13-February-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: 971
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:
Rust payloads detected by Volexity team turn out to be pretty interesting Sliver downloaders as they were executed on Ivanti Connect Secure VPN after the exploitation of CVE-2024-21887 and CVE-2023-46805. KrustyLoader – as I dubbed it – performs specific checks in order to run only if conditions are met. The fact that KrustyLoader was developed in Rust brings additional difficulties to obtain a good overview of its behaviour. A script as well as a Yara rule are publicly available to help detection and extraction of indicators. Synacktiv
Mispadu Stealer is a known and stealthy banking Trojan first reported by ESET in November 2019. Written in Delphi, it originally targeted victims in Brazil and Mexico. Unit42
Mispadu - Malpedia | Mispadu - Microsoft |
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
VenomRat - Microsoft |
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
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
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.
FormBook is a virus designed to steal personal data from victims' computers. Research shows that this malware is distributed using spam emails that contain malicious attachments. In addition, developers provide this virus as a 'service' - any aspiring cyber criminal can pay a subscription and gain access to the FormBook tool. The list of victims is large, however, most FormBook infections have been detected in USA and South Korea. FormBook
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
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
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
Sliver is an open source, cross-platform adversary emulation/red team platform, it can be used by organizations of all sizes to perform security testing. Sliver's implants support C2 over Mutual TLS (mTLS), WireGuard, HTTP(S), and DNS. Implants are dynamically compiled with unique X.509 certificates signed by a per-instance certificate authority generated when you first run the binary. Github
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
We took action against a previously unreported hacking group from Iran that targeted or spoofed companies in multiple industries around the world. This included energy companies in Saudi Arabia, Canada, Italy, and Russia; the information technology industry in India and United Arab Emirates; the maritime logistics industry in UAE, Iceland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, US, Israel, and India; telecommunications companies in Saudi Arabia and UAE; and the semiconductor industry in Israel, US, and Germany. This activity had the hallmarks of a well-resourced and persistent operation while obfuscating who’s behind it. This group used similar TTPs to another threat actor dubbed Tortoiseshell that we reported on last year, but in this case we saw different targeting, technical infrastructure, and distinct malware. Meta
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
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 | ||
| Backdoor | 2 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 457 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, ftp, http, icmp, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls, udp | 2024-02-08 |
| Fake Browser | 6 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 284 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-06 |
| Fake Service | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 73 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-02-08 |
| FormBook | 2 | command and control | http | 13 | command and control | http | 2024-02-08 |
| Keitaro | 12 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 302 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-07 |
| KrustyLoader | 33 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 33 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2024-02-08 |
| Lumma | 30 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 287 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-10 |
| Mispadu | 2 | command and control | http | 2 | command and control | http | 2024-02-08 |
| RAT Generic | 2 | command and control | http | 101 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-02-08 |
| Sliver Framework | 6 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 471 | command and control, exploitation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-02-09 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 896 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-02-06 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 419 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-02-08 |
| TA455 | 13 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 290 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-10 |
| TA4903 | 12 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 663 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-09 |
| TA582 | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 41 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2024-02-06 |
| Trojan Agent | 5 | command and control, delivery | dns, tls, http | 455 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2024-02-08 |
| Trojan Downloader | 19 | command and control, delivery | dns, tls, http | 297 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2024-02-08 |
| VenomRat | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2024-02-08 |
| XWorm | 16 | command and control | dns, tcp-pkt, http, tls | 1030 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-02-07 |
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