Cyber agency alerts Moldovan officials to malicious emails
Moldovan cyber authorities issued an urgent warning to government institutions, businesses, and public servants following a widespread spear-phishing campaign designed to siphon credentials and deploy malicious scripts.
Russian domain addresses mask malicious executables
According to the Information Technology and Cyber Security Service (STISC), attackers distributed deceptive emails originating from various addresses linked to the Russian-hosted "@mail.ru" domain. These messages deliver compressed archive files in ".7z" or ".zip" formats containing executable batch scripts disguised as routine accounting documents, including fake payment orders and settled invoices.
The agency warned that launching these files triggers immediate infiltration routines aimed at harvesting sensitive credentials and confidential records. “Do not click on links or open attachments received from suspicious or unverified correspondents,” STISC noted in an advisory urging civil servants and private enterprise operators to maintain heightened vigilance.
Heightened alert follows recurrent digital assaults
Authorities urged users to scrutinize sender details even when displayed names appear familiar and avoid divulging passwords or authentication tokens under any circumstances. Internal security teams must be alerted immediately to any correspondence requesting unusual or urgent operational tasks, officials stressed.
The notification marks the second spear-phishing alert issued within days, reinforcing ongoing warnings about credential theft vectors across public administrative networks. Last month, coordinated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) assaults temporarily disrupted access to multiple critical state portals, including ministerial systems and the official website of the Presidency.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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