Palo Alto Uncovers New Cyber attacks Targeting Government and Military Networks

Palo Alto Networks has shared research that uncovers a series of potentially state-sponsored cyber attacks targeting government and military organizations in countries throughout Southeast Asia.

Discovered by the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 threat intelligence team and dubbed “Operation Lotus Blossom”, the attacks appear to be an attempt to gain inside information on the operation of nation-states throughout the region.  The campaign dates as far back as three years and involves targets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

paloalto logo Palo Alto Uncovers New Cyber attacks Targeting Government and Military NetworksOver 50 separate attacks have been identified in Operation Lotus Blossom. They all use a custom-built Trojan, named “Elise” to deliver highly targeted spear phishing emails and gain an initial foothold on targeted systems. Unit 42 believes the Elise malware was developed to specifically meet the unique needs of the operation, but also is being used in other non-related attacks by the adversary... See more