09-January-2024
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: 941
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:
Agonizing Serpens (aka Agrius) is an Iranian-linked APT group that has been active since 2020. The group is known for its destructive wiper and fake-ransomware attacks and mainly targets Israeli organizations across multiple industries and countries. Unit42
Agrius - Sentinelone | Agrius - ETDA |
YoroTrooper’s main targets are government or energy organizations in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other Commonwealth of Independent States, based on Cisco Talos analysis. YoroTrooper was also observed compromising accounts from at least two international organizations: a critical European Union health care agency and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Successful compromises also included Embassies of European countries including Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Malpedia
YoroTrooper - Bleepingcomputer |
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
APT38 is a financially-motivated threat group that is backed by the North Korean regime. The group mainly targets banks and financial institutions and has targeted more than 16 organizations in at least 13 countries since at least 2014.
North Korean group definitions are known to have significant overlap, and the name Lazarus Group is known to encompass a broad range of activity. Some organizations use the name Lazarus Group to refer to any activity attributed to North Korea. Some organizations track North Korean clusters or groups such as Bluenoroff, APT37, and APT38 separately, while other organizations may track some activity associated with those group names by the name Lazarus Group. MITRE
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 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.
Attackers are utilizing hacked web sites that promote fake browser updates to infect targets with banking trojans. In some cases, post exploitation toolkits are later executed to encrypt the compromised network with ransomware.
Between May and September 2019, FireEye has conducted multiple incident response cases where enterprise customers were infected with malware through fake browser updates.
Hacked sites would display these "fakeupdates" through JavaScript alerts that state the user is using an old version of a web browser and that they should download an offered "update" to keep the browser running "smoothly and securely".
Phishing is a type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source – an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company, for example. It asks the consumer to provide personal identifying information. Then a scammer uses the information to open new accounts, or invade the consumer’s existing accounts. There are several tips that consumers can follow to avoid phishing scams, such as not responding to e-mails or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information.
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
Coinminer is an unwanted malicious software which uses the victim's computational power (CPU and RAM mostly) to mine for coins (for example Monero or Zcash). The malware achieves persistence by adding one of the opensource miners on startup without the victim's consensus. Most sophisticated coin miners use timer settings or cap the CPU usage in order to remain stealthy. Malpedia
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.
Hupigon (also Graftor) detected as (Backdoor.Win32.Hupigon, Trojan.Win32.Hupigon, Backdoor.Win32.Graftor, and Trojan.Win32.Graftor) is a backdoor Trojan. Its first known detection goes back to November, 2008, according to Securelist from Kaspersky Labs. Wikipedia
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
Lumma is an information stealer written in C, sold as a Malware-as-a-Service by LummaC on Russian-speaking underground forums and Telegram since at least August 2022. Lumma's capabilities are those of a classic stealer, with a focus on cryptocurrency wallets, and file grabber capabilities. Malpedia
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
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
Raccoon is a stealer and collects "passwords, cookies and autofill from all popular browsers (including FireFox x64), CC data, system information, almost all existing desktop wallets of cryptocurrencies". 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
The Sabsik virus is a type of malware that is used as advanced espionage tool capable of learning your passwords, credit and debit card numbers, and other sensitive info about you. The methods used by the Sabsik Scam are keylogging, presenting the user with phishing forms, and screen-monitoring. Howtoremove
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
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy computer network threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may also refer to non-state sponsored groups conducting large-scale targeted intrusions for specific goals.
Such threat actors' motivations are typically political or economic. To date, every major business sector has recorded instances of attacks by advanced actors with specific goals seeking to steal, spy or disrupt. These include government, defense, financial services, legal services, industrial, telecoms, consumer goods, and many more. Some groups utilize traditional espionage vectors, including social engineering, human intelligence and infiltration to gain access to a physical location to enable network attacks. The purpose of these attacks is to place custom malicious code on one or multiple computers for specific tasks.
Source: Wikipedia
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy computer network threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may also refer to non-state sponsored groups conducting large-scale targeted intrusions for specific goals.
Such threat actors' motivations are typically political or economic. To date, every major business sector has recorded instances of attacks by advanced actors with specific goals seeking to steal, spy or disrupt. These include government, defense, financial services, legal services, industrial, telecoms, consumer goods, and many more. Some groups utilize traditional espionage vectors, including social engineering, human intelligence and infiltration to gain access to a physical location to enable network attacks. The purpose of these attacks is to place custom malicious code on one or multiple computers for specific tasks.
Source: Wikipedia
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
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
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 | ||
| APT38 | 2 | command and control | http | 248 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Agrius | 4 | actions on objectives | http | 4 | actions on objectives | http | 2024-01-06 |
| Backconnet | 1 | command and control | tcp | 6 | command and control | tcp | 2024-01-05 |
| Command and Control | 14 | command and control | http, tcp-pkt, dns, tls | 346 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Fake Browser | 12 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 222 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-03 |
| Fake Service | 3 | delivery | http | 70 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Gamaredon | 11 | command and control, delivery | dns, tls, http | 1025 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Generic Coinminer | 3 | delivery | http | 18 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Generic Loader | 4 | command and control, delivery | http, tcp | 6 | command and control, delivery | http, tcp | 2024-01-05 |
| Graftor | 2 | delivery | http | 50 | command and control, delivery | http, smtp, tcp | 2024-01-05 |
| Kimsuky | 1 | command and control | tcp | 324 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, ftp-data, http, tcp, tls | 2024-01-03 |
| Lumma | 24 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 78 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-06 |
| Mustang Panda | 1 | command and control | http | 30 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-01-04 |
| NetSupport RAT | 1 | installation | http | 30 | actions on objectives, command and control, exploitation, installation | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| Raccoon Stealer | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 141 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| RisePro | 1 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 136 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-04 |
| Sabsik | 1 | command and control | http | 21 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 875 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-03 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 419 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| TA444 | 116 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 1579 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-05 |
| TA4903 | 3 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 578 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-04 |
| TA582 | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 26 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2024-01-03 |
| Trojan Agent | 9 | command and control | http, dns, tls | 439 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2024-01-05 |
| Trojan Downloader | 1 | delivery | http | 278 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2024-01-05 |
| YoroTrooper | 1 | command and control | http | 1 | command and control | http | 2024-01-06 |
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