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:

  • Cloudflare finds a way through China’s network defences

    November 30, 2022

    Cloudflare has found a way to extend some of its services across the Great Firewall and into mainland China. “Performance and reliability for traffic flows across the mainland China border have been a consistent challenge for IT teams within multinational organizations,” wrote product managers Kyle Krum and Annika Garbers. “Packets crossing the China border often experience ...

  • Trigona ransomware spotted in increasing attacks worldwide

    November 29, 2022

    A previously unnamed ransomware has rebranded under the name ‘Trigona,’ launching a new Tor negotiation site where they accept Monero as ransom payments. Trigona has been active for some time, with samples seen at the beginning of the year. However, those samples utilized email for negotiations and were not branded under a specific name. As discovered by ...

  • Industry 4.0: Computer Numerical Controls (CNC) Machine Security Risks – Part 1

    November 29, 2022

    Computer numerical controls (CNCs) are machines used to produce products in a factory setting. They have been in use for many years, and in the last decade, their use has become more widespread due to increased connectivity. This increased connectivity has made them more software-dependent and therefore more vulnerable to attacks. This vulnerability is due ...

  • CISA Releases Seven Industrial Control Systems Advisories

    November 29, 2022

    CISA released seven (7) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories on November 29, 2022. These advisories provide timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits surrounding ICS. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the newly released ICS advisories for technical details and mitigations: ICSA-22-333-01 Mitsubishi Electric GOT2000 ICSA-22-333-02 Hitachi Energys IED Connectivity Packages and PCM600 Products ICSA-22-333-03 Hitachi ...

  • Criminals use trending TikTok challenge to make data-stealing malware invisible

    November 29, 2022

    Malware-slinging miscreants are taking advantage of a trending TikTok challenge — and viewers’ dirty minds — to spread data-stealing malware via a phony app that’s had more than one million views so far. The new TikTok trend is called Invisible Challenge, and it involves a person filming themself naked while using an effect called Invisible Body ...

  • Always Another Secret: Lifting the Haze on China-nexus Espionage in Southeast Asia

    November 28, 2022

    Mandiant Managed Defense recently identified cyber espionage activity that heavily leverages USB devices as an initial infection vector and concentrates on the Philippines. Mandiant tracks this activity as UNC4191 and we assess it has a China nexus. UNC4191 operations have affected a range of public and private sector entities primarily in Southeast Asia and extending to ...