Anvilogic Forge Threat Research Reports
Here you can find an accumulation of trending threats published weekly by the Anvilogic team.
We curate threat intelligence to provide situational awareness and actionable insights
Atomic detections that serve as the foundation of our detection framework.
Risk, pattern, and sequence-based detections utilizing the outputs of Threat Identifiers as a means of identifying actual threats.
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Forge Report: First Half Threat Trends of 2024
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CISA Warns of Data Extortion Group Karakurt
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued an advisory on the data extortion group Karakurt. Unlike traditional ransomware, Karakurt focuses on data exfiltration and extortion without encrypting victim data. They pressure victims by contacting employees, business partners, and clients to meet ransom demands. If paid, Karakurt provides proof of data deletion and an explanation of the intrusion method. However, some victims report that Karakurt did not maintain confidentiality after ransom payments. The group uses Cobalt Strike and Mimikatz for network enumeration and credential access, exfiltrating data via FTP, Rclone, or MEGA. U.S. federal agencies strongly discourage paying ransoms to Karakurt.
Chinese Hackers Exploit Microsoft Office Latest Zero-Day CVE-2022-30190
Proofpoint has identified Chinese state-linked threat group TA413 actively exploiting Microsoft Office's latest zero-day vulnerability, CVE-2022-30190, also known as 'Follina.' The attack targets the international Tibetan community and is delivered in a compressed zip archive. According to Proofpoint, 'TA413 CN APT spotted ITW exploiting the #Follina #0Day using URLs to deliver Zip Archives which contain Word Documents that use the technique. Campaigns impersonate the "Women Empowerments Desk" of the Central Tibetan Administration and use the domain tibet-gov.web[.]app.
Cryptojacking Group WatchDog Attack Cabo Labs
Researchers at Cado Labs have observed a cryptojacking attack by the WatchDog group through the company's honeypot. The attack exploits a publicly misconfigured Docker API over port 2375, which allowed unauthenticated access to the Docker daemon. After establishing a foothold, the attacker created an Alpine Linux Docker container and set up persistence with a cron job. A shell script was executed to check the system's infection status, download a second-stage payload, and ensure root permissions. The second-stage script manipulated the system's timestamp and disabled services like the Alibaba Cloud Agent. The XMRig miner payload was then deployed, with a system service created for persistence. A third-stage payload conducted network scanning to identify additional hosts for pivoting, dropping two final scripts to propagate the attack further into the victim’s network.
Analysis of Attack Ransomware Timelines
IBM X-Force's analysis of ransomware attack timelines shows a 94.34% reduction from 2019 to 2021, with attack duration dropping from months to just days due to advanced tactics and tools.
Killnet DDoS Attacks Target Italy
Italy's Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) has issued an alert about distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting Italian public entities and utilities. The Russian hacktivist group Killnet, through Telegram activity, has incited these attacks and is recruiting 3,000 "cyber fighters" for "Operation Panopticon." The CSIRT warns of imminent threats to national public entities and private entities providing public utility services.
YourCyanide Ransomware Analysis Findings
Trend Micro's analysis of YourCyanide ransomware identifies CMD-based variants using PasteBin and Discord links for payload downloads. The malware spreads through malicious LNK files, employs PowerShell commands, and modifies the registry for persistence, while also enabling RDP and creating VBS files for lateral movement via email.
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