The FBI warned about attacks on government and non-profit organizations in April, which involved deploying multiple malware strains on victim devices.
Besides this, the attackers aim to achieve the following things:-
- Mine resources
- Steal data
- Establish backdoor access to systems
Cybersecurity researchers at Securelist recently identified numerous malicious money-making scripts that hackers actively use to deliver multiple malware.
Since late 2022, under this campaign, security analysts detected the following things:-
- Numerous scripts
- Executables
- Associated links
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Technical analysis
Following the April report on indicators of compromise, experts uncovered new malicious scripts in their August telemetry.
The following scripts appear to exploit vulnerabilities on servers and workstations to tamper with Windows Defender:-
The start.cmd script aims to disable protection via the registry while runxm1.cmd script adds files to exceptions, obtains administrator rights, and renames security solution folders.
Here below, we have mentioned all the executable and configuration files that the scripts attempt to download from this domain:-
- intelsvc.exe (A7CDE18F991E97037A7899B7669E2548)
- View.exe (830debd1f6d39c726c2d3208e3314f44)
- rtkaudio.exe/rtkaudio.txt (a6d4706baeb9ab97490d745f7a2bb11e)
- config.txt (99634dcaca690066187e30c36182bf19)
start.cmd initiates RtkAudio.exe using config.txt for Monero mining. Additional downloaded files include View.exe, executed to save various files in the C:UsersPublic directory.
Analysis of the files reveals keylogger functionality in Systemfont.exe, while IntelSvc.exe acts as a typical backdoor, connecting to a C2 server for instructions.
Attack Geography
Researchers have noted over 10,000 attacks targeting 200+ users globally since May 2023, primarily affecting B2B sectors such as-
- Government agencies
- Agriculture
- Retail
However, besides this, all these threats were primarily encountered in the following countries:-
- Russian Federation
- Saudi Arabia
- Vietnam
- Brazil
- Romania
Threat actors are increasingly targeting the B2B sector, using initial crypto-miner infections as a gateway for more harmful attacks like backdoors and keyloggers.
To defend against these evolving threats, businesses must continuously enhance their security measures.
Indicators of Compromise
MD5
0BEFB96279DA248F6D49169E047EE7AB
769BC25454799805E83612F0F896E03F
B747AEDF0F3E4457C6D02BC5AF7C0980
0A50081A6CD37AEA0945C91DE91C5D97
1DA8E7C92C86FC8DBAB5287BDCA91CA1
3C47D45F09948B8E6FDB5F96523BC60B
5D3E2B2EE668B2BC071B8D4027C6B8F1
227FA5D690A943114FF3CCFE7977192A
A531FE822618B6A917D50BEE001C95A1
DDAB66730A84583B98D3415F9181D092
830debd1f6d39c726c2d3208e3314f44
3b2a270b90b3e24a25cc991df40da3ca
DDD12566B99343B96609AFA2524ECEC3
a6d4706baeb9ab97490d745f7a2bb11e
A7CDE18F991E97037A7899B7669E2548
AC27DE51896A5BA2FD0DDA9B7955A201
2ac1d8e16e47e97db3c60d728270ad5a
5919e4e3e06b617d967dc6e8fecb701b
8dcd1e4e37838b49214f10c50ef5a5f0
51ad216fcb4afe42b9ef01ab472a2914
df6f39d30dc5e9f4155514cdefb54620
b2e250b9e3b9d5e6b2080cb782f9698e
af9327d353b97fd50a777145bc0e8e1e
22f9682e543b94532d46541c63512f2d
1225f4f50154dd49d4853e4efc3ddf77
7d0f67343f128d29a50ccd3639b72884
752940da17469330c38ab98d04f3d6b8
11ca68ea3500cb03db1f4008d18cb6b2
b558fa064d0d3f94f5e4c975375cbad1
4cdbcfa0d6fd2e7de6ec0030cfb2322d
7e09279dcd3655ab1b2e2684746e4bc2
a38dece5bcb9f6d1c027d86e0318a60e
474f517eb23bdfa4c320c091c3eb2dba
f0881b3c3d1535685d6190df4083f515
61d5944634d735c3e6efc3b1349de740
99634dcaca690066187e30c36182bf19
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