Tag Archive for: Diplomats

This new hacking group has a nasty surprise for African, Middle East diplomats


A recently-discovered advanced persistent threat (APT) group is targeting diplomats across Africa and the Middle East. 



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© ZDNet


Revealed on Thursday by ESET researchers, the state-sponsored group, dubbed BackdoorDiplomacy, has been linked to successful attacks against Ministries of Foreign Affairs in numerous African countries, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia — alongside a smaller subset of telecommunications firms in Africa and at least one charity outfit in the Middle East.

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BackdoorDiplomacy is thought to have been in operation since at least 2017. The cross-platform group targets both Linux and Windows systems and seems to prefer to exploit internet-facing, vulnerable devices as an initial attack vector. 

If web servers or network management interfaces are found which have weak points, such as software vulnerabilities or poor file-upload security, the APT will strike. In one case observed by ESET, an F5 bug — CVE-2020-5902 — was used to deploy a Linux backdoor, whereas, in another, BackdoorDiplomacy adopted Microsoft Exchange server bugs to deploy China Chopper, a webshell. 

Once they have obtained entry, the threat actors will scan the device for the purposes of lateral movement; install a custom backdoor, and deploy a range of tools to conduct surveillance and data theft. 

The backdoor, dubbed Turian, is thought to be based on the Quarian backdoor — malware linked to attacks used against diplomatic targets in Syria and the US back in 2013.

The main implant is capable of harvesting and exfiltrating system data, taking screenshots, and also overwriting, moving/deleting, or stealing files. 

Among the tools used is network tunnel software EarthWorm; Mimikatz, NetCat, and software developed by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and dumped by ShadowBrokers, such as EternalBlue, DoublePulsar, and EternalRocks. 

VMProtect was used in most cases to try and obfuscate the group’s activities. 

Diplomats may have to deal with sensitive information handed over through removable drives and storage. To widen the scope of its cyberespionage activities, BackdoorDiplomacy will scan for flash drives and will attempt to copy all files…

Source…

China Espionage Malware Targeted Diplomats, Foreign Ministers During G20 … – Threatpost


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China Espionage Malware Targeted Diplomats, Foreign Ministers During G20
Threatpost
European diplomats and ministries of foreign affairs have been targeted during recent G20 meetings by Chinese-speaking hackers conducting espionage campaigns using malware to siphon secrets from compromised computers. The latest incidents came in 
FireEye details Chinese cyber espionage campaign against European Ministries FinancialNews.co.uk
FireEye Uncovers Chinese Cyber Espionage Campaign Targeting European IT Business Net
FireEye report: Chinese hackers target foreign ministriesUPI.com

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