Description

A cyber espionage campaign linked with moderate-to-high confidence to the Russia-aligned APT29 group has been discovered targeting mobile users through fake US and UK websites. According to security researchers at Sekoia, the operation uses compromised legitimate websites, cloned websites, and a compromised analytics service to deliver mobile spyware. The campaign primarily targets iOS and Android users, with potential victims including government officials, diplomats, and individuals connected to sensitive organizations. Researchers identified multiple attack methods designed to silently collect information from visitors without requiring them to download or install malicious applications. The attackers use a malicious JavaScript fingerprinting tool called UltimateFingerprinter to identify visitors' devices and determine whether they are vulnerable. Depending on the device and operating system version, victims may receive different exploit chains. The iOS attacks exploit vulnerabilities including CVE-2025-43529, CVE-2024-27834, CVE-2026-20700, CVE-2025-14174, CVE-2025-43510, and CVE-2025-43520. Android devices running Chrome versions 139–145, excluding version 143, are targeted through CVE-2026-3910 and CVE-2025-27038. Successful exploitation can expose browser cookies, saved passwords, messages, photographs, location information, and other sensitive device data. Organizations should immediately update mobile operating systems and browsers to their latest security versions. Security teams should block identified malicious domains, monitor suspicious website activity, and investigate unexpected connections to known attacker infrastructure. Employees handling sensitive information should avoid suspicious links and use additional mobile security protections. Where supported, enable Apple's Lockdown Mode and regularly review third-party website scripts and analytics services for unauthorized modifications.