Suspected Chinese-Speaking Hackers Target Central Asian Governments in Cyberespionage Campaign

A suspected Chinese-speaking threat actor has targeted government organizations in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and the Syrian Arab Republic, since January 2025. The attacks involve malware families identified as OctLurk and SilkLurk, though specific technical details about these tools were not disclosed. Affected sectors include healthcare, research, and government offices, though the full scope of impacted entities remains unspecified. No CVE IDs or additional attack vectors were mentioned in the reported findings. The campaign appears focused on regional espionage or intelligence gathering.