Cybersecurity researchers have lifted the lid on a previously undocumented threat cluster dubbed GhostRedirector that has managed to compromise at least 65 Windows servers primarily located in Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam. The attacks, per Slovak cybersecurity company ESET, led to the deployment of a passive C++ backdoor called Rungan and a native Internet Information Services (IIS) module codenamed Gamshen. The threat actor is believed to be active since at least August 2024. "While Rungan has the capability of executing commands on a compromised server, the purpose of Gamshen is to provide SEO fraud as-a-service, i.e., to manipulate search engine results, boosting the page ranking of a configured target website," ESET researcher Fernando Tavella said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "Even though Gamshen only modifies the response when the request comes from Googlebot – i.e., it does not serve malicious content or otherwise affect regular visitors of the websites – participation in the SEO fraud scheme can hurt the compromised host website's reputation by associating it with shady SEO techniques and the boosted websites." Some of the other targets of the hacking group include Peru, the U.S., Canada, Finland, India, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Singapore. The activity is also said to be indiscriminate, with entities in the education, healthcare, insurance, transportation, technology, and retail sectors singled out. Initial access to target networks is…Read More
GhostRedirector Hacks 65 Windows Servers Using Rungan Backdoor and Gamshen IIS Module
