6-June-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: 763
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 (SSP) this past week:
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.
Leonem - Malwaretips | Leonem - Microsoft |
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
GlobeImposter is a ransomware-type virus that mimics Purge (Globe) ransomware.Pcrisk
Globe Imposter - Malpedia | Globe Imposter - Microsoft | Globe Imposter - MITRE - Phishing | Globe Imposter - MITRE - Data Encrypted for Impact | Globe Imposter - MITRE - System Information Discovery | Globe Imposter - MITRE - File and Directory Discovery | Globe Imposter - MITRE - User Execution: Malicious File | Globe Imposter - MITRE - User Execution | Globe Imposter - MITRE - Ingress Tool Transfer | Globe Imposter - MITRE - Multi-Stage Channels |
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.
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.
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
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
APT28 (also known as - Fancy Bear/Sofacy/Strontum) is a threat group that has been attributed to Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff by a July 2018 U.S. Department of Justice indictment.
This group reportedly compromised the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2016 in an attempt to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. APT28 has been active since at least 2004.
Magic Hound is an Iranian-sponsored threat group that conducts long term, resource-intensive cyber espionage operations, likely on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have targeted U.S. and Middle Eastern government and military personnel, academics, journalists, and organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), via complex social engineering campaigns since at least 2014. MITRE
An estimated one million WordPress websites have been compromised during a long-lasting campaign that exploits "all known and recently discovered theme and plugin vulnerabilities" to inject a Linux backdoor that researchers named Balad Injector.
The campaign has been running since 2017 and aims mostly to redirect to fake tech support pages, fraudulent lottery wins, and push notification scams. Bleepingcomputer
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
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
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
PikaBot is a new malware family in the early stages of development. It has similarities to Matanbuchus:
Redline Stealer is a malware available on underground forums for sale apparently as standalone versions or also on a subscription basis. This malware harvests information from browsers such as saved credentials, autocomplete data, and credit card information. A system inventory is also taken when running on a target machine, to include details such as the username, location data, hardware configuration, and information regarding installed security software. More recent versions of Redliune added the ability to steal cryptocurrency. FTP and IM clients are also apparently targeted by this family, and this malware has the ability to upload and download files, execute commands, and periodically send back information about the infected computer. Malpedia
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
DPRK APT actor tracked by Proofpoint as TA444 Malpedia
A dropper is a kind of Trojan that has been designed to "install" some sort of malware (virus, backdoor, etc.) to a target system. The malware code can be contained within the dropper (single-stage) in such a way as to avoid detection by virus scanners or the dropper may download the malware to the target machine once activated (two stage). Wikipedia
Malicious programs of this family secretly send information to the criminal from the user’s infected Android mobile device. Kaspersky
Stealer: 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
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 | ||
| APT28 | 3 | command and control | dns | 332 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| APT35 | 2 | command and control | dns | 223 | command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-06-01 |
| Balada | 1 | command and control | tls | 2 | command and control, exploitation | http, tls | 2023-05-31 |
| Banker Stealer | 4 | command and control | tls, dns | 236 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, smtp, tcp, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| BigSecretLoader | 3 | delivery | http | 3 | delivery | http | 2023-05-31 |
| Cannibal RAT | 3 | command and control | http | 3 | command and control | http | 2023-05-31 |
| Gamaredon | 9 | command and control | dns | 317 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| Globe Imposter | 6 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 6 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 2023-05-31 |
| Keitaro | 2 | exploitation | dns | 93 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| Leonem | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 2023-05-31 |
| MrRobot | 3 | installation, actions on objectives | http | 3 | installation, actions on objectives | http | 2023-05-31 |
| Mtoken | 4 | command and control | tls, http | 4 | command and control | tls, http | 2023-05-31 |
| PikaBot | 1 | command and control | http | 5 | command and control | http | 2023-06-02 |
| RedLine | 1 | command and control | tcp | 51 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp | 2023-06-03 |
| SocGholish | 9 | command and control | dns | 315 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| TA444 | 13 | command and control | dns | 318 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-06-01 |
| Trojan Dropper | 1 | delivery | dns | 298 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-06-03 |
| TrojanSpy-Android | 6 | command and control | dns, tls | 496 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-06-03 |
| TrojanSpy-Generic | 1 | command and control | http | 61 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-05-31 |
| XWorm | 13 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 675 | command and control | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt | 2023-06-02 |
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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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