Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

In our new threat briefing report, Forescout’s Vedere Labs provides details on the recent ransomware campaign targeting VMware ESXi virtualization servers, or hypervisors, and analyzes two payloads used in these attacks: variants of the Royal and Clop ransomware. We also present the tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) used by attackers in this campaign, discuss mitigation recommendations and list indicators of compromise (IOCs) that can be used for detection or threat hunting.

Trustwave SpiderLabs “noted” in Part 1 and Part 2 of our OneNote research that OneNote has been used as a malware delivery mechanism now we will shift gears and focus on several OneNote decoy notes SpiderLabs has discovered that deliver malware families like Qakbot, XWorm, Icedid, and AsyncRAT. While the malware payload can change, the techniques have generally been the same.

The ongoing geo-political crisis in Eastern Europe continues to be the scenario of deployment of a variety of payloads linked to information stealing and data/network destruction. The deployment of these payloads has been associated or contingent with Military actions as Microsoft and ESET have observed in some of their publications. These campaigns have targeted critical infrastructure affecting civilian populations in addition to military targets.

In part one, we examined how threat actors abuse a OneNote document to install an infostealer. Part 2 of this series discusses an AsyncRAT infection chain while detailing important parts of the code. We’ll also quickly analyze other notable malware strains such as Qakbot and RemcosRAT.

Threat actors are taking advantage of Microsoft OneNote's ability to embed files and use social engineering techniques, such as phishing emails and lures inside the OneNote document, to get unsuspecting users to download and open malicious files. Once clicked, an attacker can use the embedded code for various malicious purposes, such as stealing data or installing ransomware on victims' systems.

Ransomware is a form of malicious software (malware) that restricts access to computer files, systems, or networks until a ransom is paid. In essence, an offender creates or purchases ransomware, then uses it to infect the target system. Ransomware is distributed in several ways including, but not limited to, malicious website links, infected USB drives, and phishing emails. Once infected, the offender encrypts the device and demands payment for the decryption key.

The purpose of the Netskope Threat Labs News Roundup series is to provide enterprise security teams an actionable brief on the top cybersecurity news from around the world. The brief includes summaries and links to the top news items spanning cloud-enabled threats, malware, and ransomware.

Dole PLC is a massive agricultural company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Dole has several offices and production facilities in the United States and supplies food products in 75 separate countries. The company maintains a staff of over 38,000 employees and offers more than 300 different products throughout the world.

Malware as a Service is the unlawful lease of software and hardware from the Dark Web to carry out cyber attacks. The threat actors who use this service are provided with botnet services and technical support by the MaaS owners. This service opens doors to anyone with minimal computer skills to use and distribute pre-made malware. The data that is stolen is often sold to the highest bidder or left for the service subscribers. MaaS is an illegal version of Software as a Service (SaaS).

Dish Network is one of the largest American television providers in the country today, offering television service through a direct-broadcast satellite network. The company serves more than 7.4 million customers and maintains over 16,000 employees to keep everything running properly. This huge broadcast network recently suffered from a ransomware attack that interrupted its broadcast service and may have exposed its customers as well.