Analyzing a Multi-Stage AsyncRAT Campaign via Managed Detection and Response


AsyncRAT has emerged as a notable Remote Access Trojan (RAT) used by threat actors for its robust capabilities and ease of deployment. It gained favor for its extensive feature set, which includes keylogging, screen capturing, and remote command execution capabilities.

Its modular architecture, typically implemented in Python, provides flexibility and ease of customization, making it a preferred tool of choice for cybercriminals. During Trend Micro investigation of AsyncRAT infections, we observed Python scripts playing a central role in the infection chain, automating various stages of the attack. The initial payload, a Windows Script Host (WSH) file, was designed to download and execute additional malicious scripts hosted on a WebDAV server.

Read more…
Source: Trend Micro


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • New exploit lets attackers take control of Windows IoT Core devices

    March 2, 2019

    Speaking at a conference today, a security researcher has revealed a new exploit impacting the Windows IoT Core operating system that gives threat actors full control over vulnerable devices. The vulnerability, discovered by Dor Azouri, a security researcher for SafeBreach, impacts the Sirep/WPCon communications protocol included with Windows IoT operating system. Azouri said the vulnerability only impacts Windows ...

  • Bronze Union APT Updates Remote Access Trojans in Fresh Wave of Attacks

    February 27, 2019

    The notorious Chinese-linked threat group, dubbed Bronze Union, has been spotted in a widespread 2018 campaign updating its arsenal of cyberweapons by breathing new life into old tools. The threat group was spotted in 2018 using updated source code to target data owned by political, technology, manufacturing and humanitarian organizations, researchers with the Dell Secureworks Counter ...

  • Hackers target Elasticsearch clusters in fresh malware campaign

    February 27, 2019

    Security researchers have observed a spike in attacks from multiple threat actors targeting Elasticsearch clusters, in what is believed to be an attempt to spread malware on victims’ machines. Attackers appear targeting clusters using versions 1.4.2 and lower, and are leveraging old vulnerabilities to pass scripts to search queries and drop the attacker’s payloads, according to ...

  • How to Attack and Defend a Prosthetic Arm

    February 26, 2019

    The IoT world has long since grown beyond the now-ubiquitous smartwatches, smartphones, smart coffee machines, cars capable of sending tweets and Facebook posts and other stuff like fridges that send spam. Today’s IoT world now boasts state-of-the-art solutions that quite literally help people. Take, for example, the biomechanical prosthetic arm made by Motorica Inc. This ...

  • Hackers abuse LinkedIn DMs to plant malware

    February 25, 2019

    Hackers are impersonating recruitment agencies on LinkedIn in a bid to target companies with backdoor malware. Researchers at Proofpoint found that the malware campaigns primarily targeted US companies in various industries including retail, entertainment, pharmacy, and others that commonly employ online payments, such as online shopping portals. In a blog post, the firm said hackers establish a relationship ...

  • 19-Year Old WinRAR RCE Vulnerability Gets Micropatch Which Keeps ACE Support

    February 22, 2019

    A micropatch was released to fix a 19-year old arbitrary code execution vulnerability impacting 500 million users of the WinRAR compression tool and to keep ACE support after the app’s devs removed it when they patched the security issue. Nadav Grossman from Check Point Software Technologies was the one who originally found the ACE Path Traversal logical bug in the UNACEV2.DLL library written by ...