Pakistani hackers are targeting Indian Army officers. Hackers are using new tools to steal MS Office and PDF files. According to the reports attempts are also being made to steal the Google, Twitter and Facebook credentials of the officials. The name of the hacking group is being told as APT. It is also known as sidecopy.
Hussain Jaji, who investigated this hacking case, said that Sidecopy sends many files to the user for hacking. There is a hidden file inside it. It hacks the user's system.
These files were prepared to target India as well as government and military officials of Afghanistan. Along with the officers posted in the security of the President of Afghanistan, officials associated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Finance of Afghanistan were also targeted. Their social media passwords and password protected documents were stolen. According to the report, after learning about the hacking, Facebook blocked these suspicious activities.
Passwords for social media accounts, people's names, numbers and email IDs, identity cards from Afghan government websites, diplomatic visas, property registration information. The researcher has also expressed the apprehension of blackmailing people in future through these documents.
Hackers also used a tool called Auto Stealer to steal data. It used to take photos of MS Office files, PDF documents and text files and transmit them to the hacker.
This is not the first time that a case of hacking through Sidecopy APT has come to the fore. In September 2020, cyber security firm Quick Heal exposed this group of sensitive data stealers.
