"Google Warns of 'Novel Social Engineering Method' Used to Hack Security Researchers"
Google's Threat Analysis Group has revealed an ongoing campaign targeting security researchers. The actors behind this campaign are believed to be backed by the North Korean government. According to Google, the government-backed hackers have been observed employing a novel engineering method in which target security researchers are contacted and asked if they want to collaborate on vulnerability research with the actors. Once the security researcher agrees to collaborate, the hackers then send a Visual Studio Project containing malware to infect the target's computer and communicate with the attackers' command-and-control (C2) servers. The attackers use various platforms, including Telegram, LinkedIn, and Discord, to communicate with potential targets. Google provided a list of specific hacker accounts in its blog post about the new campaign, urging those who have interacted with the accounts to scan their systems for malware. It also recommended that security researchers separate their research activities from day-to-day activities such as general web browsing, using different computers. This article continues to discuss the new malicious campaign targeting security researchers and its use of a novel social engineering method, along with other recent incidents of researchers being targeted by hackers.