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Recorded Future reported that TAG-195 has expanded its malware-as-a-service ecosystem by evolving its ChonkyChicken post-exploitation implant into Modular ChonkyChicken, a controller-and-plugin framework that fetches capability modules on demand over WebSocket command-and-control. The malware is designed for enterprise lateral movement, reconnaissance, surveillance, browser credential theft, and optional WPAD-based traffic interception, while reducing static footprint by deploying only operator-selected modules during an intrusion.
The report also identified ChromEggscalator, a TAG-195-modified version of the open-source ChromElevator tool, repackaged as an OCX helper to bypass Chrome ABE protections and support browser theft operations. Researchers said the tooling family—including TinyEgg, ChonkyChicken, Modular ChonkyChicken, and ChromEggscalator—shares a common development framework marked by filename gating, OCX packaging, regsvr32-based execution through legitimate Windows COM registration paths, JSON tasking over WebSockets, forensic logging, and persistence via Windows Run keys.
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Insikt Group stated that TAG-127 has been observed deploying TinyEgg in ClickFix-style campaigns that trick victims into executing malicious commands through fake security verification pages. This connects the newly identified TinyEgg malware to observed delivery activity by a separate threat cluster.
Insikt Group reported that TAG-195 expanded its malware-as-a-service ecosystem with four identified malware families: TinyEgg, ChonkyChicken, a modularized ChonkyChicken variant, and ChromEggscalator. The report describes this as an architectural shift toward modular, operator-driven tooling with shared development traits across the families.
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Security researchers reported multiple **malicious browser-extension** campaigns abusing official extension stores and search-driven lures to compromise enterprise users. Huntress documented a Chrome Web Store extension, **“NexShield – Advanced Web Guardian”** (a near-clone of *uBlock Origin Lite*), distributed via search/advertising redirection and designed to intentionally “freeze” the browser and present a fake **CrashFix** security prompt that instructs users to paste and run commands via `Win + R`; this social-engineering step results in installation of a previously undocumented Windows RAT dubbed **ModeloRAT** on domain-joined endpoints. Reporting also tied the delivery to a traffic distribution system (**KongTuke**, also tracked as **404 TDS/TAG-124** and other aliases) used to profile victims and route them to payload delivery infrastructure that has been leveraged by other criminal operations, including ransomware affiliates. Separately, Socket.dev analysis described **five coordinated Chrome extensions** targeting enterprise SaaS platforms (**Workday, NetSuite, SuccessFactors**) to enable account takeover via **session hijacking**, including continuous token theft and **bidirectional cookie injection** that can bypass MFA by replaying stolen session cookies. In parallel, Malwarebytes reported “sleeper” extension campaigns attributed to **DarkSpectre** (including **GhostPoster** and **ShadyPanda**) that turned previously benign extensions malicious after updates and used **steganography** (JavaScript hidden in extension images) to evade detection across **Edge, Chrome, and Firefox**, with large download counts and long dwell time. A separate Nextron Systems report described a related distribution pattern—malicious “free converter” apps promoted via **malicious Google ads** and made to look legitimate with **code-signing certificates**—highlighting the broader trend of search/advertising-driven initial access leading to persistent RAT deployment, though it is not the same extension-specific incident as the NexShield/CrashFix chain.
Jun 29, 2026
Multiple active malware campaigns are abusing *trusted distribution channels*—including Chrome/Edge extensions, Visual Studio Code extensions, and Google Ads/redirection infrastructure—to trick users into executing payloads that deliver **remote access trojans (RATs)** or **information stealers**. Huntress reported a malvertising-driven fake ad blocker extension, **NexShield**, that intentionally forces Chrome/Edge into a crash/DoS state by looping `chrome.runtime` port connections; on restart it displays a fake “security warning” and uses a **ClickFix-style** social engineering flow (“CrashFix”) to push users to paste and run clipboard-copied commands that trigger an obfuscated PowerShell download-and-execute chain, ultimately deploying the Python-based **ModeloRAT** in corporate environments. Separately, Trend Micro described **Evelyn Stealer** delivered via a trojanized **Visual Studio Code extension** that drops a malicious `Lightshot.dll` side-loaded by legitimate *Lightshot* (`Lightshot.exe`), then runs staged PowerShell and payload retrieval to steal browser credentials, cookies, crypto wallets, VPN/Wi‑Fi data, files, and screenshots before exfiltrating to an attacker-controlled FTP server—posing elevated risk when developer workstations are compromised. South Korea-focused activity also features prominently across several reports, with multiple delivery vectors leading to RAT deployment. ASEC documented **Remcos RAT** distributed via fake installers masquerading as *VeraCrypt* and via gambling-related “lookup” tools, using multi-stage obfuscated **VBS/PowerShell** chains and enabling credential theft, keylogging, and device surveillance (webcam/mic). Genians attributed “**Operation Poseidon**” to the **Konni APT**, describing spear-phishing that abuses Google’s advertising/tracking redirection (e.g., `ad.doubleclick.net` parameters) to make malicious links appear legitimate, redirecting victims to compromised WordPress infrastructure hosting ZIPs with LNK files that launch AutoIt-based loaders to run an **EndRAT** variant in memory. Nextron Systems reported widespread trojanized “free converter” apps promoted via malicious Google ads and lookalike converter sites (e.g., `ez2convertapp[.]com`, `convertyfileapp[.]com`), with some payloads signed using abused/rotating code-signing certificates (e.g., BLUE TAKIN LTD, TAU CENTAURI LTD, SPARROW TIDE LTD) to evade trust checks while installing persistent backdoors.
Jun 29, 2026
Security researchers reported two active/feasible malware-delivery patterns that abuse user trust in “normal” software acquisition flows rather than exploiting a specific browser or OS vulnerability. LayerX demonstrated a proof-of-concept Chrome add-on (*Totally Innocent Extension*) that can **silently modify executables as they are downloaded**—including from legitimate vendor sites—by appending attacker-controlled code without breaking the original application or requiring additional extension permissions, enabling follow-on outcomes such as persistence, lateral movement, and data theft. The researchers said the technique highlights gaps in browser extension security controls; Google and Mozilla did not acknowledge it as a product issue, with Google indicating social-engineering-driven intrusions fall outside its browser threat model. Separately, Push Security documented **InstallFix**, a new variant of the ClickFix social-engineering technique, where attackers clone installation pages for popular CLI tools and replace the install steps with malicious “copy/paste” commands (e.g., `curl`-to-shell patterns) that fetch payloads from attacker infrastructure. A noted example used a cloned *Claude Code* (Anthropic) CLI install page that preserved legitimate branding and redirected most links back to the real site, while only the macOS/Windows install instructions delivered malware; the pages were promoted via **Google Ads malvertising** for searches like “Claude Code install,” increasing the likelihood of developer and non-developer victims executing the malicious commands.
Jun 29, 2026