15-August-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: 819
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:
This is a typical client-server remote administration utility that allows connection to remote computer(s) in order to manage its (their) system resources in real time (similar to “pcAnywhere” by Symantec). This utility has a “Remote-Anything” name, and it is developed and distributed by the TWD Industries company (http://www.twd-industries.com).
Kaspersky
Doctor Web has uncovered an attack on Windows users involving a modular downloader trojan dubbed Trojan.Fruity.1. With its help, threat actors can infect computers with different types of malware, depending on the attackers’ goals. To conceal an attack and increase the chances of it being successful, they use a variety of tricks. These include a multi-stage infection process for target systems, using harmless apps for launching components of the trojan, and trying to bypass anti-virus protection. DrWeb
WikiLoader is a sophisticated downloader with the objective of installing a second malware payload. The malware contains interesting evasion techniques and custom implementation of code designed to make detection and analysis challenging. WikiLoader was likely developed as a malware that can be rented out to select cybercriminal threat actors. Proofpoint
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
AdLoad is malicious software that targets macOS operating systems. It is capable of avoiding detection by built-in macOS security tools and a number of third party antivirus programs and other security suites of this type. Furthermore, it prevents victims from removing the software from operating systems. AdLoad is adware-type malware that hijacks browsers and forces users to visit potentially malicious websites. This enables cyber criminals to generate revenue . Pcrisk
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
The Callisto Group is an advanced threat actor whose known targets include military personnel, government officials, think tanks, and journalists in Europe and the South Caucasus. Their primary interest appears to be gathering intelligence related to foreign and security policy in the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus regions. Malpedia
Cobalt Strike is a commercial, full-featured, penetration testing tool which bills itself as “adversary simulation software designed to execute targeted attacks and emulate the post-exploitation actions of advanced threat actors”. Cobalt Strike’s interactive post-exploit capabilities cover the full range of ATT&CK tactics, all executed within a single, integrated system.
In addition to its own capabilities, Cobalt Strike leverages the capabilities of other well-known tools such as Metasploit and Mimikatz. MITRE
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.
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
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
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
Micropsia is a remote access tool written in Delphi. MITRE
Parallax is a Remote Access Trojan used by attackers to gain access to a victim's machine. It was involved in one of the many infamous "coronamalware" campaigns. Basically, the attackers abused the COVID-19 pandemic news to lure victims into opening themed emails spreading parallax. Malpedia
“RisePro” is a newly identified stealer written in C++ that appears to possess similar functionality to the stealer malware “Vidar.” RisePro targets potentially sensitive information on infected machines and attempts to exfiltrate it in the form of logs. Flashpoint
RustBucket is a type of macOS malware that has the ability to retrieve further payloads from a Command-and-Control (C&C) server. The malware has the capability to collect system data and whether it is operating in a virtual environment. RustBucket allows the attacker to carry out malicious actions on compromised devices. Pcrisk
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
Stealc, first marketed by an actor named Plymouth on the XSS and BHF Russian-speaking underground forums on January 9, 2023, is written in C and comes with capabilities to steal data from web browsers, crypto wallets, email clients, and messaging apps.Hacker News
Stealc was developed on top of Vidar, Raccoon, Mars and RedLine.
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
Again, the generic nature of this detection means that the Payloads performed by this group of trojans may be highly variable, and therefore difficult to describe specifically. This group of trojans has been observed to perform any, or all, of the following actions:
redirect Web traffic
- manipulate certain Windows or third-party applications including settings or configurations
- drop or install additional malicious programs
- download and run additional malicious programs
Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
Microsoft
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 | ||
| AdLoad | 2 | command and control | http, tcp | 62 | command and control, delivery, installation | http, tcp, tls | 2023-08-12 |
| Amadey | 2 | delivery | http | 16 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 2023-08-12 |
| Calisto | 180 | command and control | dns, tls | 326 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-08-10 |
| Cobalt Strike | 1 | command and control | http | 562 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, smb, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-08-08 |
| Filez | 1 | command and control | http | 3 | command and control | http | 2023-08-12 |
| Gamaredon | 58 | command and control | dns, tls | 1014 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-08-10 |
| IcedID | 1 | command and control | dns | 761 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-08-08 |
| Keitaro | 2 | exploitation | dns, tls | 195 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-08-10 |
| Kimsuky | 1 | command and control | http | 241 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, ftp-data, http, tls | 2023-08-11 |
| Micropsia | 2 | command and control | dns, tls | 156 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-08-10 |
| Parallax | 1 | command and control | tcp | 40 | command and control | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-08-10 |
| RA-based | 2 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 2 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 2023-08-11 |
| RisePro | 3 | command and control | tcp | 133 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-08-11 |
| RustBucket | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control | http, dns, tls | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-08-11 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 809 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-08-11 |
| Stealc | 1 | command and control | http | 8 | command and control | http | 2023-08-12 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 3 | actions on objectives | http | 369 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-08-11 |
| TA444 | 8 | command and control | dns, tls | 1158 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-08-08 |
| Trojan Agent | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 404 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2023-08-11 |
| Trojan.Fruity | 48 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 48 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2023-08-11 |
| WikiLoader | 5 | command and control | http | 5 | command and control | http | 2023-08-11 |
Technical support
Join the conversation on Discord
Follow us Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Stamus Networks website
ABOUT STAMUS NETWORKS
Stamus Networks is the global leader in Suricata-based network security and the creator of the innovative Clear NDR™ system. Designed to close visibility gaps and reduce alert fatigue, Clear NDR transforms raw network traffic into actionable security insights with unmatched transparency, customization, and effectiveness. Trusted by leading financial institutions, government agencies, and participants in NATO’s largest cybersecurity exercises, Stamus Networks delivers proven, high-performance network detection and response solutions. Stamus empowers security teams – delivering clarity amidst complexity – with greater control, fewer false positives, faster response times, and a more responsive, open approach than legacy vendors.
© 2014-2025 Stamus Networks, Inc. All rights Reserved.
