21-March-2023
Welcome to the weekly threat detection update report from Stamus Networks. Each week, you will receive this email with a summary of the updates.
Current Stamus Threat Intelligence (STI) release version: 698
This week, in addition to daily ruleset and IOC updates, we provided Stamus Security Platform customers with the following improved defense(s):
Note: a "method" as referenced below, is a discrete detection vector for a given threat.
The following detections were added to your Stamus Security Platform this past week:
Cinoshi is the name of an information-stealing malware. There are several variants of this stealer, some of which have additional abilities – including botnet, clipper, and cryptominer functionalities. The presence of Cinoshi malware on the system can endanger both device integrity and user privacy.pcrisk
The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
WorldWind - Malpedia |
Prometei, a highly modular botnet with worm-like capabilities that primarily deploys the Monero cryptocurrency miner, has been continuously improved and updated since it was first seen in 2016, posing a persistent threat to organizations. Cisco
Prometei - Malpedia - Windows | Prometei - Malpedia - Linux | Prometei - Microsoft |
Keyloggers are a particularly insidious type of spyware that can record and steal consecutive keystrokes (and much more) that the user enters on a device. The term keylogger, or "keystroke logger," is self-explanatory: Software that logs what you type on your keyboard. However, keyloggers can also enable cybercriminals to eavesdrop on you, watch you on your system camera, or listen over your smartphone's microphone. Malwarebytes
McAfee Labs has observed a huge increase in spam related to Nivdort, a malicious file that usually arrives as a .zip attachment and tries to download other malware. This malware can steal a victim’s credentials, including personal details related to online shopping, banking, and other social networking websites.McAfee
Nivdort - Malpedia | Nivdort - Microsoft |
A North Korean espionage group tracked as UNC2970 has been observed employing previously undocumented malware families as part of a spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. and European media and technology organizations since June 2022.https://thehackernews.com/2023/03/north-korean-unc2970-hackers-expands.html
UNC2970 - Mandiant |A new Golang-based malware dubbed GoBruteforcer has been found targeting web servers running phpMyAdmin, MySQL, FTP, and Postgres to corral the devices into a botnet.
GoBruteforcer is mainly designed to single out Unix-like platforms running x86, x64 and ARM architectures, with the malware attempting to obtain access via a brute-force attack using a list of credentials hard-coded into the binary. https://thehackernews.com/2023/03/gobruteforcer-new-golang-based-malware.html
GoBruteForcer - PaloAlto |
A web shell is an internet-accessible malicious file implanted in a victim web server’s file system that enables an attacker to execute commands by visiting a web page. Once placed on a compromised web server, it allows an attacker to perform remote command execution to the operating system running on the host machine. The web shell provides the attacker with a form of persistence in the compromised system and the potential to further pivot through the network to compromise hosts and data that may not otherwise be externally accessible. Gigamon
Godzilla Webshell - Github |
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
Loaders, for the most part, have one job: grab malicious executables or payloads from an attacker-controlled server. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more happening under the hood of some, such as a user-friendly UI, self-healing capabilities, or the equivalent of a retail shop where a botmaster can sell his bots to potential clients.
Loaders are essentially basic remote access Trojans that give an attacker the ability to remotely interact with and control a compromised computer, or bot. While traditionally lightweight (smaller than 50 KB in size) in order to bypass detection by antivirus and other security monitoring technology, loaders evolve, and their viability to cybercriminals remains. Flashpoint
Amadey is malicious software categorized as a trojan. Cyber criminals can purchase Amadey on a Russian dark web forum and then use it to perform various malicious tasks: download and install (execute) other malware, steal personal information, log keystrokes, send spam from a victim's computer, and add an infected computer to a botnet. Pcrisk
Adversaries may communicate using a custom command and control protocol instead of encapsulating commands/data in an existing Standard Application Layer Protocol. Implementations include mimicking well-known protocols or developing custom protocols (including raw sockets) on top of fundamental protocols provided by TCP/IP/another standard network stack.
Cryxos trojans display an alarming notification message saying that the user's computer or web browser has been 'blocked' due to a virus infection, and that their personal details are 'being stolen'. The user is then directed to call a phone number for assistance in the 'removal process'. This is a version of a 'call support' scam. F-secure
A recently discovered Bash ransomware piqued our interest in multiple ways. Upon investigating, we found that the attack chain is fully implemented as a bash script, but it also seems that the scripts are still under development. Most components of this attack mainly target Red Hat and CentOS Linux distributions; however, in some scripts Debian-based Linux distributions are included as well. The worm and ransomware scripts also use the API of the messaging application Telegram for command-and-control (C&C) communication. We also found that most components of this attack have very low detection numbers in Virus Total. TrendMicro
Emotet is a modular malware variant which is primarily used as a downloader for other malware variants such as TrickBot and IcedID. Emotet first emerged in June 2014 and has been primarily used to target the banking sector. MITRE
Gamaredon Group is a threat group that has been active since at least 2013 and has targeted individuals likely involved in the Ukrainian government. The name Gamaredon Group comes from a misspelling of the word "Armageddon", which was detected in the adversary's early campaigns. MITRE
The IcedID banking Trojan was discovered by IBM X-Force researchers in 2017. At that time, it targeted banks, payment card providers, mobile services providers, payroll, webmail and e-commerce sites, mainly in the U.S. IcedID has since continued to evolve, and while one of its more recent versions became active in late-2019, X-Force researchers have identified a new major version release that emerged in 2020 with some substantial changes. securityintelligence.com
Kimsuky is a North Korean-based threat group that has been active since at least September 2013. The group initially focused on targeting Korean think tanks and DPRK/nuclear-related targets, expanding recently to the United States, Russia, and Europe. The group was attributed as the actor behind the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. compromise. MITRE
Mustang Panda is a China-based cyber espionage threat actor that was first observed in 2017 but may have been conducting operations since at least 2014. Mustang Panda has targeted government entities, nonprofits, religious, and other non-governmental organizations in the U.S., Germany, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam, among others. MITRE
QAKBOT or QBOT is a malware that is capable of monitoring the browsing activities of the infected computer and logs all information related to finance-related websites.
Trendmicro
The SideCopy APT is a Pakistani threat actor that has been operating since at least 2019, mainly targeting South Asian countries and more specifically India and Afghanistan. Its name comes from its infection chain that tries to mimic that of the SideWinder APT. It has been reported that this actor has similarities with Transparent Tribe (APT36) and possibly is a subdivision of this actor. Cisco Talos and Seqrite have provided comprehensive reports on this actor’s activities. Malwarebytes
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
Its first known detection goes back to May 31, 2011, according to Microsoft Malware Protection Center. This Trojanware opens up an Internet Explorer browser to a predefined page (like to i.163vv.com/?96). Trojan Files with the LNK extension (expression) is a Windows shortcut to a malicious file, program, or folder. A LNK file of this family launches a malicious executable or may be dropped by other malware. These files are mostly used by worms to spread via USB drives (i.e.). Wikipedia
The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
While parsing Microsoft Excel documents using XLM 4.0 macros, the DomainTools Research team came across a Lithuanian-language document title innocuously named “contacts”. The simple macro in this document dropped a slightly more complex PowerShell script that performed C2 communications with a domain that has been active since December 2020 and appeared on no industry-standard blocklists. The most recent domain serving documents was registered in April 2021 and DomainTools Research believes other domains used as short term distribution may lead to other documents. The macro and domain mentioned, when hunted on, revealed documents targeting Azerbaijan, Cyprus, India, Italy, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Vatican. The DomainTools Research team colloquially refers to this as “Winter Vivern” due to the path used in C2 communication over the last several months. Domaintools
During a routine threat-hunting exercise, Cyble research labs discovered a dark web post where a malware developer was advertising a powerful Windows RAT. Cyble
The following threat detection(s) were improved this past week with new or updated threat methods.
| Name of threat | New coverage | Total coverage | Last updated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | ||
| AMGO Keylogger | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 2023-03-16 |
| ActionLoader | 2 | command and control | http | 14 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 2023-03-16 |
| Amadey | 2 | command and control | http | 9 | command and control, delivery | http | 2023-03-16 |
| Cinoshi Stealer | 1 | command and control | dns | 3 | command and control | dns | 2023-03-16 |
| Command and Control | 1 | command and control | http | 303 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tls | 2023-03-16 |
| Cryxos | 1 | command and control | http | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 2023-03-14 |
| DarkRadiation | 3 | command and control | http | 7 | command and control | http | 2023-03-16 |
| Emotet | 1 | delivery | http | 65 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, smb, tls | 2023-03-17 |
| Gamaredon | 9 | command and control | dns | 165 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-18 |
| GoBruteForcer | 1 | command and control | dns | 1 | command and control | dns | 2023-03-16 |
| Godzilla Webshell | 1 | command and control | http | 1 | command and control | http | 2023-03-16 |
| IcedID | 4 | command and control | dns | 426 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-17 |
| Kimsuky | 1 | command and control | dns | 105 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, ftp-data, http, tls | 2023-03-15 |
| Mustang Panda | 4 | command and control | http | 17 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-17 |
| Nivdort | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 2023-03-16 |
| Prometei | 4 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 4 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 2023-03-16 |
| QakBot | 9 | delivery | http | 45 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | ftp, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-14 |
| Sidecopy | 5 | command and control, actions on objectives | http, tcp-pkt | 17 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt | 2023-03-17 |
| SocGholish | 1 | command and control | dns | 254 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-16 |
| Startpage | 1 | delivery | http | 29 | command and control, delivery | http, tls | 2023-03-17 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 3 | actions on objectives | http | 311 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-15 |
| UNC2970 | 14 | command and control | http, dns | 14 | command and control | http, dns | 2023-03-16 |
| Wintervivern | 3 | command and control, delivery | http | 20 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http | 2023-03-17 |
| WorldWind | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 2023-03-16 |
| XWorm | 71 | command and control | tcp-pkt, http | 293 | command and control | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt | 2023-03-17 |
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Stamus Networks believes in a world where defenders are heroes, and a future where those they protect remain safe. As organizations face threats from well-funded adversaries, we relentlessly pursue solutions that make the defender’s job easier and more impactful. The global leader in Suricata-based network security solutions, Stamus Networks helps enterprise security teams know more, respond sooner and mitigate their risk with insights gathered from cloud and on-premise network activity. Our Stamus Security Platform combines the best of intrusion detection (IDS), network security monitoring (NSM), and network detection and response (NDR) systems into a single solution that exposes serious and imminent threats to critical assets and empowers rapid response.
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