Earth Koshchei Coopts Red Team Tools in Complex RDP Attacks


Red teaming provides essential tools and testing methodologies for organizations to strengthen their security defenses. Cybercriminals and advanced persistent threat (APT) actors pay close attention to new methods and tools red teams develop, and they may repurpose them with a malicious intent.

In October 2024, an APT group that Trend Micro tracks as Earth Koshchei (also known as APT29 and Midnight Blizzard), likely used a rogue remote desktop protocol (RDP) attack methodology against numerous targets. This methodology was described earlier in 2022 by Black Hills Information Security in detail. The attack technique is called “rogue RDP”, which involves an RDP relay, a rogue RDP server, and a malicious RDP configuration file. A victim of this technique would give partial control of their machine to the attacker, potentially leading to data leakage and malware installation.

Read more…
Source: Trend Micro


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Nissan says Oracle PeopleSoft break-in may have spilled payroll records, SSNs

    June 29, 2026

    Nissan has joined the growing list of Oracle customers cleaning up after a cyberattack, warning employees that payroll records, bank details, Social Security numbers, and other personal data may have been stolen. In a filing submitted to the California Attorney General on Friday, Nissan Americas said Oracle had informed it of “a cyber event” involving the personnel records ...

  • Fake GTA VI beta keys are already draining cryptocurrency wallets worldwide

    June 27, 2026

    Grand Theft Auto VI is not due on consoles until November 19 2026, but official preorders open soon, and cybersecurity researchers have warned criminals are already exploiting the wait with a coordinated wave of fraudulent websites. Malwarebytes and NordVPN have both flagged sites promising “VIP early access” or exclusive beta keys to one of gaming’s most anticipated ...

  • Russian Intelligence Services Continue to Target Commercial Messaging Applications

    June 26, 2026

    The FBI and CISA are issuing this update to the March 20, 2026, Public Service Announcement I-032026-PSA to provide additional information to the public and encourage device owners to take actions to protect themselves. The FBI has identified multiple clusters of Russian Intelligence Services (RIS) cyber threat actors responsible for an ongoing commercial messaging application (CMA) phishing campaign against individuals of high ...

  • Russian hackers were behind $2.5B hack of Jaguar Land Rover

    June 26, 2026

    Last year, hackers attacked car giant Jaguar Land Rover (JPL), one of the U.K.’s biggest employers. The hack halted production for months and made a dent in the country’s economy. The damage was so severe that the U.K. government decided to bail out the company with a £1.5 billion (around $2 billion) payment, and estimates say the hack cost the British ...

  • Beware of the license manager: how a Schneider Electric software vulnerability puts industrial facilities at risk

    June 26, 2026

    The CVE-2024-2658 vulnerability was discovered in 2024 within the FlexNet Publisher component of the Schneider Electric Floating License Manager. This software handles license management across various Schneider Electric products used for comprehensive industrial automation ranging from PLC programming to centralized control room implementation. This vulnerability is a CWE-427: Uncontrolled Search Path Element issue. It stems from a system ...

  • Polymarket says hackers stole users’ funds

    June 25, 2026

    Prediction market giant Polymarket confirmed that hackers stole funds from an unspecified number of users after a third-party breach. In an X post on Thursday, Polymarket said that a compromise at a third-party vendor allowed hackers to inject malicious code into its website “for some users.” The company said it has “contained” the incident and is ...