Qakbot Hackers Continue to Target New Victims Despite FBI 'Dismantlement'

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Qakbot Hackers Continue to Target New Victims Despite FBI 'Dismantlement'

Researchers have discovered that the hackers responsible for the notorious Qakbot malware operation, which was recently taken down by the FBI, are still active and actively seeking new victims. Although the FBI claimed success in disrupting the Qakbot infrastructure and permanently dismantling the botnet, new research from Cisco Talos reveals that the hackers have not been deterred. Since August, the hackers have been distributing ransomware, remote access trojans, information stealers, and backdoors to their targets through phishing emails. Cisco Talos assesses with moderate confidence that the Qakbot-affiliated hackers are responsible for this campaign based on similarities with previous attacks. The campaign primarily targets Italian users, but English and German-speaking individuals have also been targeted. Despite the FBI's efforts, the researchers believe that the Qakbot infrastructure is intact and that the hackers could potentially rebuild it to resume their malicious activities.