‘The Manipulaters’ Improve Phishing, Still Fail at Opsec

Published on:

April 3, 2024

The Resurgence of the “Manipulaters” Team - Breaking HeartSenders

In January 2024, The Manipulaters pleaded with Brian Krebs to unpublish previous stories about their work, claiming the group had turned over a new leaf and gone legitimate. But new research suggests that while they have improved the quality of their products and services, these nitwits still fail spectacularly at hiding their illegal activities.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/04/the-manipulaters-improve-phishing-still-fail-at-opsec

Related Content

Research

Chinese Malware Delivery Domains Part V

Despite law enforcement arrests targeting the Silver Fox threat group in mid-June 2026, its malware delivery network remains active as a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform. Affiliates continue to deploy hundreds of new typosquatted domains and exploit major cloud services to distribute an obfuscated Gh0stRAT variant.

Learn More

Research

Intelligence Report: The Zedxion Corporate Nexus for Illicit Iranian Financial Funds Transfer for IRGC Entities.

DomainTools Investigations exposes the Zedxion and Zedcex ecosystem—a layered financial architecture leveraging disposable UK shell companies, persistent digital tokens, and UAE-based trade fronts to facilitate IRGC-linked sanctions evasion and illicit Iranian funds transfers.

Learn More

Research

Threat Intelligence Report: The Pro-Iran Hacktivist Ecosystem 2026

Moving beyond traditional state-centric APT structures, the pro-Iran coalition of jihadist-aligned collectives, nationalist actors, and opportunistic groups coordinates via Telegram to turn low-cost cyber operations into high-impact psychological warfare. While individual actors primarily rely on technically unsophisticated tradecraft like DDoS-for-hire tools, website defacements, and recycled breach data, their strategic strength lies in speed, visibility, and rapid mobilization alongside real-world kinetic events.

Learn More