Tag: cobalt strike

This analysis focuses on a watering hole attack targeting a Japanese university research laboratory website in 2023. The attack used social engineering to trick users into downloading and executing malware disguised as an Adobe Flash Player update. The malware, identified as a modified Cobalt Strik…

This report details a malicious campaign where the threat actor gained initial access through a resume lure as part of a TA4557/FIN6 operation. The actor employed techniques like abusing legitimate binaries, establishing Cobalt Strike and Pyramid C2, exploiting CVE-2023-27532 for lateral movement, …

Ignoble Scorpius, previously known as Royal ransomware, has rebranded as BlackSuit ransomware and increased its activity since March 2024. The group has targeted at least 93 victims globally, with a focus on the construction and manufacturing industries. Their initial ransom demands average 1.6% of…

Earth Kasha, a threat group targeting Japan since 2019, has launched a new campaign with significant updates to their tactics and arsenals. The group has expanded its targets to include Taiwan and India, focusing on advanced technology organizations and government agencies. They now exploit public-…

A Chinese state-sponsored threat group, TAG-112, has compromised two Tibetan websites to deliver Cobalt Strike malware. The attackers embedded malicious JavaScript in the sites, spoofing a TLS certificate error to trick visitors into downloading a disguised security certificate. This campaign highl…

Unit 42 investigated an extortion attempt where threat actors tested an AV/EDR bypass tool on rogue systems with Cortex XDR installed. The actors purchased network access via Atera RMM and used a BYOVD technique for the bypass tool. Researchers gained visibility into the actors' systems, uncovering…

A Chinese hacking group called 'You Dun' was discovered through an exposed open directory, revealing their comprehensive attack infrastructure. The group utilized sophisticated reconnaissance tools and exploited Zhiyuan OA software via SQL injection attacks, targeting South Korean pharmaceutical or…

An open directory exposed a Chinese-speaking threat actor's toolkit and operational history. The actor conducted extensive scanning and exploitation targeting organizations in South Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Iran using tools like WebLogicScan, Vulmap, and Xray. The Viper C2 framework and …

A sophisticated cyber espionage campaign dubbed Operation Cobalt Whisper has been uncovered, targeting various industries in Hong Kong and Pakistan. The threat actor focuses on the defense sector, engineering researchers, and key entities in these regions, using tailored lures related to electrotec…

A new infection chain for the Bumblebee loader malware has been discovered, potentially indicating its resurgence after Operation Endgame. The sophisticated downloader, first identified in March 2022, is used by cybercriminals to access corporate networks and deliver payloads like Cobalt Strike bea…

This article analyzes four previously undisclosed DNS tunneling campaigns identified through a new campaign monitoring system. The system detects tunneling domains based on common techniques and attributes used in malicious campaigns. Four new campaigns were uncovered: FinHealthXDS (targeting finan…

A BlackCat ransomware intrusion began with a Nitrogen malware campaign impersonating Advanced IP Scanner. The attackers used Sliver and Cobalt Strike beacons for post-exploitation, leveraging Python scripts for memory loading. They performed network enumeration using various tools and moved lateral…

Microsoft has observed Storm-0501, a financially motivated cybercriminal group, conducting multi-staged attacks targeting hybrid cloud environments. The group compromises on-premises networks, performs lateral movement to cloud environments, exfiltrates data, steals credentials, creates persistent …

An investigation reveals SloppyLemming, an advanced threat actor targeting South and East Asian countries, particularly Pakistan. The group uses multiple cloud services for credential harvesting, malware delivery, and command and control. Their operations focus on government, law enforcement, energ…

The Twelve group, formed in April 2023 amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, specializes in attacking Russian government organizations. Their attacks involve encrypting and deleting victims' data, causing maximum damage without seeking financial gain. The group uses publicly available tools like Cob…

Earth Baxia, a suspected China-based threat actor, targeted government organizations, telecommunication businesses, and the energy industry in multiple Asia-Pacific countries. The group employed sophisticated techniques, including spear-phishing emails and exploitation of a GeoServer vulnerability …

A long-term intrusion targeting a Vietnamese human rights non-profit organization has been discovered, likely spanning at least four years. The attack shows significant overlaps with techniques used by APT32/OceanLotus, a threat actor known for targeting Vietnamese activists. The intrusion involved…

Proofpoint researchers uncovered an unusual campaign delivering custom malware named "Voldemort". The activity impersonated tax authorities from various countries and targeted dozens of organizations worldwide. The attack chain combines popular and uncommon techniques, including using Google Sheets…

RansomHub is a ransomware-as-a-service variant that has targeted over 210 victims across various critical infrastructure sectors since February 2024. It employs a double-extortion model, encrypting systems and exfiltrating data. The ransom note provides victims with a client ID and instructions to …

The report meticulously chronicles a sophisticated intrusion which began in December 2023 and culminated in the deployment of BlackSuit ransomware approximately 15 days later. The threat actor demonstrated an array of tactics, leveraging tools like Cobalt Strike, Sharphound, and SystemBC, alongside…

Earth Baku, an advanced persistent threat actor, has broadened its operations from the Indo-Pacific region to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, targeting countries like Italy, Germany, UAE, and Qatar. The group leverages public-facing applications like IIS servers as entry points, deploying soph…

A government-affiliated Taiwanese research institute specializing in computing technologies experienced a cyber intrusion likely carried out by the Chinese hacking group APT41. The attackers employed ShadowPad malware, Cobalt Strike, and custom tools, exploiting vulnerabilities like CVE-2018-0824 f…

This intelligence report discusses SocGholish, a JavaScript downloader used by threat actors to deliver malware payloads disguised as fake browser updates. It analyzes the recent tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by threat groups like Evil Corp in compromising WordPress websites, fingerp…

A novel, in-the-wild code execution technique leveraging Microsoft Management Console files (MSC) has been identified by Elastic Security researchers and was first spotted in the wild in June 2016 and is currently being investigated by VirusTotal.

In collaboration with Recorded Future, SentinelLabs has been tracking two distinct activity clusters targeting government and critical infrastructure sectors globally between 2021 and 2023.

This report discusses recent findings of malicious Cobalt Strike infrastructure and malicious Cobalt Strike samples that leverage publicly available Malleable C2 profiles for evasion. Despite its defensive cybersecurity use, threat actors continue exploiting Cobalt Strike's malleable and evasive na…

This in-depth analysis explores the intricate inner workings of SSLoad, a stealthy and adaptable malware known for its sophisticated delivery methods and evasion techniques. The comprehensive investigation unravels the malware's multistage infection chain, dissecting the various loaders, decryption…

This report details an intrusion that commenced with a spam campaign distributing a forked IcedID loader. After gaining initial access, the threat actor deployed ScreenConnect and established Cobalt Strike beacons, enabling remote command execution. They also utilized CSharp Streamer, a capable RAT…

Sophos Managed Detection and Response initiated a threat hunt across customers after detecting abuse of a vulnerable VMware executable. The hunt uncovered a complex, persistent cyberespionage campaign by Chinese state-sponsored actors targeting a high-profile government organization in Southeast As…

Rapid7 detected an ongoing malware distribution campaign involving trojanized installers of WinSCP and PuTTY, delivered via malicious search engine ads. The infection chain employs DLL side-loading, credential access, and deploys Sliver beacons followed by Cobalt Strike. In one case, the threat act…

This article presents a case study on new applications of domain name system (DNS) tunneling PaloAlto Unit42 have found in the wild. These techniques expand beyond DNS tunneling only for command and control (C2) and virtual private network (VPN) purposes.

Following the 2023 holiday season, Akamai researchers uncovered a significant amount of highly likely malicious activity and domains purporting to be associated with the United States Postal Service (USPS). Akamai researchers compared five months of DNS traffic to the legitimate domain, usps.com, w…

An analysis uncovered a suspected malicious campaign targeting entities in Ukraine. The attack employed an old vulnerability from 2017, CVE-2017-8570, as the initial entry vector. The operation utilized a customized loader to deliver the Cobalt Strike Beacon payload. While the specific threat actor…

This intrusion started in August 2023 with a phishing campaign that distributed IcedID malware. The phishing operation utilized the Prometheus Traffic Direction System (TDS) to deliver the malware and victims were directed to a fraudulent website, mimicking an Azure download portal.