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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Agent Tesla & Equation Editor Vulnerabilities
A recent phishing campaign has been discovered disseminating the Agent Tesla malware. This campaign manipulates Excel files by exploiting equation editor vulnerabilities, specifically CVE-2017-11882 and CVE-2018-0802. When the infected Excel is opened, shellcode covertly executes, leading to malware being downloaded to the victim's system. The Agent Tesla malware then moves forward, establishing persistence and capturing an array of user data, which is subsequently sent out via HTTP POST or email.
Cryptominers Spread Through Advanced Installer
Since November 2021, attackers have exploited the Advanced Installer tool to distribute cryptomining malware. They bundle this malware with software installers for high GPU power requirement tools like Adobe Illustrator and Autodesk 3ds Max. Primarily, entities in France and Switzerland have been targeted, but the attack has global reach, touching countries from Algeria to Vietnam. Key sectors targeted are those involving tasks of 3-D modeling and graphic design. The adversaries showed notable success, generating significant Ethereum Classic crypto.
Okta Warns of a Intricate Attack Targeting Privileged Accounts
Recent findings from Okta reveal a meticulously crafted series of social engineering attacks targeting their US-based customers. These attackers aim for the most privileged admin accounts. After succeeding, they exploit identity federation features, mimicking users within the compromised organizations. Okta's insights show the threat actors possess either direct access to privileged account passwords or the ability to interfere with Active Directory. They've also leveraged a unique tactic by employing a secondary identity provider to act as an impersonation tool.
Classiscam Thriving with Scam-as-a-Service Model with Members in 79 Countries
Classiscam's scam-as-a-service operation has exponentially grown, now impacting 79 countries. Group-IB discovered this Telegram-based operation in 2019, and by 2020, it had generated $6.5 million. With its advancements in automation and Telegram bots, earnings skyrocketed to $64.5 million by 2023. Europe remains a primary target, especially countries like Germany and Italy. Classiscam's fraudulence reaches an average loss of $353 per victim, but in areas like the UK, it's as high as $865. Vladimir Kalugin of Group-IB predicts its dominance will continue due to its automated nature and easy entry.
FBI's Operation 'Duck Hunt' Disrupts Qakbot Botnet
In August 2023, the FBI's Operation 'Duck Hunt' took decisive action against the decade-old Qakbot malware botnet. Joining forces with international law enforcement, the FBI identified over 700,000 infected systems globally. In a strategic move, Qakbot's traffic was redirected to remove the malware, effectively untethering these computers from the botnet. The Qakbot malware, active since 2008, has played a significant role in ransomware attacks, notably with the Black Basta gang.
Levels of Deception in a Cobalt Strike Phishing Intrusion
In late June 2023, a sophisticated Cobalt Strike phishing attack was uncovered by researcher Kostas. Attackers cunningly used a faux opinion survey email, disguised their malicious payload as a PDF, and employed various evasion tactics, such as altering file attributes. They interacted with the infected host hours after the initial breach, utilizing Cobalt Strike beacons for deeper system penetration and eventual data exfiltration. The report emphasizes the importance of monitoring specific system processes for early threat detection.
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