Mastang Panda Uses Venezuela News to Spread LOTUSLITE Malware

Researchers have found a new spying campaign using news about Venezuela to trick US government officials. Learn how the LOTUSLITE virus sneaks into computers to steal secrets.

Cybersecurity researchers at Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) have found that hackers are using news headlines to spy on US government groups. Instead of using complex exploits, these attackers are relying on a much simpler trick- curiosity about current events.

Report authors Ilia Dafchev and Subhajeet Singha explained that the campaign uses the ongoing political tension between the US and Venezuela as bait. The trap starts with a file called “US now deciding what’s next for Venezuela.zip,” which is a classic move involving using big news stories to trick a government official into clicking before they think.

The Backdoor Strategy

The technical side of the attack is based on a sneaky move called DLL sideloading, in which the hackers hide a ...