Black Basta Ransomware Gang Infiltrates networks via QAKBOT, Brute Ratel, and Cobalt Strike
We analyzed a QAKBOT-related case leading to a Brute Ratel C4 and Cobalt Strike payload that can be attributed to the threat actors behind the Black Basta ransomware.
The Majority of PostgreSQL Servers on the Internet are Insecure
At most 15% of the approximately 820,000 PostgreSQL servers listening on the Internet require encryption. In fact, only 36% even support encryption. This puts PostgreSQL servers well behind the rest of the Internet in terms of security. In comparison, according to Google, over 96% of page loads in Chrome on a Mac are encrypted. The top 100 websites support encryption, and 97 of those default to encryption.
In June 2022, FortiGuard Labs encountered IoT malware samples with SSH-related strings, something not often seen in other IoT threat campaigns. What piqued our interest more was the size of the code referencing these strings in relation to the code used for DDoS attacks, which usually comprises most of the code in other variants.
Flubot: the evolution of a notorious Android Banking Malware
Flubot is an Android based malware that has been distributed in the past 1.5 years in Europe, Asia and Oceania affecting thousands of devices of mostly unsuspecting victims. Like the majority of Android banking malware, Flubot abuses Accessibility Permissions and Services in order to steal the victim’s credentials, by detecting when the official banking application is open to show a fake web injection, a phishing website similar to the login form of the banking application. An important part of the popularity of Flubot is due to the distribution strategy used in its campaigns, since it has been using the infected devices to send text messages, luring new victims into installing the malware from a fake website. In this article we detail its development over time and recent developments regarding its disappearance, including new features and distribution campaigns.
Conti vs. LockBit: A Comparative Analysis of Ransomware Groups
We compare the targeting and business models of the Conti and LockBit ransomware groups using data analysis approaches. This will be presented in full at the 34th Annual FIRST Conference on June 27, 2022.
MuddyWater’s “light” first-stager targetting Middle East
Since the last quarter of 2020 MuddyWater has mantained a “long-term” infection campaign targeting Middle East countries. We have gathered samples from November 2020 to January 2022, and due to the recent samples found, it seems that this campaign might still be currently active. The latest campaigns of the Muddy Water threat group, allegedly sponsored by the Iranian government and linked to the Iranian revolutionary guard (the main armed forces of the Iranian government), could be framed within the dynamics of maintaining Iran’s regional sovereignty.
Researchers: Wi-Fi Probe Requests Expose User Data
A group of academic researchers from the University of Hamburg in Germany has discovered that mobile devices leak identifying information about their owners via Wi-Fi probe requests.
With the "Follina" / CVE-2022-30190 0day still hot, i.e., still waiting for an official fix while apparently already getting exploited by nation-backed attackers, another related unfixed vulnerability in Microsoft's Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) bubbled to the surface. In January 2020, security researcher Imre Rad published an article titled "The trouble with Microsoft’s Troubleshooters," describing a method for having a malicious executable file being saved to user's Startup folder, where it would subsequently get executed upon user's next login. What the user has to do for this to happen is open a "diagcab" file...
Analysis and Attribution of the Eternity Ransomware: Timeline and Emergence of the Eternity Group
XVigil discovered a financially motivated threat actor group, dubbed Eternity group, actively operating on the internet, selling worms, stealers, DDoS tools, and ransomware builders.
Put an io_uring on it: Exploiting the Linux Kernel - Blog |
At Grapl we believe that in order to build the best defensive system we need to deeply understand attacker behaviors. As part of that goal we're investing in offensive security research. Keep up with our blog for new research on high risk vulnerabilities, exploitation, and advanced threat tactics.
In July 2021, CPR released a series of three publications covering different aspects of how the Formbook and XLoader malware families function. We described how XLoader emerged in the Darknet community to fill the empty niche after Formbook sales were abruptly stopped by its author. We did a deep technical analysis followed by a description of XLoader for macOS along with common points and differences in how both malware families conceal the heart of the whole operation, the Command-and-Control (C&C) infrastructure. However, the world does not stand still, and this applies to the malware cyber-world as well.
New Linux-Based Ransomware Cheerscrypt Targets ESXi Devices
Trend Micro Research detected “Cheerscrypt”, a new Linux-based ransomware variant that compromises ESXi servers. We discuss our initial findings in this report.
Large-scale Analysis of DNS-based Tracking Evasion - broad data leaks included?
User tracking technologies are ubiquitous on the web. In recent times web browsers try to fight abuses. This led to an arms race where new tracking and anti-tracking measures are being developed. The use of one of such evasion techniques, the CNAME cloaking technique is recently quickly gaining popularity. Our evidence indicates that the use of the CNAME scheme threatens web security and privacy systematically and in general
Exploiting an Unbounded memcpy in Parallels Desktop
This post details the development of a guest-to-host virtualization escape for Parallels Desktop on macOS, as used in our successful Pwn2Own 2021 entry. Give...
Multi-factor Authentication to Generate $27 Billion Globally for Mobile Operators in 2022, Juniper Research Study Finds
A new study by Juniper Research has found operators will generate $27 billion from the termination of SMS messages related to multi-factor authentication in 2022; an increase from $25 billion in 2021. The research predicts this 5% growth will be driven by increased pressure on digital service providers to offer secure authentication that reduces risk of data breaches and protects user identity. Multi-factor authentication combines multiple credentials to verify a user or transaction. This includes sending an SMS that contains a one‑time password or code to a user’s unique phone number.
Web ad firms scrape email addresses before you know it
Tracking, marketing, and analytics firms have been exfiltrating the email addresses of internet users from web forms prior to submission and without user consent, according to security researchers.
MacOS SUHelper Root Privilege Escalation Vulnerability A Deep Dive Into CVE-2022-22639
We discovered a now-patched vulnerability in macOS SUHelper, designated as CVE-2022-22639. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow malicious actors to gain root privilege escalation.
DEV-0537 criminal actor targeting organizations for data exfiltration and destruction
The activity we have observed has been attributed to a threat group that Microsoft tracks as DEV-0537, also known as LAPSUS$. DEV-0537 is known for using a pure extortion and destruction model without deploying ransomware payloads.
A search online lead me to a discovery I didn’t think was possible nowadays. I realized almost immediately that critical security issues were probably involved. I found that out of the many tens of thousands of gas stations the company claimed to have installed their product in, 1,000 are remotely hackable.
We recently came across a stealer, called Raccoon Stealer, a name given to it by its author. Raccoon Stealer uses the Telegram infrastructure to store and update actual C&C addresses. Raccoon Stealer is a password stealer capable of stealing not just passwords, but various types of data, including: Cookies, saved logins and forms data from […]
