Suspected China-based hackers target Middle Eastern telecom, Asian government

The Chinese-based hacking group Budworm targeted a Middle Eastern telecom organisation and an Asian government in a recent spying operation. The group used a previously unseen version of its custom backdoor, SysUpdate, as well as publicly available tools such as PasswordDumperm and SecretsDump. While the activity was halted early, the group managed to steal credentials. Symantec suggests that Budworm’s continued use of known malware indicates they are not concerned about detection.