TeamTNT is a threat group that was known for primarily targeting the cloud and container environments around the world. This group has been documented to leverage the cloud and container resources by deploying cryptocurrency miners in the victim environments. While the group has been active since 2019 and announced it was quitting in 2021, our recent observations make it appear as if TeamTNT has returned — or a copycat group imitating the routines of TeamTNT — and has been deploying an XMRig cryptocurrency miner. Analysis of the attack patterns and other technical details of the code has also led us to believe that the routines are mimicking TeamTNT’s arsenal, but are likely deployed by another cryptocurrency mining group named WatchDog.

Could TeamTNT be back? Our honeypots were attacked by malware that bears a resemblance to these threat actors and we analyze the possible connection.