'This creates a misleading impression of safety': Experts warn of hackers hijacking legitimate news websites and reviews to drum up publicity

Date:
Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Description:
Fake reviews, news articles, and GitHub accounts are a potent mix for promoting malware.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Check Point Research uncovers PRstyle campaign distributing a Rust clipboard hijacker disguised as legitimate software Attackers used phishing sites, GitHub/SourceForge projects, fake YouTube channels, and even newswire press releases to boost credibility Malware swaps crypto wallet addresses from clipboard, with Ghost Networks manipulating reputation systems to evade detection Hackers have launched a fully fledged, multi-platform PR campaign to trick people into thinking that the malware theyre distributing is actually legitimate
software, experts have warned.

A report from Check Point Research warned that even those doing regular due diligence might get tricked. At the center of the campaign is a clipboard jacker - a piece of infostealer malware that monitors the victims clipboard for cryptocurrency wallet strings. When it detects one, it replaces it with a different one belonging to the attackers. That way, when a victim tries to send money from one wallet to another, they end up paying the attackers instead. Both Windows and macOS users are at risk. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Abusing newswire sites The threat actor uses multiple channels to promote and distribute a Rust clipboard hijacker, starting with a dedicated phishing page as the central hub and extending to GitHub and SourceForge projects promoted by fake accounts, the company said.

A dedicated YouTube channel, using AIgenerated narrators, suspicious view spikes, and highly positive (likely coordinated) comments, further reinforces the illusion of popularity and trustworthiness. You may like Huge hacking campaign uses spoofed Ghidra, dnSpy, and SpiderFoot security tools to harvest ad revenue and serve malware HP warns hackers are turning popular remote access tools into dangerous, stealthy backdoors Experts warn Claude feature hijacked by hackers to launch major malware campaign

To distribute the malware, the attackers ran a rather aggressive PR campaign: they set up a dedicated phishing page, multiple GitHub and SourceForge projects and accounts, as well as a fake YouTube channel. But the most surprising part is distributing news articles through newswire sites.

Newswire sites are services that distribute company press releases and announcements to media outlets, journalists, websites, and investors. Most newswire services allow anyone to submit and distribute press releases, usually for a fee, but they are generally seen as a legitimate source of trustworthy news. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
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At the same time, the hackers went the extra mile to make sure the clipboard jacker isnt flagged as malware. By using numerous fake accounts (so called Ghost Networks) theyre manipulating reputation-driven systems like
VirusTotal, tricking researchers and potential users into thinking the programs are a false positive.

Even if this campaign is not primarily aimed at large enterprises, it shows that attackers no longer rely only on classic malware distribution techniques to reach victims, the researchers concluded. Instead, they can manipulate reputation systems, crowdsourced feedback, and crossplatform promotion to lower suspicion and attract more users.

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