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China’s Sneaky Data Heist: How Hackers Used Hex Staging to Steal Secrets
Beware of cyber-ninjas on the loose! The CL-STA-0048 cluster is targeting South Asia with rare tools like Hex Staging, exfiltration over DNS, and abusing SQLcmd. Suspected to originate from China, these attackers are after sensitive data, including government employee info. Defenders, patch up and brace for espionage shenanigans!

Hot Take:
Who knew ping-pong was more than just a beloved pastime in China? In the game of cyber cat-and-mouse, the players behind CL-STA-0048 are serving up some serious espionage skills, proving that even in the cyber realm, it’s all about the finesse of the wrist… and maybe a little bit of DNS ping-pong.
Key Points:
- CL-STA-0048 targeted high-value South Asian entities, particularly in telecommunications.
- The campaign involved advanced tactics like Hex Staging and DNS exfiltration using ping.
- The activity bears the hallmarks of a Chinese nation-state APT espionage operation.
- PlugX and Cobalt Strike featured prominently in the attacker’s toolkit.
- Organizations are urged to patch vulnerabilities and maintain strong IT hygiene.