26-December-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: 930
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:
Obfuscation is the most commonly used technique to conceal the original code written by the programmer, rendering the executable code difficult to read and hard to understand while maintaining the functionality of the written code.
Base64 is a simple malware obfuscation technique. The very reason why Base64 encoding is used is because using Base64 it is possible to encode binary data to ASCII string format. Thus, attackers encode data in base64 format and send it over HTTP Protocol. Base64 allows only 64 characters for encoding, hence the name.Infosec Institute
Base64 Encoded Executable - Sophos | Base64 Encoded Executable - Microsoft | Base64 Encoded Executable - MITRE - Data Encoding - Standard Encoding |
Public facing websites are a constant target for attackers. These attacks are mostly automated and attempt to exploit known vulnerabilities for popular software. Once successful, the site is taken over by malicious actor and is usually used as botnet node to use the server resources for attacking third party, or as malware distribution platform.
Exploited Web Application - SANS |
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.
Latrodectus - Malpedia |
The government response team to the computer emergencies of Ukraine Cert-UA investigated one of the incidents, information about which in a manipulative form was published in the Jokerdpr telegram channel. It has been found out that one of the methods of implementation of cyber threats made by "followers" Jokerdpr and/or information published in the mentioned channel is to conduct phishing attacks aimed , as well as the cryptocurrency extortion and Binance exchanges. CERT-UA
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
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
Brute Ratel C4 (BRc4), the newest red-teaming and adversarial attack simulation tool to hit the market. While this capability has managed to stay out of the spotlight and remains less commonly known than its Cobalt Strike brethren, it is no less sophisticated. Instead, this tool is uniquely dangerous in that it was specifically designed to avoid detection by endpoint detection and response (EDR) and antivirus (AV) capabilities. Palo Alto
Inception is a cyber espionage group active since at least 2014. The group has targeted multiple industries and governmental entities primarily in Russia, but has also been active in the United States and throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. MITRE
In computer security, a covert channel is a type of attack that creates a capability to transfer information objects between processes that are not supposed to be allowed to communicate by the computer security policy. The term, originated in 1973 by Butler Lampson, is defined as channels "not intended for information transfer at all, such as the service program's effect on system load," to distinguish it from legitimate channels that are subjected to access controls by COMPUSEC. Wikipedia
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".
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
QAKBOT or QBOT is a malware that is capable of monitoring the browsing activities of the infected computer and logs all information related to finance-related websites.
Trendmicro
“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
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
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
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 | ||
| APT35 | 22 | command and control | tls, dns, http | 509 | command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-12-22 |
| Base64 Encoded Executable | 2 | delivery | http | 2 | delivery | http | 2023-12-21 |
| Brute Ratel | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 11 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-22 |
| Cloud Atlas | 13 | command and control, delivery | dns, tls, http | 87 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-21 |
| Covert channels | 4 | delivery | dns | 52 | delivery | dns | 2023-12-21 |
| Exploited Web Application | 6 | delivery | http | 6 | delivery | http | 2023-12-21 |
| Fake Browser | 6 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 192 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-19 |
| Keitaro | 12 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 268 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-22 |
| Latrodectus | 10 | command and control | http | 11 | command and control | http | 2023-12-21 |
| Lumma | 1 | command and control | http | 45 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-22 |
| QakBot | 1 | command and control | http | 57 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | ftp, http, tcp, tls | 2023-12-19 |
| RisePro | 2 | command and control | tcp | 135 | actions on objectives, command and control | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-12-20 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 869 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-12-19 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 9 | command and control, actions on objectives | http, dns, tls | 393 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-12-22 |
| TA582 | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 23 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-19 |
| UAC-0177 | 75 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 75 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2023-12-21 |
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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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