GoldenJackal: New Threat Group Targeting Middle Eastern and South Asian Governments

Government and diplomatic entities in the Middle East and South Asia are the target of a new advanced persistent threat actor named GoldenJackal.

Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which has been keeping tabs on the group's activities since mid-2020, characterized the adversary as both capable and stealthy. The targeting scope of the campaign is focused on Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey, infecting victims with tailored malware that steals data, propagates across systems via removable drives, and conducts surveillance.