Semperis says the Iranian government-linked group, quiet for three months, resumed data theft in May and later hid a Tornado second-stage server on Namecheap shared hosting, its first US-based C&C since 2016.
The report says UAC-0099 gained access through a spear-phishing email with a malicious attachment, and the intrusion later involved a previously unseen mesh network backdoor.
The bootkit is reported to bypass Secure Boot on patched Windows systems that lack revocations, with activity against diplomatic entities in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in early 2026.
A suspected state-sponsored group used a FortiManager flaw for initial access, then a path traversal bug to gain root and deploy the PeerStitch implant, researchers say.
A joint investigation describes bulk scanning of FortiGate, FortiWeb and Palo Alto GlobalProtect appliances, credential theft and hands-on-keyboard intrusions, with victim overlaps seen at Qilin and The Gentlemen.
A joint advisory says SafePay has hit at least 600 critical infrastructure organizations worldwide since August 2024, and warns that paying a ransom doesn't guarantee files come back.