HeadCrab 2.0 Goes Fileless, Targeting Redis Servers for Crypto Mining

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed an updated version of the malware HeadCrab that's known to target Redis database servers across the world since early September 2021. The development, which comes exactly a year after the malware was first publicly disclosed by Aqua, is a sign that the financially-motivated threat actor behind the campaign is actively adapting and

Albabat, Kasseika, Kuiper: New Ransomware Gangs Rise with Rust and Golang

Cybersecurity researchers have detected in the wild yet another variant of the Phobos ransomware family known as Faust. Fortinet FortiGuard Labs, which detailed the latest iteration of the ransomware, said it's being propagated by means of an infection that delivers a Microsoft Excel document (.XLAM) containing a VBA script. "The attackers utilized the Gitea service to store several files

LODEINFO Fileless Malware Evolves with Anti-Analysis and Remote Code Tricks

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered an updated version of a backdoor called LODEINFO that's distributed via spear-phishing attacks. The findings come from Japanese company ITOCHU Cyber & Intelligence, which said the malware "has been updated with new features, as well as changes to the anti-analysis (analysis avoidance) techniques." LODEINFO (versions 0.6.6 and 0.6.7

UAC-0050 Group Using New Phishing Tactics to Distribute Remcos RAT

The threat actor known as UAC-0050 is leveraging phishing attacks to distribute Remcos RAT using new strategies to evade detection from security software. "The group's weapon of choice is Remcos RAT, a notorious malware for remote surveillance and control, which has been at the forefront of its espionage arsenal," Uptycs security researchers Karthickkumar Kathiresan and Shilpesh Trivedi 

Double-Extortion Play Ransomware Strikes 300 Organizations Worldwide

The threat actors behind the Play ransomware are estimated to have impacted approximately 300 entities as of October 2023, according to a new joint cybersecurity advisory from Australia and the U.S. "Play ransomware actors employ a double-extortion model, encrypting systems after exfiltrating data and have impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure organizations in North

Warning: 3 Critical Vulnerabilities Expose ownCloud Users to Data Breaches

The maintainers of the open-source file-sharing software ownCloud have warned of three critical security flaws that could be exploited to disclose sensitive information and modify files. A brief description of the vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2023-49103 (CVSS score: 10.0) - Disclosure of sensitive credentials and configuration in containerized deployments impacting graphapi versions from

Confidence in File Upload Security is Alarmingly Low. Why?

Numerous industries—including technology, financial services, energy, healthcare, and government—are rushing to incorporate cloud-based and containerized web applications.  The benefits are undeniable; however, this shift presents new security challenges.  OPSWAT's 2023 Web Application Security report reveals: 75% of organizations have modernized their infrastructure this year. 78% have

A Closer Look at the Snatch Data Ransom Group

Earlier this week, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the darknet website for the Snatch ransomware group was leaking data about its users and the crime gang’s internal operations. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the history of Snatch, its alleged founder, and their claims that everyone has confused them with a different, older ransomware group by the same name.

According to a September 20, 2023 joint advisory from the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA), Snatch was originally named Team Truniger, based on the nickname of the group’s founder and organizer — Truniger.

The FBI/CISA report says Truniger previously operated as an affiliate of GandCrab, an early ransomware-as-a-service offering that closed up shop after several years and claims to have extorted more than $2 billion from victims. GandCrab dissolved in July 2019, and is thought to have become “REvil,” one of the most ruthless and rapacious Russian ransomware groups of all time.

The government says Snatch used a customized ransomware variant notable for rebooting Microsoft Windows devices into Safe Mode — enabling the ransomware to circumvent detection by antivirus or endpoint protection — and then encrypting files when few services are running.

“Snatch threat actors have been observed purchasing previously stolen data from other ransomware variants in an attempt to further exploit victims into paying a ransom to avoid having their data released on Snatch’s extortion blog,” the FBI/CISA alert reads. It continues:

“Prior to deploying the ransomware, Snatch threat actors were observed spending up to three months on a victim’s system. Within this timeframe, Snatch threat actors exploited the victim’s network moving laterally across the victim’s network with RDP for the largest possible deployment of ransomware and searching for files and folders for data exfiltration followed by file encryption.”

New York City-based cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint said the Snatch ransomware group was created in 2018, based on Truniger’s recruitment both on Russian language cybercrime forums and public Russian programming boards. Flashpoint said Truniger recruited “pen testers” for a new, then-unnamed cybercrime group, by posting their private Jabber instant messenger contact details on multiple Russian language coding forums, as well as on Facebook.

“The command requires Windows system administrators,” Truniger’s ads explained. “Experience in backup, increase privileges, mikicatz, network. Details after contacting on jabber: truniger@xmpp[.]jp.”

In at least some of those recruitment ads — like one in 2018 on the forum sysadmins[.]ru –the username promoting Truniger’s contact information was Semen7907. In April 2020, Truniger was banned from two of the top Russian cybercrime forums, where members from both forums confirmed that Semen7907 was one of Truniger’s known aliases.

[SIDE NOTE: Truniger was banned because he purchased credentials to a company from a network access broker on the dark web, and although he promised to share a certain percentage of whatever ransom amount Truniger’s group extracted from the victim, Truniger paid the access broker just a few hundred dollars off of a six-figure ransom].

According to Constella Intelligence, a data breach and threat actor research platform, a user named Semen7907 registered in 2017 on the Russian-language programming forum pawno[.]ru using the email address tretyakov-files@yandex.ru.

That same email address was assigned to the user “Semen-7907” on the now defunct gaming website tunngle.net, which suffered a data breach in 2020. Semen-7907 registered at Tunngle from the Internet address 31.192.175[.]63, which is in Yekaterinburg, RU.

Constella reports that tretyakov-files@yandex.ru was also used to register an account at the online game stalker[.]so with the nickname Trojan7907.

There is a Skype user by the handle semen7907, and which has the name Semyon Tretyakov from Yekaterinburg, RU. Constella also found a breached record from the Russian mobile telephony site tele2[.]ru, which shows that a user from Yekaterinburg registered in 2019 with the name Semyon Sergeyvich Tretyakov and email address tretyakov-files@ya.ru.

The above accounts, as well as the email address semen_7907@mail.ru, were all registered or accessed from the same Yekaterinburg Internet address mentioned previously: 31.192.175.63. The Russian mobile phone number associated with that tele2[.]ru account is connected to the Telegram account “Perchatka,” (“glove” in Russian).

BAD BEATS

Reached via Telegram, Perchatka (a.k.a. Mr. Tretyakov) said he was not a cybercriminal, and that he currently has a full-time job working in IT at a major company (he declined to specify which).

Presented with the information gathered for this report (and more that is not published here), Mr. Tretyakov acknowledged that Semen7907 was his account on sysadmins[.]ru, the very same account Truniger used to recruit hackers for the Snatch Ransomware group back in 2018.

However, he claims that he never made those posts, and that someone else must have assumed control over his sysadmins[.]ru account and posted as him. Mr. Tretyakov said that KrebsOnSecurity’s outreach this week was the first time he became aware that his sysadmins[.]ru account was used without his permission.

Mr. Tretyakov suggested someone may have framed him, pointing to an August 2023 story at a Russian news outlet about the reported hack and leak of the user database from sysadmins[.]ru, allegedly at the hands of a pro-Ukrainian hacker group called CyberSec.

“Recently, because of the war in Ukraine, a huge number of databases have been leaked and finding information about a person is not difficult,” Tretyakov said. “I’ve been using this login since about 2013 on all the forums where I register, and I don’t always set a strong password. If I had done something illegal, I would have hidden much better :D.”

[For the record, KrebsOnSecurity does not generally find this to be the case, as the ongoing Breadcrumbs series will attest.]

A Semyon Sergeyvich Tretyakov is listed as the composer of a Russian-language rap song called “Parallels,” which seems to be about the pursuit of a high-risk lifestyle online. A snippet of the song goes:

“Someone is on the screen, someone is on the blacklist
I turn on the timer and calculate the risks
I don’t want to stay broke And in the pursuit of money
I can’t take these zeros Life is like a zebra –
everyone wants to be first Either the stripes are white,
or we’re moving through the wilds I won’t waste time.”

Mr. Tretyakov said he was not the author of that particular rhyme, but that he has been known to record his own rhythms.

“Sometimes I make bad beats,” he said. “Soundcloud.”

NEVER MIND THE DOMAIN NAME

The FBI/CISA alert on Snatch Ransomware (PDF) includes an interesting caveat: It says Snatch actually deploys ransomware on victim systems, but it also acknowledges that the current occupants of Snatch’s dark and clear web domains call themselves Snatch Team, and maintain that they are not the same people as Snatch Ransomware from 2018.

Here’s the interesting bit from the FBI/CISA report:

“Since November 2021, an extortion site operating under the name Snatch served as a clearinghouse for data exfiltrated or stolen from victim companies on Clearnet and TOR hosted by a bulletproof hosting service. In August 2023, individuals claiming to be associated with the blog gave a media interview claiming the blog was not associated with Snatch ransomware and “none of our targets has been attacked by Ransomware Snatch…”, despite multiple confirmed Snatch victims’ data appearing on the blog alongside victims associated with other ransomware groups, notably Nokoyawa and Conti.”

Avid readers will recall a story here earlier this week about Snatch Team’s leaky darknet website based in Yekaterinburg, RU that exposed their internal operations and Internet addresses of their visitors. The leaked data suggest that Snatch is one of several ransomware groups using paid ads on Google.com to trick people into installing malware disguised as popular free software, such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Reader, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Discord.

Snatch Team claims to deal only in stolen data — not in deploying ransomware malware to hold systems hostage.

Representatives of the Snatch Team recently answered questions from Databreaches.net about the claimed discrepancy in the FBI/CISA report.

“First of all, we repeat once again that we have nothing to do with Snatch Ransomware, we are Security Notification Attachment, and we have never violated the terms of the concluded transactions, because our honesty and openness is the guarantee of our income,” the Snatch Team wrote to Databreaches.net in response to questions.

But so far the Snatch Team has not been able to explain why it is using the very same domain names that the Snatch ransomware group used?

Their claim is even more unbelievable because the Snatch Team members told Databreaches.net they didn’t even know that a ransomware group with that name already existed when they initially formed just two years ago.

This is difficult to swallow because even if they were a separate group, they’d still need to somehow coordinate the transfer of the Ransomware group’s domains on the clear and dark webs. If they were hoping for a fresh start or separation, why not just pick a new name and new web destination?

“Snatchteam[.]cc is essentially a data market,” they continued. “The only thing to underline is that we are against selling leaked information, sticking to the idea of free access. Absolutely any team can come to us and offer information for publication. Even more, we have heard rumors that a number of ransomware teams scare their clients that they will post leaked information on our resource. We do not have our own ransomware, but we are open to cooperation on placement and monetization of dates (sic).”

Maybe Snatch Team does not wish to be associated with Snatch Ransomware because they currently believe stealing data and then extorting victim companies for money is somehow less evil than infecting all of the victim’s servers and backups with ransomware.

It is also likely that Snatch Team is well aware of how poorly some of their founders covered their tracks online, and are hoping for a do-over on that front.

Python-Based PyLoose Fileless Attack Targets Cloud Workloads for Cryptocurrency Mining

A new fileless attack dubbed PyLoose has been observed striking cloud workloads with the goal of delivering a cryptocurrency miner, new findings from Wiz reveal. "The attack consists of Python code that loads an XMRig Miner directly into memory using memfd, a known Linux fileless technique," security researchers Avigayil Mechtinger, Oren Ofer, and Itamar Gilad said. "This is the first publicly

Megaupload duo will go to prison at last, but Kim Dotcom fights on…

One, sadly, has died, and two are heading to prison, but for Kim Dotcom, the saga goes on...

MOVEit Transfer Under Attack: Zero-Day Vulnerability Actively Being Exploited

A critical flaw in Progress Software's in MOVEit Transfer managed file transfer application has come under widespread exploitation in the wild to take over vulnerable systems. The shortcoming, which is assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-34362, relates to a severe SQL injection vulnerability that could lead to escalated privileges and potential unauthorized access to the environment. "An SQL

Sophisticated DownEx Malware Campaign Targeting Central Asian Governments

Government organizations in Central Asia are the target of a sophisticated espionage campaign that leverages a previously undocumented strain of malware dubbed DownEx. Bitdefender, in a report shared with The Hacker News, said the activity remains active, with evidence likely pointing to the involvement of Russia-based threat actors. The Romanian cybersecurity firm said it first detected the

Microsoft (& Apple) Patch Tuesday, April 2023 Edition

Microsoft today released software updates to plug 100 security holes in its Windows operating systems and other software, including a zero-day vulnerability that is already being used in active attacks. Not to be outdone, Apple has released a set of important updates addressing two zero-day vulnerabilities that are being used to attack iPhones, iPads and Macs.

On April 7, Apple issued emergency security updates to fix two weaknesses that are being actively exploited, including CVE-2023-28206, which can be exploited by apps to seize control over a device. CVE-2023-28205 can be used by a malicious or hacked website to install code.

Both vulnerabilities are addressed in iOS/iPadOS 16.4.1, iOS 15.7.5, and macOS 12.6.5 and 11.7.6. If you use Apple devices and you don’t have automatic updates enabled (they are on by default), you should probably take care of that soon as detailed instructions on how to attack CVE-2023-28206 are now public.

Microsoft’s bevy of 100 security updates released today include CVE-2023-28252, which is a weakness in Windows that Redmond says is under active attack. The vulnerability is in the Windows Common Log System File System (CLFS) driver, a core Windows component that was the source of attacks targeting a different zero-day vulnerability in February 2023.

“If it seems familiar, that’s because there was a similar 0-day patched in the same component just two months ago,” said Dustin Childs at the Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative. “To me, that implies the original fix was insufficient and attackers have found a method to bypass that fix. As in February, there is no information about how widespread these attacks may be. This type of exploit is typically paired with a code execution bug to spread malware or ransomware.”

According to the security firm Qualys, this vulnerability has been leveraged by cyber criminals to deploy Nokoyawa ransomware.

“This is a relatively new strain for which there is some open source intel to suggest that it is possibly related to Hive ransomware – one of the most notable ransomware families of 2021 and linked to breaches of over 300+ organizations in a matter of just a few months,” said Bharat Jogi, director of vulnerability and threat research at Qualys.

Jogi said while it is still unclear which exact threat actor is targeting CVE-2023-28252, targets have been observed in South and North America, regions across Asia and at organizations in the Middle East.

Satnam Narang at Tenable notes that CVE-2023-28252 is also the second CLFS zero-day disclosed to Microsoft by researchers from Mandiant and DBAPPSecurity (CVE-2022-37969), though it is unclear if both of these discoveries are related to the same attacker.

Seven of the 100 vulnerabilities Microsoft fixed today are rated “Critical,” meaning they can be used to install malicious code with no help from the user. Ninety of the flaws earned Redmond’s slightly less-dire “Important” label, which refers to weaknesses that can be used to undermine the security of the system but which may require some amount of user interaction.

Narang said Microsoft has rated nearly 90% of this month’s vulnerabilities as “Exploitation Less Likely,” while just 9.3% of flaws were rated as “Exploitation More Likely.” Kevin Breen at Immersive Labs zeroed in on several notable flaws in that 9.3%, including CVE-2023-28231, a remote code execution vulnerability in a core Windows network process (DHCP) with a CVSS score of 8.8.

“‘Exploitation more likely’ means it’s not being actively exploited but adversaries may look to try and weaponize this one,” Breen said. “Micorosft does note that successful exploitation requires an attacker to have already gained initial access to the network. This could be via social engineering, spear phishing attacks, or exploitation of other services.”

Breen also called attention to CVE-2023-28220 and CVE-2023-28219 — a pair of remote code execution vulnerabilities affecting Windows Remote Access Servers (RAS) that also earned Microsoft’s “exploitation more likely” label.

“An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted connection request to a RAS server, which could lead to remote code execution,” Breen said. While not standard in all organizations, RAS servers typically have direct access from the Internet where most users and services are connected. This makes it extremely enticing for attackers as they don’t need to socially engineer their way into an organization. They can simply scan the internet for RAS servers and automate the exploitation of vulnerable devices.”

For more details on the updates released today, see the SANS Internet Storm Center roundup. If today’s updates cause any stability or usability issues in Windows, AskWoody.com will likely have the lowdown on that.

Please consider backing up your data and/or imaging your system before applying any updates. And feel free to sound off in the comments if you experience any problems as a result of these patches.

Hackers Using Self-Extracting Archives Exploit for Stealthy Backdoor Attacks

An unknown threat actor used a malicious self-extracting archive (SFX) file in an attempt to establish persistent backdoor access to a victim's environment, new findings from CrowdStrike show. SFX files are capable of extracting the data contained within them without the need for dedicated software to display the file contents. It achieves this by including a decompressor stub, a piece of code

How XDR Helps Protect Critical Infrastructure

Critical infrastructure is important for societal existence, growth, and development. Societies are reliant on the services provided by critical infrastructure sectors like telecommunication, energy, healthcare, transportation, and information technology. Safety and security are necessary for the optimal operation of these critical infrastructures. Critical infrastructure is made up of digital

Cyber Criminals Using Quantum Builder Sold on Dark Web to Deliver Agent Tesla Malware

A recently discovered malware builder called Quantum Builder is being used to deliver the Agent Tesla remote access trojan (RAT). "This campaign features enhancements and a shift toward LNK (Windows shortcut) files when compared to similar attacks in the past," Zscaler ThreatLabz researchers Niraj Shivtarkar and Avinash Kumar said in a Tuesday write-up. <!--adsense--> Sold on the dark web for

Researchers Warn of Increase in Phishing Attacks Using Decentralized IPFS Network

The decentralized file system solution known as IPFS is becoming the new "hotbed" for hosting phishing sites, researchers have warned. Cybersecurity firm Trustwave SpiderLabs, which disclosed specifics of the spam campaigns, said it identified no less than 3,000 emails containing IPFS phishing URLs as an attack vector in the last three months. IPFS, short for InterPlanetary File System, is a

Experts Analyze Conti and Hive Ransomware Gangs' Chats With Their Victims

An analysis of four months of chat logs spanning more than 40 conversations between the operators of Conti and Hive ransomware and their victims has offered an insight into the groups' inner workings and their negotiation techniques. In one exchange, the Conti Team is said to have significantly reduced the ransom demand from a staggering $50 million to $1 million, a 98% drop, suggesting a

“Dirty Pipe” Linux kernel bug lets anyone write to any file

Even read-only files can be written to, leading to a dangerously general purpose elevation-of-privilege attack.

The Ultimate Guide to Safe Sharing Online

We live in a world that thrives on digital connectivity. According to We Are Social, Canadians are now spending half a day more a month online than they did a year ago. Also, 33 million Canadians logged on to the internet at least once a month in 2020. As more people every year are spending hours upon hours online, they are knowingly (and sometimes unknowingly) unsafely releasing their personal information into the digital ether, making them vulnerable to all sorts of cybercrimes. The ramifications range anywhere from malware infection to identity fraud. Better understanding the best practices for online sharing will ensure users can navigate online dangers and safely connect with others. 

Here are three ways online users share too much information and how they are placing themselves at risk. 

1. Autosaving and Sharing Personal Details 

Think about how many websites you visit regularly. How many of these have access to your personal information, such as your email, credit card numbers, and shipping address? Before accepting the option to save your information on file for a “faster checkout experience,” consider the following: A Canadian Internet Registration Authority polled 500 IT security professionals, and a quarter of them experienced a breach of customer data in 2020. Online users cannot afford to take liberties with the information they hand over to online companies, especially if they subscribe to numerous sites.  

On a similar note, it is equally inadvisable to hand over information about yourself. Although seemingly harmless, online quizzes may not be as safe as you think. Some quiz questions sound more like security questions such as, “What was the first car you owned?” or “Where did you grow up?” Hackers using spyware can access these answers and anything else you enter on quiz sites to formulate informed guesses at your passwords.  

2. Oversharing on Social Media 

It may seem counterintuitive not to share information on social media, seeing as the purpose of these platforms is to share. However, the problem with social media is that too many people are leaving themselves exposed to hackers due to the specificity of the information they share. More than two-thirds of Canadians are on social media, according to Statista, meaning there are millions of user profiles and newsfeeds brimming with personal information. Specific information such as company details in a new job announcement or your birth date in a celebration post are details hackers can use to impersonate you or break into your accounts. Additionally, cybercriminals can impersonate people in your network or pose as average users and add you as a friend. Hackers will often use this tactic to get close to someone and gather intel to formulate a targeted phishing attempt or identity theft. 

While you can take proper precautions to safeguard your personal information, you cannot guarantee that others will do so with the same vigilance. Many do not realize there is more at stake than a loss of privacy when intentionally sharing information, usually login credentials, with others. If your friend you shared your password with is hacked, then a cybercriminal can now access your information as well as theirs. Cybercriminals can then use this information to break into your accounts, hold your data for ransom, and even steal your identity. 

How to Safely Share Online 

Knowing what is safe to share online and how to protect the information that is not is the first step to safeguarding your online presence. Here are four tips to consider before sharing your personal details on websites, social media, and with others: 

1. Verify website and online security 

Always err on the side of caution whenever you visit unknown sites or download applications on your devices. Be aware of what you click on, the ramifications of clicking on a malicious link, or handing over information on an unsecured website. One way to ensure you are visiting a secure website is to look for the padlock icon in the top left corner of your browser. This icon indicates the site and your connection are secure.  

Take your internet protection one step further and avoid saving your information on file. If possible, use an alternate payment gateway with verified encryption that does not require inputting your credit card information. This way, your data does not become a liability in the event of a company data breach.  

2. Rethink your privacy on social media 

There’s a fine line between sharing too much and sharing just enough on social media. Start taking control of your privacy on social media by adjusting your privacy settings. Unless you are an aspiring social media influencer, it is best to keep your account private and limit your followers to only people you know personally. Do not follow strangers and reject friend requests from strangers. They could turn out to be a hacker.  

Take advantage of platform security controls that allow you to control your visible information. For example, you can disable your activity status or geolocations to block other people from tracking your every move or manage the personal data these platforms are allowed to share. Keep in mind that any third-party app with access to these platforms will have varied privacy policies. Read the fine print on their user agreements, as these policies differ depending on the app.

 3. Use a VPN  

Before hopping online, consider using a virtual private network (VPN) to secure your connection. A VPN allows you to browse the internet with the confidence that your Wi-Fi and any sensitive information you send through this connection is encrypted. In other words, if a hacker intercepts this data, they won’t be able to make any sense of it. 

4. Leverage a reliable authentication system 

Enabling multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection that makes it nearly impossible for hackers to bypass even if they do manage to steal your credentials.  

Also, make sure you create strong passwords or passphrases by following password best practices and ensuring they are long, complex, and varied. Use a password manager with a generator to help you create strong passwords and store them, so you do not have to memorize them. This method also makes it easier and more secure than saving passwords on internet browsers. Further, password managers, like McAfee True Key, make it easy to securely share your credentials with others. 

Prioritize Online Safety and Connectivity 

From social media to work to daily activities, peoples’ lives are centralized around their digital devices and online access. Users must learn to care for their information to the same degree one would manage their physical IDs or credit cards. Only then can they carry on their online activities, confident in the knowledge they are doing so securely.  

The post The Ultimate Guide to Safe Sharing Online appeared first on McAfee Blogs.