The campaign involves apps posing as Signal and the defunct ToTok, according to ESET.

Phantom Taurus has stolen sensitive data from ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, diplomats and telecom networks in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, researchers said.

The agency, which issued an emergency directive to federal agencies Thursday, said it took months to determine the root cause and mitigate the activity.

Silas Cutler, principal security researcher at Census

Cisco said it was investigating state-sponsored espionage attacks in May. CISA did not explain why it waited four months to issue an emergency directive.

DOGE is “bypassing cybersecurity protections” at three agencies, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Democrats concluded.

The researchers who uncovered the “very, very advanced adversary” behind the malware said it could be a big problem years into the future.

AT&T’s chief information security officer said attackers are going where traditional defenses are less commonly employed.

Veracode co-founder and CTO Chris Wysopal

The contentious hearing focused on other subjects, but lawmakers still had cyber questions and accusations for the head of the bureau.