Dissecting the Empire C2 Framework

Introduction In this blog we will be taking a quick dive into Empire, a popular open-source post-exploitation framework. Empire provides an adversary with the capability to expand his foothold in a victim’s environment by leveraging hundreds of modules, RATs in multiple languages and stealthy C2...

Pyramid - A Tool To Help Operate In EDRs' Blind Spots

What is it Pyramid is a set of Python scripts and module dependencies that can be used to evade EDRs. The main purpose of the tool is to perform offensive tasks by leveraging some Python evasion properties and looking as a legit Python application usage. This can be achieved because: 1. the Pytho...

EvilTree - A Remake Of The Classic "Tree" Command With The Additional Feature Of Searching For User Provided Keywords/Regex In Files, Highlighting Those That Contain Matche

A standalone python3 remake of the classic "tree" command with the additional feature of searching for user provided keywords/regex in files, highlighting those that contain matches. Created for two main reasons: While searching for secrets in files of nested directory structures, being able to...

SharpSCCM - A C# Utility For Interacting With SCCM

SharpSCCM is a post-exploitation tool designed to leverage Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager a.k.a. ConfigMgr, formerly SCCM for lateral movement and credential gathering without requiring access to the SCCM administration console GUI. SharpSCCM was initially created to execute user huntin...

Nighthawk Likely to Become Hackers' New Post-Exploitation Tool After Cobalt Strike

A nascent and legitimate penetration testing framework known as Nighthawk is likely to gain threat actors' attention for its Cobalt Strike-like capabilities. Enterprise security firm Proofpoint said it detected the use of the software in mid-September 2022 by a red team with a number of test emai...

Stopping C2 communications in human-operated ransomware through network protection

Command-and-control C2 servers are an essential part of ransomware, commodity, and nation-state attacks. They are used to control infected devices and perform malicious activities like downloading and launching payloads, controlling botnets, or commanding post-exploitation penetration frameworks ...

Raspberry Robin Operators Selling Cybercriminals Access to Thousands of Endpoints

The Raspberry Robin worm is becoming an access-as-a-service malware for deploying other payloads, including IcedID, Bumblebee, TrueBot aka Silence, and Clop ransomware. It is "part of a complex and interconnected malware ecosystem, with links to other malware families and alternate infection...

What Does The Fox Hack? Breaking Down the Anonymous Fox F-Automatical Script

While performing routine security research, one of our threat analysts discovered the latest version of a Command and Control C2 script, which is referred to as F-Automatical within the script’s code and was commonly known as FoxAuto in older versions. This is the seventh version of this automati...

Critical RCE Vulnerability Discovered in Popular Cobalt Strike Hacking Software

HelpSystems, the company behind the Cobalt Strike software platform, has released an out-of-band security update to address a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take control of targeted systems. Cobalt Strike is a commercial red-team framework that's mainly used f...

Linux, Windows and macOS Hit By New “Alchimist” Attack Framework

By Deeba Ahmed Alchimist is a single-file C2 framework discovered on a server hosting an active file listing on the root directory and a set of post-exploitation tools. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Linux, Windows and macOS Hit By New "Alchimist" Attack Framework...

Delinea Thycotic Secret Server Dump

This module exports and decrypts Secret Server credentials to a CSV file; it is intended as a post-exploitation module for Windows hosts with Delinea/Thycotic Secret Server installed. Master Encryption Key MEK and associated IV values are decrypted from encryption.config using a static key baked...

A Post-exploitation Look at Coinminers Abusing WebLogic Vulnerabilities

This blog entry details how Trend Micro Cloud One™ – Workload Security and Trend Micro Vision One™ effectively detected and blocked the abuse of the CVE-2020-14882 WebLogic vulnerability in affected endpoints...

Hackers Repeatedly Targeting Financial Services in French-Speaking African Countries

Major financial and insurance companies located in French-speaking nations in Africa have been targeted over the past two years as part of a persistent malicious campaign codenamed DangerousSavanna. Countries targeted include Ivory Coast, Morocco, Cameroon, Senegal, and Togo, with the...

Microsoft Warns of Ransomware Attacks by Iranian Phosphorus Hacker Group

Microsoft's threat intelligence division on Wednesday assessed that a subgroup of the Iranian threat actor tracked as Phosphorus is conducting ransomware attacks as a "form of moonlighting" for personal gain. The tech giant, which is monitoring the activity cluster under the moniker DEV-0270 aka...

Cybercrime Groups Increasingly Adopting Sliver Command-and-Control Framework

Nation-state threat actors are increasingly adopting and integrating the Sliver command-and-control C2 framework in their intrusion campaigns as a replacement for Cobalt Strike. "Given Cobalt Strike's popularity as an attack tool, defenses against it have also improved over time," Microsoft...

LockBit Ransomware Abuses Windows Defender to Deploy Cobalt Strike Payload

A threat actor associated with the LockBit 3.0 ransomware-as-a-service RaaS operation has been observed abusing the Windows Defender command-line tool to decrypt and load Cobalt Strike payloads. According to a report published by SentinelOne last week, the incident occurred after obtaining initia...

Researchers Uncover New Attempts by Qakbot Malware to Evade Detection

The operators behind the Qakbot malware are transforming their delivery vectors in an attempt to sidestep detection. "Most recently, threat actors have transformed their techniques to evade detection by using ZIP file extensions, enticing file names with common formats, and Excel XLM 4.0 to trick...

APT ToddyCat

ToddyCat is a relatively new APT actor that we have not been able to relate to other known actors, responsible for multiple sets of attacks detected since December 2020 against high-profile entities in Europe and Asia. We still have little information about this actor, but we know that its main...

VMware Releases Patches for New Vulnerabilities Affecting Multiple Products

VMware has issued patches to contain two security flaws impacting Workspace ONE Access, Identity Manager, and vRealize Automation that could be exploited to backdoor enterprise networks. The first of the two flaws, tracked as CVE-2022-22972 CVSS score: 9.8, concerns an authentication bypass that...

Hackers Deploy IceApple Exploitation Framework on Hacked MS Exchange Servers

Researchers have detailed a previously undocumented .NET-based post-exploitation framework called IceApple that has been deployed on Microsoft Exchange server instances to facilitate reconnaissance and data exfiltration. "Suspected to be the work of a state-nexus adversary, IceApple remains under...