Trend Micro Research, News and Perspectives

During our monitoring of Agenda ransomware activities, we uncovered campaigns that made use of the SmokeLoader malware and a new loader we've named NETXLOADER.

What is PLeak, and what are the risks associated with it? We explored this algorithmic technique and how it can be used to jailbreak LLMs, which could be leveraged by threat actors to manipulate systems and steal sensitive data.

This blog discusses the latest modifications observed in Earth Kasha’s TTPs from their latest campaign detected in March 2025 targeting Taiwan and Japan.

Trend Research uncovered misconfigurations in NVIDIA Riva deployments, with two vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-23242 and CVE-2025-23243, contributing to their exposure. These security flaws could lead to unauthorized access, resource abuse, and potential misuse or theft of AI-powered inference services, including speech recognition and text-to-speech processing.

An APT group dubbed Earth Kurma is actively targeting government and telecommunications organizations in Southeast Asia using advanced malware, rootkits, and trusted cloud services to conduct cyberespionage.

In this blog entry, we discuss how North Korea's significant role in cybercrime – including campaigns attributed to Void Dokkaebi – is facilitated by extensive use of anonymization networks and the use of Russian IP ranges.

This blog details our investigation of malware samples that conceal within them a FOG ransomware payload.

This blog entry details research on emerging ransomware group CrazyHunter, which has launched a sophisticated campaign aimed at Taiwan's essential services.

Trend Micro has become a Gold sponsor of the OWASP Top 10 for LLM and Gen AI Project, merging cybersecurity expertise with OWASP's collaborative efforts to address emerging AI security risks. This partnership underscores Trend Micro's unwavering commitment to advancing AI security, ensuring a secure foundation for the transformative power of AI.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, cyber threats are constantly evolving. Attackers are leveraging advanced techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) to exploit vulnerabilities, leaving organizations vulnerable to breaches and disruptions. To combat these challenges, organizations must stay vigilant and implement more proactive cybersecurity measures. This is where our Cyber Risk Advisory service, powered by the Trend Vision One™ Cyber Risk Exposure Management (CREM) solution, step in to provide a strategic edge.

In ZDI-23-1527 and ZDI-23-1528 we uncover two possible scenarios where attackers could have compromised the Microsoft PC Manager supply chain.

A controller linked to BPF backdoor can open a reverse shell, enabling deeper infiltration into compromised networks. Recent attacks have been observed targeting the telecommunications, finance, and retail sectors across South Korea, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Egypt.

A previously disclosed vulnerability in NVIDIA Container Toolkit has an incomplete patch, which, if exploited, could put a wide range of AI infrastructure and sensitive data at risk.

Effective April 2025, Microsoft is launching their Azure vTAP and integrating it with Trend Vision One Network Detection and Response solution. This integration allows organizations to gain deep visibility into cloud network traffic without compromising performance. It ensures real-time detection, faster incident response, and an enhanced security posture while reducing operational complexity.

Cyber threats evolve daily, and organizations need to move beyond traditional security approaches to stay ahead. That’s why Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM), a concept introduced by Gartner, has been gaining traction. CTEM isn’t just another cybersecurity buzzword; it’s a structured, continuous program designed to help organizations identify, assess, and mitigate security risks proactively. If you’re considering implementing a CTEM program, Trend Vision One TM Cyber Risk Exposure Management (CREM) solution—formerly known as Attack Surface Risk Management (ASRM)—can give you a significant head start.

From quantum leaps to AI factories, GTC 2025 proved one thing: the future runs on secure foundations.

International cooperation, reporting, and capacity building are critical to enhance cybersecurity defenses. Effective governance in an increasingly risky landscape requires visibility as well as coordinated vulnerability disclosure.

The cyberespionage techniques of Earth Alux, a China-linked APT group, are putting critical industries at risk. The attacks, aimed at the APAC and Latin American regions, leverage powerful tools and techniques to remain hidden while stealing sensitive data.

Trend Research discusses the delivery methods, custom payloads, and techniques used by Water Gamayun, the suspected Russian threat actor abusing a zero-day vulnerability in the Microsoft Management Console framework (CVE-2025-26633) to execute malicious code on infected machines.

Trend Micro Deep Security adds security for mainframe enterprise integration