Loading story…
Researchers reported active phishing operations using business-document lures and fake "secure mail" messages to infect Windows users with VIP Keylogger and related infostealers. Splunk said attackers sent payment notices, procurement orders, and logistics updates carrying heavily obfuscated .vbs, .js, or .bat loaders that launched PowerShell stagers, hid data in environment variables, and used steganography in PNG files to rebuild the final payload. K7 Labs also tracked a malware-as-a-service VIP_Keylogger campaign, while Splunk said the malware injects into aspnet_compiler.exe and steals keystrokes, screenshots, browser and Outlook credentials, clipboard contents, and cryptocurrency wallet addresses before exfiltrating data to attacker infrastructure, including Telegram.
AhnLab separately detailed a South Korea-focused campaign impersonating a major credit card company with malicious LNK files that executed PowerShell and mshta, fetched an HTA with obfuscated VBScript, and displayed decoy documents to reduce suspicion. The malware changed behavior depending on whether Windows Defender was enabled: one path delivered AES-encrypted archives with backdoor, keylogging, clipboard theft, and information-stealing components, while the other used rundll32 to load a downloader that avoided VBox and VMware and then pulled additional payloads from Google Drive to steal browser, email, cookie, clipboard, and cryptocurrency wallet data. Defenders were urged to scrutinize email attachments and file types, monitor suspicious registry and PowerShell activity, and watch for script-launched processes and Telegram-related DNS traffic.
Mallory correlates global threat intelligence with your attack surface — know if you’re exposed before adversaries strike.
4 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
Splunk Threat Research Team analyzed an active VIP Keylogger phishing campaign and reviewed more than 200 loader samples observed from March to April 2026. The campaign used business-themed phishing lures and obfuscated script loaders to infect Windows users and steal credentials and other data.
Cyber Security News reported Splunk's findings on an active VIP Keylogger phishing campaign that used business-document lures, steganography, and PowerShell-based loaders. The report also highlighted data theft capabilities and exfiltration to command-and-control infrastructure including Telegram.
AhnLab disclosed a malware campaign distributing malicious files disguised as secure emails from a major Korean credit card company. The campaign used LNK files to launch mshta and PowerShell, then conditionally delivered different payload chains depending on whether Windows Defender was enabled.
K7 Labs published a report on a malware-as-a-service campaign involving VIP Keylogger. The reference establishes public reporting on the campaign by March 6, 2026.
Vulnerabilities, threat actors, malware, products, organizations, and breaches Mallory has linked to this story.
4 references tracked. Mallory keeps watching after this page renders.
cybersecuritynews.com
Open sourceasec.ahnlab.com
Open sourceasec.ahnlab.com
Open sourcelabs.k7computing.com
Open sourceMap indicators from this story to your assets and identify affected systems in minutes.
Every observed campaign, victim, and pivot linked to actors named in this story.
Malware, exploits, and IOCs connected to the activity described here.
YARA, Sigma, and Snort rules deployed to your SIEM as soon as they’re published.
Get matching new stories delivered to your team as they break — not the next morning.
Ask questions about this story and take action on the answers.
Other stories Mallory is tracking that overlap on entities, sources, or topic labels.
Multiple phishing campaigns delivered **SnakeKeylogger**, **VIPKeylogger**, and **Agent Tesla** through layered infection chains that used obfuscated VBScript or PowerShell droppers, steganographic payload staging on Cloudinary, Internet Archive abuse, reflective in-memory .NET loading, and process hollowing into legitimate Windows binaries such as `Caspol.exe`, `Aspnet_compiler.exe`, and `RegAsm.exe`. One DHL-themed operation used a VIPKeylogger variant identified as a SnakeKeylogger rebrand, while a separate GuLoader campaign targeted Italian businesses with NSIS-wrapped stealers and business email compromise-style lures. Across the campaigns, the malware stole browser passwords, email and FTP credentials, Outlook and WinSCP secrets, Discord tokens, Wi-Fi passwords, screenshots, clipboard data, and keystrokes, then exfiltrated data over **SMTP**, **Telegram**, and **FTP**. Investigators found repeated operator OPSEC failures that exposed active criminal infrastructure and victim data. A VIPKeylogger/SnakeKeylogger operator left a stock **XAMPP** dashboard and internet-accessible **WinRM** open on `144.172.105.88`, while sandboxing captured plaintext SMTP credentials tied to `result@miniorangeman.com` on `185.196.9.150`; although that C2 was taken offline shortly after detection, the Cloudinary-hosted payload and SMTP infrastructure reportedly remained live. In a separate GuLoader operation, an open FTP directory on `holzbrenzii[.]com` exposed **52 credential dumps from 27 victim machines** in real time. Another SnakeKeylogger v4.4 campaign linked distinct droppers to the same backend through shared C2 strings, DDNS infrastructure, and staging artifacts, showing that technically capable malware operators repeatedly undermined their own campaigns by exposing panels, credentials, and stolen data.
Jun 29, 2026
Phishing emails and malicious websites were used to trick users into launching **PowerShell**-driven malware chains that installed infostealers and stole credentials, clipboard data, and host information. In one case, an EDR alert on a finance user’s device showed `msedge.exe` spawning `powershell.exe`, followed by `curl.exe`, a downloaded DLL, and `rundll32.exe`; the decoded Base64 command used an `IEX` and `Net.WebClient.DownloadString` pattern to retrieve remote code after the user clicked an “Outstanding Invoice — Action Required” lure. The payload was identified as an **AgentTesla** variant, and responders isolated the host, revoked session tokens, reset credentials, and found two additional recipients of the same phishing email, though only one clicked and SmartScreen blocked the download. A related intrusion used a phishing site that instructed victims to open PowerShell as administrator and paste an encoded command copied to the clipboard, leading to the download of a ZIP archive and execution of `updater.exe`, a packed PyInstaller-based **DXI Infostealer** sample. The malware used a **UAC bypass** via the `ms-settings` registry hijack and `computerdefaults.exe`, added Microsoft Defender exclusions, disabled protections, collected system, network, antivirus, clipboard, screenshot, and browser-related data, and packaged the results with `rar.exe` before exfiltrating them through the **Telegram API** as command-and-control. The activity showed a consistent pattern of social engineering, PowerShell abuse, defense evasion, staged payload delivery, and HTTPS or Telegram-based data theft.
Jun 29, 2026
Multiple research reports detailed **Windows-focused malware delivery chains** that rely on social engineering and abuse of legitimate services to blend into normal enterprise traffic. FortiGuard Labs described a **multi-stage campaign targeting users in Russia** that starts with business-themed decoy documents and scripts, then escalates to security-control bypass and surveillance before deploying **Amnesia RAT** and ultimately **ransomware** with widespread file encryption. A notable technique in that intrusion is the abuse of **Defendnot** (a Windows Security Center trust-model research tool) to **disable Microsoft Defender**, while payloads are hosted modularly across public cloud services (e.g., **GitHub** for scripts and **Dropbox** for binaries) to improve resilience and complicate takedowns. Separately, ReliaQuest reported attackers using **LinkedIn private messages** to build trust with targets and deliver a **WinRAR SFX** that triggers **DLL sideloading** via a legitimate PDF reader, then establishes persistence (Registry `Run` key) and executes **Base64-encoded shellcode in-memory** to load a RAT-like payload. Trend Micro and Koi Security documented **Evelyn Stealer**, which weaponizes **malicious VS Code extensions** to drop a downloader DLL (e.g., `Lightshot.dll`), run hidden PowerShell to fetch `runtime.exe`, and inject the stealer into `grpconv.exe`, exfiltrating data (credentials, cookies, wallets, screenshots, Wi‑Fi credentials) to `server09.mentality[.]cloud` over FTP. AhnLab ASEC also reported **proxyjacking** activity in South Korea attributed to **Larva‑25012**, distributing **proxyware disguised as a Notepad++ installer** and evolving evasion (e.g., injecting into Windows Explorer and using Python-based loaders) to monetize victims’ bandwidth via unauthorized proxyware installation.
Jun 29, 2026