Flash exploits might signal APT activity

An Adobe Flash vulnerability that was fixed this week is being leveraged in targeted drive-by downloads and spear phishing attacks, according to the Shadowserver Foundation.

Researchers at the all-volunteer security intelligence group first learned of the exploits on June 9, five days before Adobe issued a patch for the flaw (in addition to updates for bugs in other products, including Reader, Acrobat and Shockwave Player).

"Virtually out of nowhere this just popped up," Shadowserver researcher Steven Adair told SCMagazineUS.com on Friday. "It has rapidly seemed to have made its way around."

Thanks to submissions by its partners, Shadowserver has learned that the exploit has been embedded on a number of legitimate websites, including ones belonging to a Korean news outlet, a Taiwanese university, an Indian government agency, aerospace companies and various "non-government organizations." Some of the victims are based in the United States.