--- title: These government sites were PWNed | daily.dev description: Government and legitimate websites are being compromised and used to spread malware through ClickFix-style attacks. Compromised WordPress sites (likely via a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/these-government-sites-were-pwned-m73pwe4xu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: These government sites were PWNed | daily.dev og:description: Government and legitimate websites are being compromised and used to spread malware through ClickFix-style attacks. Compromised WordPress sites (likely via a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/these-government-sites-were-pwned-m73pwe4xu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/M73pWE4Xu.png og:image:alt: These government sites were PWNed og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # These government sites were PWNed **[Eric Parker](https://daily.dev/sources/ericparker)** · 13 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Government and legitimate websites are being compromised and used to spread malware through ClickFix-style attacks. Compromised WordPress sites (likely via a recent RCE vulnerability) are injecting fake CAPTCHA verification prompts that trick users into running malicious PowerShell commands. Separately, Brazilian government (.gov.br) domains have been hijacked for months to distribute a backdoor called Phantom Enigma, which uses fake police documents and legitimate-looking emails to coerce victims into running a malicious EXE. The malware uses Electron as a first stage, establishes persistence via registry keys, and leverages platforms like Reddit as C2 channels. Key takeaway: domain trust alone is insufficient — defenders must apply layered security (Swiss cheese model), and users should know that no legitimate website will ever instruct them to use Windows+L or paste commands into a Run dialog. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Fake Cloudflare CAPTCHA tricks victims into opening a tunnel for attackers](https://daily.dev/posts/fake-cloudflare-captcha-tricks-victims-into-opening-a-tunnel-for-attackers-gtqaorplr) · CSO Online · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Crooks compromise WordPress sites, spread infostealers](https://daily.dev/posts/crooks-compromise-wordpress-sites-spread-infostealers-usqnj2nup) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cyber](https://daily.dev/tags/cyber), [#wordpress](https://daily.dev/tags/wordpress), [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/these-government-sites-were-pwned-m73pwe4xu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"These government sites were PWNed","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-government-sites-were-pwned-m73pwe4xu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-government-sites-were-pwned-m73pwe4xu"},"datePublished":"2026-08-04T15:48:51.221Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T15:49:12.830Z","description":"Government and legitimate websites are being compromised and used to spread malware through ClickFix-style attacks. 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