Seriously? More of *This* Shit

Right, so apparently some Chinese-backed clowns are still using PlugX and Bookworm malware. Shocking. Absolutely fucking shocking. Like they haven’t been caught doing this a million times before. They’re going after telecom companies and networks in Asia and ASEAN countries – mostly for espionage, naturally. Stealing data, setting up backdoors, the usual crap.

PlugX is old as dirt, but they keep tweaking it because people are still stupid enough to fall for it. Bookworm’s been around forever too, a nasty little rootkit that burrows deep into network devices. They’re using these things in conjunction with some custom tools and living off the land techniques – meaning they try to blend in with legitimate system processes so nobody notices them poking around. Clever? No. Persistent? Sadly, yes.

Mandiant (now part of Google Cloud Security) is the one yelling about this, because *someone* has to do it. They’ve traced it back to a group they call UNC6403, which is just a fancy way of saying “Chinese hackers we haven’t bothered naming properly yet.” They are using compromised infrastructure – mostly routers and switches – as stepping stones to get where they want to go.

The article says they’ve been active since at least 2023, but knowing these guys, it’s probably longer. Mitigation? Patch your shit, segment your networks, monitor for weird activity. You know, the basics that everyone ignores until their data is being sold on the dark web.

Honestly, I’m starting to think some of these companies *want* to get hacked just so they have something to talk about at security conferences. It’s pathetic.

Source: China-Linked PlugX and Bookworm Malware Attacks Target Asian Telecom and ASEAN Networks

Speaking of persistent, I once had to clean up a system that was infected with Conficker – *Conficker*, for crying out loud! The user hadn’t updated Windows since 2008. Said it “ran faster” the old way. Some people are beyond help. It’s why I drink.

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