issues related to Windows or otherwise . Once again , this malware wants to force users to buy a license , while not offering any help with real security issues whatsoever .