Ukraine subjected to new Russian influence operation

Ukraine has been targeted by Russian threat actors in the new Operation Texonto disinformation campaign that also involved spear-phishing and credential exfiltration tactics, according to The Hacker News. After targeting a Ukrainian defense firm in a spear-phishing attack in October, threat actors proceeded to launch the initial wave of the disinformation campaign against hundreds of energy and government organizations and individuals across Ukraine the following month, a report from ESET revealed. Such an attack was conducted through emails purporting to be from Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food although the content was from the country's Ministry of Health, indicating a potential lapse from the attackers. Another European Union agency had been impacted by a separate spear-phishing intrusion that sought to exfiltrate Microsoft credentials in November. Attackers then expanded the scope of the campaign to target Ukrainian speakers across Europe in its second wave that commenced on Christmas Day and involved emails proposing the amputation of recipients' limbs to avert military deployment before commencing another spam campaign involving a fraudulent Canadian pharmacy website, said researchers. "Operation Texonto shows yet another use of technologies to try to influence the war," ESET said.