# SilkParasite espionage campaign targets Central Asian government bodies

_Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 9:12 AM EDT · Security · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![SilkParasite espionage campaign targets Central Asian government bodies — Primary](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukQx26zt-EE2Q-I5EPzGDeXiUneL1NzNma73qc5r03gJ5Xj6kiTigXadbXa1XWqg7Y-UHq5YzEu7bPxN4BXjVUbId9eaPwWddiP_oB7Zz2fBV0bxr2S2wh9oVEFI-IEe4jMgA1REmrbKFSE33oztVDuz0p2TQhKA_0koqZ3qYcWH_d5Ec4lExxdMzWw5I/s1700-e365/malware-code.jpg)

Researchers at Bitdefender Labs reported a previously undocumented cyber-espionage operation, SilkParasite, targeting government bodies in Central Asia. The campaign uses seven remote-access-tool families, including five not previously documented, and begins with password-protected archives and malicious Office documents delivered through likely spear-phishing emails. Bitdefender assesses the cluster as China-nexus with medium confidence and observed roughly 65 DriveSilkRAT infections, mostly in Asia. The implants use DLL sideloading and plugin-based architectures, including cloud-service command-and-control in one case.

## Sources

- [The Hacker News](https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/silkparasite-espionage-campaign-targets.html)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/rSI4rjPVN9CHAHlCgCStK-
Retrieved: 2026-08-19T18:38:25.723Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)