Hackers hijack freight in North America using remote monitoring tools

A cybersecurity firm said this week that hackers have been infiltrating trucking and freight companies across North America since at least June 2025 to install remote monitoring and management software and hijack cargo shipments, working with organized crime groups to steal and resell goods. Researchers reported nearly two dozen campaigns in recent months and identified at least three distinct threat clusters targeting freight brokers, carriers and load boards.

According to the firm, attackers use social engineering and industry knowledge to post fraudulent freight listings on load boards, hijack email threads or send messages to carriers that include links to purported shipment paperwork. Those links often deliver executable or MSI files that install remote monitoring and management software, or RMM, giving attackers live remote access to compromised machines. The researchers named tools observed in the campaigns, including ScreenConnect, SimpleHelp, PDQ Connect, Fleetdeck, Nable and LogMeIn Resolve.

Once inside networks, attackers conduct reconnaissance, harvest credentials and use access to change shipment details, bid on loads or reroute cargo. The stolen freight is likely...