Recently, Mandiant became aware of an APT41 intrusion where the malicious actor deployed a combination of ANTSWORD and BLUEBEAM web shells for persistence.
These web shells were identified on a Tomcat Apache Manager server and active since at least 2023. APT41 utilized these web shells to execute certutil.exe to download the DUSTPAN dropper to stealthily load BEACON. As the APT41 intrusion progressed, the group escalated its tactics by deploying the DUSTTRAP dropper. Upon execution, DUSTTRAP would decrypt a malicious payload and execute it in memory, leaving minimal forensic traces.
Read more…
Source: Mandiant
Related:
- Singapore: Critical information infrastructure owners must report suspected advanced cyberattacks under new rules
July 29, 2025
Owners of Singapore’s critical information infrastructure (CII) will soon be required to report any incidents suspected to be caused by advanced persistent threats (APTs), a type of prolonged cyberattack typically carried out by well-resourced threat actors. The reports must be made to the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), said Minister for Digital Development and Information ...
- GhostContainer backdoor: Malware compromising Exchange servers of high-value organizations in Asia
July 17, 2025
In a recent incident response (IR) case, Kaspersky researchers discovered highly customized malware targeting Exchange infrastructure within government environments. Analysis of detection logs and clues within the sample suggests that the Exchange server was likely compromised via a known N-day vulnerability. Kaspersky in-depth analysis of the malware revealed a sophisticated, multi-functional backdoor that can be dynamically ...
- Hackers hijacked hundreds of devices in an outlandish intel campaign aimed at US and Asian targets
June 29, 2025
A recently disclosed cyber espionage operation, dubbed LapDogs, has drawn scrutiny following revelations from SecurityScorecard’s Strike Team. The operation, believed to be conducted by China-aligned threat actors, has quietly infiltrated over 1,000 devices across the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. What makes this campaign distinctive is its use of hijacked SOHO routers ...
- Canadian Centre for Cyber Security/FBI: People’s Republic of China cyber threat activity
June 20, 2025
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) and the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are warning Canadians of the threat posed by People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber threat actor tracked in industry reporting as Salt Typhoon. The Cyber Centre previously joined our partners in warning that PRC cyber actors have compromised ...
- What’s in an ASP? Creative Phishing Attack on Prominent Academics and Critics of Russia
June 18, 2025
In cooperation with external partners, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) observed a Russia state-sponsored cyber threat actor impersonating the U.S. Department of State. From at least April through early June 2025, this actor targeted prominent academics and critics of Russia, often using extensive rapport building and tailored lures to convince the target to set up application ...
- Sleep with one eye open: how Librarian Ghouls steal data by night
June 9, 2025
Librarian Ghouls, also known as “Rare Werewolf” and “Rezet”, is an APT group that targets entities in Russia and the CIS. The group has remained active through May 2025, consistently targeting Russian companies. A distinctive feature of this threat is that the attackers favor using legitimate third-party software over developing their own malicious binaries. The malicious ...