Arabic ebooks being used to disguise malware, cybersecurity company warns

Cyber criminals are using a new tactic to steal data and financial assets by disguising malware in the form of popular Arabic and Turkish books available for download.

Cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky identified the malware strategy , and said criminals were using best-selling books “as bait” to steal sensitive information.

“The fake ebooks span diverse interests, including also Turkish business management texts like Tamer Kocel's Isletme Yoneticiligi , contemporary fiction and Arabic literary criticism such as The Literary and Linguistic Movement in the Sultanate of Oman ,” Kaspersky said in a news release.

Arabic and Turkish versions of John Buchan's 1915 spy novel The Thirty-Nine Steps are also cited as among titles used to disguise malware.

The cybersecurity firm said the books for download appear to be PDFs, but in reality are malicious programmes designed to compromise private user information.

Once compromised, the malware steals browser data such as passwords, cryptocurrency wallet extension plug-ins, AWS cloud credentials and autofill information, among other things.

In some instances, Kaspersky researchers say that the malicious programmes can result in cyber criminals gaining “complete remote control over compromised machines”.

Yossef Abdelmonem, a senior security researcher at Kaspersky, described the malware as being rooted in a “highly targeted social engineering” strategy.

“What makes this campaign particularly concerning is its use of a malware-as-a-service,” he added, referring to LazyGo, a recently discovered malware tool.

“It's a structured operation designed to harvest credentials at scale.”

According to Kaspersky, the data it uses to track malware and other criminal cyber activity indicates that this strategy is affecting government agencies, educational institutions and IT services.

The cyber criminals are using the popular GitHub platform to promote the books disguising the malware.

To avoid falling victim, Kaspersky recommended users “verify ebook sources before downloading, carefully examine file properties, and maintain updated security software capable of detecting evasive malware techniques”.

Since the dawn of the internet, malware and data breaches have posed problems for users around the world.

In 2024, according to IBM , digital data breaches resulted in $4.4 million in losses.

Although that is a daunting number, IBM's most recent data breach report shows that this is a 9 per cent decrease from 2023.

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Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.

As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.

Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.

“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”

Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.

“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”

Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.

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Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia . The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.

Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."

Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.

In March 2019, the Folia reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. , on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".

There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.

While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."

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