New cyber espionage campaign against Indian government: Report

NEW DELHI: In an age of cutting-edge technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), several installations, including government portals and academic institutions, are under increased threats of cyber espionage, purportedly driven by the Pakistan-aligned hacker group, said a news report. According to the report, Pakistan-linked hackers have launched a new spying campaign targeting the Indian government and universities, including strategic institutions, to procure sensitive information by making the system defunct with the use of spyware and malware. The sinister campaign has been flagged by researchers at the cybersecurity firm Cyfirma, which claims to have unearthed the modus operandi of these cyber spies. “The operation begins with spear-phishing emails carrying a ZIP archive containing a malicious file disguised as a PDF. Once opened, the file delivers two malware components, dubbed ReadOnly and WriteOnly,” The Record reported, citing instances of security breaches. The malware gets embedded on victims’ systems, adjusting its behavior based on which antivirus software is installed. (IANS)

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