The cyber attack affects 14 inboxes belonging to the Department of Justice was confirmed by ESET researchers.
ESET’s team of malware researchers in Montreal, in collaboration with journalist Hugo Joncas, helped shed light on a cyber attack that affected the Quebec Department of Justice.
Indeed, on August 11 and 12, the Department of Justice suffered a cyber attack in which malicious actors used malicious software to infect 14 inboxes under the Department‘s jurisdiction. The attackers were thus able to access the emails addressed to these addresses. Alexis Dorais-Joncas (no relation), director of ESET’s R&D office in Montreal identified that the hackers used a version of the malware Emotet, whose malicious campaigns have been running for several years.
In the case of this latest attack, the hackers used the stolen information to spread their malware in a particularly insidious manner. Cybercriminals sent seemingly legitimate messages to those who contacted the infected mailboxes, apparently originating from the Department, and included malicious attachments. “We have to assume that all messages sent to these accounts were stolen,” says Dorais-Joncas.
In addition to the data of citizens who contacted the department, the union Syndicat de professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec points out that “the hackers allegedly stole the personal information of approximately 300 active and inactive employees (retired or now working elsewhere). »
ESET telemetry shows a significant peak in Emotet detections in Canada during the month of August.
This corresponds to the period when the Department of Justice was targeted. Given the modus operandi of Emotet’s campaigns, it is likely that other companies and organizat ..
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