Russian State Hackers Continue to Attack Ukrainian Entities with Infostealer Malware
Aug 16, 2022
Russian state-sponsored actors are continuing to strike Ukrainian entities with information-stealing malware as part of what's suspected to be an espionage operation. Symantec, a division of Broadcom Software, attributed the malicious campaign to a threat actor tracked Shuckworm , also known as Actinium , Armageddon , Gamaredon, Primitive Bear, and Trident Ursa. The findings have been corroborated by the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA). The threat actor, active since at least 2013, is known for explicitly singling out public and private entities in Ukraine. The attacks have since ratcheted up in the wake of Russia's military invasion in late 2022. The latest set of attacks are said to have commenced on July 15, 2022, and ongoing as recently as August 8, with the infection chains leveraging phishing emails disguised as newsletters and combat orders, ultimately leading to the deployment of a PowerShell stealer malware dubbed GammaLoad.PS1_v2 .