Risky Bulletin Risky Bulletin: Chinese APT member arrested in Italy
Jul 9, 2025
A suspected Chinese hacker has been arrested in Italy, linked to nefarious activities surrounding COVID vaccine development. Meanwhile, a Russian drone software group faces the fallout of significant breaches. The SatanLock ransomware operation has gone dark, showcasing the ever-evolving threat landscape. Additionally, there's a rise in exploitative browser extensions used in web scraping, lending insight into ongoing cybercriminal schemes. This discussion dives into the serious implications of these cyber threats.
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Chinese APT Hacker Arrested
- A Chinese APT hacker, Xu Ziwei, was arrested in Milan for allegedly hacking the University of Texas in 2020.
- He is suspected of stealing COVID vaccine information while working for Shanghai Power Rock Network.
Russian Drone Firmware Group Hacked
- Volunteers providing drone firmware to the Russian army had their servers wiped and laptops defaced by hackers.
- The group halted operations and found no tampering with drone firmware.
Browser Extensions Power Botnet
- Over one million users installed browser extensions that turn browsers into proxies for web-scraping botnets.
- These extensions use a library 'Melotel' to invisibly load websites for the botnet backend.