08-October-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: 1162
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:
Between late 2022 to present, SloppyLemming has routinely used Cloudflare Workers likely as part of a broad espionage campaign targeting South and East Asian countries SloppyLemming displays a lack of operational security (OPSEC) allowing Cloudforce One insight into its tooling The actor primarily targets Pakistani government, defense, telecommunications, technology, and energy sector organizations; SloppyLemming also targets Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and China. Cloudflare
Malpedia - SloppyLemming |
SnipBot gives the attacker the ability to execute commands and download additional modules onto a victim's system. It is a new version of the RomCom malware that is mainly based on RomCom 3.0. However, it also contains techniques seen in its offshoot PEAPOD called RomCom 4.0 by Trend Micro. Therefore, we’ve assigned it version 5.0. PaloAlto
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
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
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
PlugX is a remote access tool (RAT) that uses modular plugins. It has been used by multiple threat groups. 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
An actor mainly targeting Pakistan military targets, active since at least 2012. We have low confidence that this malware might be authored by an Indian company. To spread the malware, they use unique implementations to leverage the exploits of known vulnerabilities (such as CVE-2017-11882) and later deploy a Powershell payload in the final stages. Malpedia
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). 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
Warmcookie is the name of a backdoor-type malware. Malicious programs within this classification are designed to open a "backdoor" to compromised systems; the goal is to cause further infection (i.e., download/install additional malware).
Warmcookie has been around since at least the spring of 2024, with suspected older versions being released even earlier. At the time of writing, this backdoor is actively spread via targeted email spam campaigns. Pcrisk
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 | ||
| APT35 | 21 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 1058 | command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2024-09-27 |
| Fake Browser | 15 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 982 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-28 |
| Keitaro | 1 | exploitation | http | 389 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-24 |
| Lumma | 135 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2003 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-28 |
| Mustang Panda | 36 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 78 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-09-27 |
| Nerbian RAT | 1 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 4 | actions on objectives, command and control | http, tcp-pkt | 2024-09-27 |
| PlugX | 1 | command and control | http | 128 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls, udp | 2024-09-27 |
| RAT Generic | 1 | command and control | tcp | 152 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls, udp | 2024-09-25 |
| SideWinder | 3 | delivery | http | 404 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-27 |
| SloppyLemming | 138 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 138 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2024-09-30 |
| SnipBot | 51 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 51 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 2024-09-30 |
| SocGholish | 6 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 1045 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-09-24 |
| TA455 | 18 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 454 | command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-27 |
| TA4903 | 9 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 1132 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-26 |
| TA582 | 15 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 302 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2024-09-28 |
| WARMCOOKIE | 1 | command and control | http | 5 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 2024-09-25 |
| XWorm | 17 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 1571 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-09-24 |
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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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