Beyond the Surface: the evolution and expansion of the SideWinder APT group


SideWinder, aka T-APT-04 or RattleSnake, is one of the most prolific APT groups that began its activities in 2012 and was first publicly mentioned by us in 2018. Over the years, the group has launched attacks against high-profile entities in South and Southeast Asia. Its primary targets have been military and government entities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China and Nepal.

Over the years, SideWinder has carried out an impressive number of attacks and its activities have been extensively described in various analyses and reports published by different researchers and vendors, one of the latest of which was released at the end of July 2024. The group may be perceived as a low-skilled actor due to the use of public exploits, malicious LNK files and scripts as infection vectors, and the use of public RATs, but their true capabilities only become apparent when you carefully examine the details of their operations.

Read more…
Source: Kaspersky


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Digital arrests – the newest deepfake tool used by cybercriminals

    October 11, 2024

    An Indian textile baron has revealed that he was duped out of 70 million rupees ($833,000) by online scammers impersonating federal investigators and even the Supreme Court chief justice. The fraudsters posing as officers from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) called SP Oswal, chairman and managing director of the textile manufacturer Vardhman, on August 28 ...

  • Building cyber resilience key in securing future of Africa’s people

    October 11, 2024

    An average of 2 960 attacks: that is the number of cyber attacks to which the ordinary organisation in Africa is subjected each and every week. It is a staggering revelation and what makes it more worrying is that this is growing rapidly every year. This year’s figure is up 37% on the previous year, according ...

  • Education under siege: How cybercriminals target our schools​​

    October 10, 2024

    Education is essentially an “industry of industries,” with K-12 and higher education enterprises handling data that could include health records, financial data, and other regulated information. At the same time, their facilities can host payment processing systems, networks that are used as internet service providers (ISPs), and other diverse infrastructure. The cyberthreats that Microsoft observes across ...

  • Exploited Vulnerability in Multiple Fortinet Products

    October 10, 2024

    Fortinet has released a security advisory to address a critical vulnerability in the FortiOS fgfmd daemon. CVE-2024-23113 is a ‘use of externally-controlled format string’ vulnerability with a CVSSv3 score of 9.8. A remote unauthenticated attacker could send specially crafted requests to execute arbitrary code (ACE) or commands. Affected organisations are encouraged to review Fortinet PSIRT Advisory ...

  • RDDoS Attack: What to Do if Hackers Demand a Ransom

    October 10, 2024

    DDoS attacks have evolved from simple disruptions into serious threats, with cybercriminals using them to demand ransoms and fill their cryptocurrency wallets. These attackers often operate like modern-day mafiosi, issuing threats and demanding payments. Pay up, or face two outcomes: either the attacks will start, or they simply won’t stop. In this article, StormWall researchers will ...

  • FBI: Update on SVR Cyber Operations and Vulnerability Exploitation

    October 10, 2024

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and pertners are releasing this joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to highlight the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) employed by the Russian Federation’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in recent cyber operations and provide network defenders with information to help counter SVR cyber threats. Since at least 2021, Russian SVR cyber actors ...