At least one Afghan government worker
January 20, 2026
•[ phishing, malware, data exfiltration ]
The Record reported that attackers targeted Afghan government workers with phishing emails disguised as official correspondence from the office of the countrys prime minister. Researchers said the campaign, first detected in December, used a decoy document resembling a government letter (including a forged signature) to entice recipients in ministries/administrative offices to open it. Once opened, the document delivered malware dubbed FalseCub, designed to collect and exfiltrate data from infected computers. The report is focused on the campaign and malware behavior; it does not list specific compromised agencies, confirmed infection counts, or stolen data volumes, so impacts are coded as undetermined.
Undisclosed strategic advisory firm in the US
January 8, 2026
•[ spearphishing, QR codes, credential theft ]
An FBI flash alert described North Korea-linked Kimsuky (APT43) using spearphishing emails that contain QR codes to lure recipients to fake questionnaires, secure-drive links, or login pages, with the goal of stealing credentials or session tokens and hijacking cloud identities. The warning said the observed targeting includes U.S. organizations involved in North Korea policy/research/analysis such as NGOs, think tanks, academic institutions, strategic advisory firms, and government entities. The alert included examples (e.g., a June 2025 conference-invite lure) and explained that QR-driven flows can bypass traditional email controls by shifting the interaction to unmanaged mobile devices.
At least one organization in Southeastern Europe
January 8, 2026
•[ cyber espionage, vulnerability exploitation, SSH brute force ]
BleepingComputer reported on Cisco Talos research describing a sophisticated China-nexus actor tracked as UAT-7290 targeting telecommunications providers, historically in South Asia and recently expanded into Southeastern Europe. The group was described as conducting extensive reconnaissance and using one-day exploits plus target-specific SSH brute force to compromise public-facing edge devices for initial access and privilege escalation. Talos reported the actor deploys a primarily Linux-based malware suite (with occasional Windows implants) and establishes Operational Relay Box (ORB) infrastructure that can be used by other China-aligned threat actors. The report is campaign-level and does not enumerate a single named victim breach event date.
At least one official in Ukraine's Defense Forces
October 1, 2025
•[ phishing, malware, backdoor ]
BleepingComputer reported that officials of Ukraines Defense Forces were targeted in a charity-themed operation between October and December 2025 that delivered a backdoor malware family called PluggyApe. CERT-UA assessed the activity as likely linked to the Russian-aligned threat group known as Void Blizzard (also referred to as Laundry Bear), with medium confidence in attribution. The infection chain described begins with instant messages over Signal or WhatsApp directing targets to a purported charity website and prompting them to download a password-protected archive containing documents, which then leads to backdoor execution and follow-on access for information theft. The report focuses on the campaigns TTPs and targeting rather than publishing a confirmed list of compromised entities.
Former Minister Ayelet Shaked
January 3, 2026
•[ data leak, unauthorized access, cyber espionage ]
Iran-linked hacking group Handala claimed it breached the mobile phone of former Israeli minister Ayelet Shaked and published roughly 60 photos and videos it said were stolen from her device. The group alleged it held additional messages, documents, and other confidential material and urged followers to expect further releases. The reported effect is limited to alleged unauthorized access and data theft/exposure involving a single political figure, with no operational disruption to organizations reported.
At least one government, military, and technology entity in Ukraine
January 30, 2026
•[ APT, vulnerability exploitation, state-sponsored attack ]
Security researchers reported that state-sponsored advanced persistent threat groups exploited a WinRAR vulnerability in real-world attacks that successfully compromised at least one government, military, and technology organization in Ukraine, using malicious archive files to gain unauthorized access to victim systems.
At least one blockchain developer
January 22, 2026
•[ phishing, blockchain, credential theft ]
IT technicians and blockchain developers were targeted in a phishing campaign attributed to the NGB 3rd Technical Surveillance Bureau (KONNI/APT37), resulting in unauthorized access to end-user systems and the compromise of stored development and infrastructure credentials.
Knownsec
November 9, 2025
•[ data leak, cyber espionage, malware ]
According to coverage in The Register of research by Chinese blog MXRN, attackers breached the systems of Beijing linked security company Knownsec and leaked more than twelve thousand classified documents describing Chinese state cyber weapons, internal tools and global targeting lists, along with code for remote access trojans that can compromise major desktop and mobile operating systems; the cache also reportedly includes a spreadsheet of 80 successfully attacked overseas targets and massive datasets such as Indian immigration records, South Korean telecom call logs and Taiwanese road planning information that Knownsec had previously obtained in offensive operations, some of which were briefly published to GitHub before being removed.
Foreign embassies in Moscow
July 30, 2025
•[ cyber espionage ]
MarketScreener cites Microsoft: Russias FSB targeted foreign embassies in Moscow in a cyber espionage campaign.
