Israel-targeting WildCard APT strengthens operations

More advanced attack techniques are being exhibited by the WildCard advanced persistent threat operation, which has targeted Israel for the past eight years, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, CyberScoop reports. New SysJoker malware-like payloads, including a Rust-based variant, have been developed by WildCard during the past year in a bid to bolster efficiency and multi-platform performance while improving security systems avoidance, according to a report from Intezer. While updated SysJoker variants have been leveraged by Iran-, Hezbollah-, and Hamas-linked threat operations in targeting Israel, WildCard has been noted by Intezer researcher Nicole Fishbein to have significantly more advanced development capabilities than the aforementioned APTs. "WildCard has been insistent in focusing on Israel for nearly 8 years with intrusions aimed at strategic sectors, without a clear affiliation to a nation-state, and without announcing their successes like low-end hacktivists groups would. Their professionalism and intent make them more concerning than the average threat to Israel," Fishbein added.