There is a new cyber attack campaign targeting Vietnam.

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks are one of the prominent attack trends in 2024 and beyond, along with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and ransomware attacks.

'Mustang Panda' is known as one of the APT attack groups that has carried out many targeted attack campaigns on agencies and organizations in the Southeast Asia region, including Vietnam.

The APT group 'Mustang Panda' launches a new cyberattack campaign in Vietnam.

Viettel Cyber ​​Security reported on the information security situation in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2024, in which Mustang Panda was one of the four APT attack groups that significantly impacted organizations and businesses in Vietnam.

Although the number of malware programs distributed by 'Mustang Panda' has decreased, they have become more sophisticated, with the group changing and improving many techniques to make detection and investigation of attacks more difficult.

The Information Security Department ( Ministry of Information and Communications ) has just issued a warning about new attack campaigns by the 'Mustang Panda' group targeting Vietnam.

Specifically, the new 'Mustang Panda' attack campaign uses 'bait' revolving around the education and tax sectors, employs multiple approaches, and exploits tools like 'forfiles.exe' to execute malicious files stored on C&C servers. The group targets government organizations, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and others.

Analysis by experts also indicates that the two 'Mustang Panda' attack campaigns recorded in April and May targeting organizations and businesses in Vietnam used text files containing information related to tax authorities and educational institutions. Both campaigns shared a commonality: they originated from phishing emails with attached malicious files.

To ensure information security for the information systems of organizations and contribute to ensuring the safety of Vietnam's cyberspace, the Information Security Department requests that specialized IT and information security units of ministries, sectors, and localities; state-owned corporations and general companies; telecommunications, Internet, and digital platform service providers; and financial institutions and commercial banks conduct checks and reviews of information systems under their management that may be affected by attack campaigns carried out by the 'Mustang Panda' group.

Agencies, organizations, and businesses also need to proactively monitor information related to the campaign to prevent and avoid the risk of attack. At the same time, they should strengthen monitoring and be prepared to handle any signs of exploitation or cyberattack, and regularly monitor warning channels from relevant authorities and major information security organizations to promptly detect potential cyberattack risks.

"If necessary, units can contact the Cybersecurity Department's support focal point, the National Cybersecurity Monitoring Center (NCSC), at telephone number 02432091616 and email address ncsc@ais.gov.vn," the Cybersecurity Department's warning stated.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/co-chien-dich-tan-cong-mang-moi-ngam-vao-viet-nam.html