18-July-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: 795
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:
A phishing campaign that security researchers named SmugX and attributed to a Chinese threat actor has been targeting embassies and foreign affairs ministries in the UK, France, Sweden, Ukraine, Czech, Hungary, and Slovakia, since December 2022.
Researchers at cybersecurity company Check Point analyzed the attacks and observed overlaps with activity previously attributed to advanced persistent threat (APT) groups tracked as Mustang Panda and RedDelta.
APT SmugX Campaign - Check Point Research |
Shipping companies and medical laboratories in Asia are being targeted in a likely intelligence-gathering campaign that relies exclusively on publicly available and living-off-the-land tools.
Hydrochasma, the threat actor behind this campaign, has not been linked to any previously identified group, but appears to have a possible interest in industries that may be involved in COVID-19-related treatments or vaccines.
This activity has been ongoing since at least October 2022. While Symantec, by Broadcom Software, did not see any data being exfiltrated in this campaign, the targets, as well as some of the tools used, indicate that the most likely motivation in this campaign is intelligence gathering. Symantec
A malicious Word document sample, believed to be linked to Iranian state-backed hackers, was shared with CERTFA Lab team by a community member.
Evidence indicates that, at least since 13 June 2023, this Trojan has been utilized to target members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or individuals associated with this organization.
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
Ke3chang is a threat group attributed to actors operating out of China. Ke3chang has targeted several industries, including oil, government, military, and more. Mitre
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
Agent Tesla is a spyware Trojan written for the .NET framework that has been observed since at least 2014. MITRE
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.
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
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
Micropsia is a remote access tool written in Delphi. 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
Unit 42 also discovered a custom remote access Trojan/backdoor containing a unique command and control (C2) protocol. Based on the strings within the binary as well as the functionality, we’ve opted to name it ROMCOM RAT. Unit42
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
Proofpoint researchers have identified a years-long social engineering and targeted malware campaign by the Iranian-state aligned threat actor TA456. Using the social media persona “Marcella Flores,” TA456 built a relationship across corporate and personal communication platforms with an employee of a small subsidiary of an aerospace defense contractor. In early June 2021, the threat actor attempted to capitalize on this relationship by sending the target malware via an ongoing email communication chain. Designed to conduct reconnaissance on the target’s machine, the macro-laden document contained personalized content and demonstrated the importance TA456 placed on the target. Once the malware, which is an updated version of Liderc that Proofpoint has dubbed LEMPO, establishes persistence, it can perform reconnaissance on the infected machine, save the reconnaissance details to the host, exfiltrate sensitive information to an actor-controlled email account via SMTPS, and then cover its tracks by deleting that day’s host artifacts. PFPT
Turla is a Russian-based threat group that has infected victims in over 45 countries, spanning a range of industries including government, embassies, military, education, research and pharmaceutical companies since 2004. Heightened activity was seen in mid-2015. Turla is known for conducting watering hole and spearphishing campaigns and leveraging in-house tools and malware. Turla’s espionage platform is mainly used against Windows machines, but has also been seen used against macOS and Linux machines. MITRE
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
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 SmugX Campaign | 4 | command and control | dns, tls | 4 | command and control | dns, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| APT15 | 13 | command and control | tls, dns | 32 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| APT35 | 6 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 222 | command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-07-15 |
| AgentTesla | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 40 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| BisonBooster | 4 | command and control | dns, http | 4 | command and control | dns, http | 2023-07-14 |
| Command and Control | 8 | command and control | tls, dns | 277 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| Gamaredon | 22 | command and control | dns, tls | 402 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-07-11 |
| Hydrochasma APT | 1 | command and control | tcp | 1 | command and control | tcp | 2023-07-14 |
| KONNI | 3 | actions on objectives, command and control | http, dns | 25 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http | 2023-07-15 |
| Keitaro | 2 | exploitation | dns | 98 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-07-11 |
| Micropsia | 18 | command and control | tls | 76 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| RAT Generic | 1 | command and control | http | 69 | command and control, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-07-11 |
| ROMCOM | 5 | command and control | http, dns | 16 | command and control | dns, http | 2023-07-13 |
| SocGholish | 2 | command and control | dns | 350 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-07-11 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 2 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 337 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-07-13 |
| TA444 | 14 | command and control | dns, tls | 446 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-07-14 |
| TA456 | 2 | command and control | dns | 23 | command and control, delivery | dns, http | 2023-07-12 |
| Turla | 1 | command and control | tls | 28 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-07-11 |
| WarHawk | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 19 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 2023-07-13 |
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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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