Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Second hacking crew joins Syrian Electronic Army on Team Assad

Malware Team might even be an offshoot, say researchers

A second hacking crew has weighed into the conflict in Syria on the side of embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Net security firm FireEye reckons it has identified 11 members of the "Syrian Malware Team" after analysing a strain of malware called BlackWorm. The malware is used by the group to infiltrate targets, say the securobods. The researchers claim the group is active in everything from profiling targets to orchestrating attacks.

FireEye reckons the new group has close ties to the infamous Syrian Electronic Army and may even be an offshoot. What's not in doubt is its loyalty to the Al-Assad regime, as a blog post by FireEye explains.

The Syrian Malware Team is largely pro-Syrian government, as seen in one of their banners featuring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Based on the sentiments publicly expressed by this group it is likely that they are either directly or indirectly involved with the Syrian government. Further certain members of the Syrian Malware Team have ties to the Syrian Electronic army (SEA) known to be linked to the Syrian government. This indicates that the Syrian Malware Team may also be possibly an offshoot or part of the SEA.

According to Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, the original BlackWorm builder was co-authored by a Kuwait-based hacker known by the online moniker "njq8". The hacker's code has since been incorporated into a variety of other Trojans such as Fallaga and Spygate, says FireEye. The original version of BlackWorm was co-authored by another actor, Black Mafia. A third virus writer – Black.Hacker – is credited with adding additional features.

"Within the underground development forums, it’s common for threat actors to collaborate on toolsets. Some write the base tools that other attackers can use, others modify and enhance existing tools," FireEye explains.

The Syrian Malware Team primarily uses a version of BlackWorm called the Dark Edition (v2.1). The group has been active since 2011 - even maintaining a Facebook page - but its profile has been much lower than the more famous SEA, whose high profile hijacking attacks against the Twitter accounts of numerous media outlets have made it infamous over the last three or four years. ®

Similar topics

Similar topics

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like