28-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: 704
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:
Remote Access Trojan (RAT) is a type of malware that allows covert surveillance, a backdoor for administrative control and unfettered and unauthorized remote access to a victim's machine. The RAT is very dangerous because it enables intruders to get remote control of the compromised computer
Voice phishing attacks have a long history in the South Korean market. According to the report published on the South Korean government website, financial losses due to voice phishing constituted approximately 600 million USD in 2020, with the number of victims reaching as many as 170,000 people in the period from 2016 to 2020.
Check Point Research discovered more than 2500 samples of the FakeCalls malware that used a variety of combinations of mimicked financial organizations and implemented anti-analysis (also called evasions) techniques. The malware developers paid special attention to the protection of their malware, using several unique evasions that we had not previously seen in the wild. Check Point Research
FakeCalls - Microsoft |
Cyber espionage threat actors continue to target technologies that do not support endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions such as firewalls, IoT devices, hypervisors and VPN technologies (e.g. Fortinet, SonicWall, Pulse Secure, and others). Mandiant has investigated dozens of intrusions at defense industrial base (DIB), government, technology, and telecommunications organizations over the years where suspected China-nexus groups have exploited zero-day vulnerabilities and deployed custom malware to steal user credentials and maintain long-term access to the victim environments.
Mandiant observed two distinct attack lifecycles where the threat actor abused Fortinet technologies to establish network access. The first occurred when the threat actor initially gained access to the Fortinet ecosystem while the FortiManager device was exposed to the internet.
During this attack lifecycle, backdoors disguised as legitimate API calls (THINCRUST) were deployed across both FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager devices. Once persistence was established across the two devices, FortiManager scripts were used to deploy backdoors (CASTLETAP) across the FortiGate devices.Mandiant
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
VICEROY TIGER is an adversary with a nexus to India that has historically targeted entities throughout multiple sectors. Older activity targeted multiple sectors and countries; however, since 2015 this adversary appears to focus on entities in Pakistan with a particular focus on government and security organizations. This adversary consistently leverages spear phishing emails containing malicious Microsoft Office documents, malware designed to target the Android mobile platform, and phishing activity designed to harvest user credentials. In March 2017, the 360 Chasing Team found a sample of targeted attacks that confirmed the previously unknown sample of APT's attack actions, which the organization can now trace back at least in April 2016. The chasing team named the attack organization APT-C-35. In June 2017, the 360 Threat Intelligence Center discovered the organization’s new attack activity, confirmed and exposed the gang’s targeted attacks against Pakistan, and analyzed in detail. The unique EHDevel malicious code framework used by the organization. Malpedia
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
Malware of this family uses advertising as its main monetization method. The malware uses different methods to display as many ads as possible to the user, including by installing new adware.
These Trojans can get root privileges in order to hide in the system folder, which makes the Trojans very difficult to remove. Kaspersky
Ares is a Python Remote Access Tool. Ares is made of two main programs: A Command aNd Control server, which is a Web interface to administer the agents An agent program, which is run on the compromised host, and ensures communication with the CNC
The Web interface can be run on any server running Python. The agent can be compiled to native executables using pyinstaller. Gitub
Backdoors are designed to give malicious users remote control over an infected computer. In terms of functionality, Backdoors are similar to many administration systems designed and distributed by software developers.
These types of malicious programs make it possible to do anything the author wants on the infected computer: send and receive files, launch files or delete them, display messages, delete data, reboot the computer, etc.
The programs in this category are often used in order to unite a group of victim computers and form a botnet or zombie network. This gives malicious users centralized control over an army of infected computers which can then be used for criminal purposes.
There is also a group of Backdoors which are capable of spreading via networks and infecting other computers as Net-Worms do. The difference is that such Backdoors do not spread automatically (as Net-Worms do), but only upon a special “command” from the malicious user that controls them. Kaspersky
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
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
This Trojan arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites. Trendmicro
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
KONNI is a Windows remote administration too that has been seen in use since 2014 and evolved in its capabilities through at least 2017. KONNI has been linked to several campaigns involving North Korean themes.[1] KONNI has significant code overlap with the NOKKI malware family. There is some evidence potentially linking KONNI to APT37. MITRE
Cyber criminals violated the law TDS (Traffic Direction System) platform Keitaro and used it to redirect them users in exploit kits RIG and Fallout in order to infect them with malicious software.
TDS platforms are designed for redirection of users in particular sites. Legitimate TDS platforms, such as Keitaro, are mainly used by individuals and companies that want to advertise services or their products. Platforms drive users to the pages that companies want, targeting specific customers and promoting an ad campaign. techbizweb
The ransomware uses AES encryption and appends ".lucky" to infected files. The malware is capable of spreading without user interaction and takes advantage of flaws in a range of software applications including Windows, JBoss, WebLogic, Tomcat, Apache Struts, and Spring Data Commons. Mcafee
An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution. Users may be subjected to social engineering to get them to open a file that will lead to code execution. This user action will typically be observed as follow-on behavior from Spearphishing Attachment. Adversaries may use several types of files that require a user to execute them, including .doc, .pdf, .xls, .rtf, .scr, .exe, .lnk, .pif, and .cpl.
Adversaries may employ various forms of Masquerading on the file to increase the likelihood that a user will open it.
While Malicious File frequently occurs shortly after Initial Access it may occur at other phases of an intrusion, such as when an adversary places a file in a shared directory or on a user's desktop hoping that a user will click on it. This activity may also be seen shortly after Internal Spearphishing. MITRE
In computing, a Trojan horse (or simply trojan) is any malware which misleads users of its true intent. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek story of the deceptive Trojan Horse that led to the fall of the city of Troy.
Trojans are generally spread by some form of social engineering, for example where a user is duped into executing an email attachment disguised to appear not suspicious, (e.g., a routine form to be filled in), or by clicking on some fake advertisement on social media or anywhere else. Although their payload can be anything, many modern forms act as a backdoor, contacting a controller which can then have unauthorized access to the affected computer. Trojans may allow an attacker to access users' personal information such as banking information, passwords, or personal identity. It can also delete a user's files or infect other devices connected to the network. Ransomware attacks are often carried out using a trojan. 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
A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software. Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users' systems. Users are typically tricked by some form of social engineering into loading and executing Trojans on their systems. Once activated, Trojans can enable cyber-criminals to spy on you, steal your sensitive data, and gain backdoor access to your system. Kaspersky
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
Remote Access Trojans are programs that provide the capability to allow covert surveillance or the ability to gain unauthorized access to a victim PC. Remote Access Trojans often mimic similar behaviors of keylogger applications by allowing the automated collection of keystrokes, usernames, passwords, screenshots, browser history, emails, chat lots, etc. Remote Access Trojans differ from keyloggers in that they provide the capability for an attacker to gain unauthorized remote access to the victim machine via specially configured communication protocols which are set up upon initial infection of the victim computer. This backdoor into the victim machine can allow an attacker unfettered access, including the ability to monitor user behavior, change computer settings, browse and copy files, utilize the bandwidth (Internet connection) for possible criminal activity, access connected systems, and more. Malwarebytes
Adversaries may delete, alter, or send SMS messages without user authorization. This could be used to hide C2 SMS messages, spread malware, or various external effects. This can be accomplished by requesting the RECEIVE_SMS or SEND_SMS permissions depending on what the malware is attempting to do. If the app is set as the default SMS handler on the device, the SMS_DELIVER broadcast intent can be registered, which allows the app to write to the SMS content provider. The content provider directly modifies the messaging database on the device, which could allow malicious applications with this ability to insert, modify, or delete arbitrary messages on the device. MITRE
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
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
DPRK APT actor tracked by Proofpoint as TA444 Malpedia
A Trojan downloader is a type of Trojan horse that downloads and installs files, often malicious programs. A Trojan horse is a type of software that looks legitimate but can be malicious in nature. Sometimes these programs can be downloaded onto a device without the user’s knowledge or consent. A Trojan’s purpose is to damage, disrupt, steal, or generally inflict some other harm on your computer and devices. Norton
Malicious programs of this family secretly send information to the criminal from the user’s infected Android mobile device. Kaspersky
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
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 | ||
| APT-C-35 | 1 | command and control | dns | 189 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| Amadey | 3 | actions on objectives | http | 12 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 2023-03-21 |
| Android Trojan Agent | 2 | command and control | dns | 182 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| Ares | 3 | command and control | http | 8 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 2023-03-21 |
| Backdoor | 1 | command and control | dns | 387 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, ftp, http, icmp, smtp, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-03-23 |
| Banker Stealer | 2 | command and control | dns | 224 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, smtp, tcp, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| DarkCloud | 2 | actions on objectives | http | 5 | actions on objectives | http, smtp | 2023-03-23 |
| FakeCalls | 2 | command and control | http, dns | 15 | command and control | http, dns | 2023-03-23 |
| FlyStudio | 1 | command and control | tcp | 31 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http, smtp, tcp | 2023-03-24 |
| Gamaredon | 10 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 175 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-25 |
| HMR RAT | 3 | command and control | tcp | 4 | command and control | tcp | 2023-03-22 |
| IcedID | 4 | command and control | dns | 430 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-25 |
| KONNI | 1 | command and control | http | 19 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http | 2023-03-21 |
| Keitaro | 6 | command and control, exploitation | dns, http | 56 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-03-22 |
| Lucky | 4 | command and control | http | 32 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http | 2023-03-23 |
| MalDoc | 2 | command and control, delivery | http | 488 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-24 |
| Obfus | 1 | command and control | dns | 116 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| PennyWise | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 3 | actions on objectives | http | 2023-03-23 |
| Piom | 1 | command and control | dns | 40 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| QakBot | 9 | delivery | http | 54 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | ftp, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| Realrat | 1 | command and control | dns | 38 | command and control | dns, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| SmsThief | 1 | command and control | dns | 145 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-03-23 |
| SocGholish | 6 | command and control | dns, http | 260 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-21 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 8 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 319 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-03-24 |
| TA444 | 30 | command and control | dns, http | 165 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-03-25 |
| THINCRUST | 3 | actions on objectives, command and control | tcp-pkt, http | 3 | actions on objectives, command and control | tcp-pkt, http | 2023-03-22 |
| Trojan Downloader | 1 | command and control | http | 243 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-03-23 |
| TrojanSpy-Android | 8 | command and control | http, dns | 477 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-03-23 |
| Wintervivern | 8 | command and control | dns | 28 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http | 2023-03-22 |
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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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