CIO News Hubb
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Operations CIO
  • Visionary CIO
  • IT Management
  • Information Security
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Operations CIO
  • Visionary CIO
  • IT Management
  • Information Security
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
CIO News Hubb
No Result
View All Result
Home Information Security

New HiatusRAT Malware Targets Business-Grade Routers to Covertly Spy on Victims

admin by admin
March 6, 2023
in Information Security


Mar 06, 2023Ravie LakshmananNetwork Security / Malware

A never-before-seen complex malware is targeting business-grade routers to covertly spy on victims in Latin America, Europe, and North America at least since July 2022.

The elusive campaign, dubbed Hiatus by Lumen Black Lotus Labs, has been found to deploy two malicious binaries, a remote access trojan dubbed HiatusRAT and a variant of tcpdump that makes it possible to capture packet capture on the target device.

“Once a targeted system is infected, HiatusRAT allows the threat actor to remotely interact with the system, and it utilizes prebuilt functionality […] to convert the compromised machine into a covert proxy for the threat actor,” the company said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

“The packet-capture binary enables the actor to monitor router traffic on ports associated with email and file-transfer communications.”

The threat cluster primarily singles out end-of-life (EoL) DrayTek Vigor router models 2960 and 3900, with approximately 100 internet-exposed devices compromised as of mid-February 2023. Some of the impacted industry verticals include pharmaceuticals, IT services/consulting firms, and municipal government, among others.

Interestingly, this represents only a small fraction of the 4,100 DrayTek 2960 and 3900 routers that are publicly accessible over the internet, raising the possibility that “the threat actor is intentionally maintaining a minimal footprint to limit their exposure.”

Given that the impacted devices are high-bandwidth routers that can simultaneously support hundreds of VPN connections, it’s being suspected that the goal is to spy on targets and establish a stealthy proxy network.

HiatusRAT Router Hacking Malware

“These devices typically live outside the traditional security perimeter, which means they usually are not monitored or updated,” Mark Dehus, director of threat intelligence for Lumen Black Lotus Labs, said. “This helps the actor establish and maintain long-term persistence without detection.”

The exact initial access vector used in the attacks is unknown, but a successful breach is followed by the deployment of a bash script that downloads and executes HiatusRAT and a packet-capture binary.

HiatusRAT is feature-rich and can harvest router information, running processes, and contact a remote server to fetch files or run arbitrary commands. It’s also capable of proxying command-and-control (C2) traffic through the router.

Discover the Latest Malware Evasion Tactics and Prevention Strategies

Ready to bust the 9 most dangerous myths about file-based attacks? Join our upcoming webinar and become a hero in the fight against patient zero infections and zero-day security events!

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

The use of compromised routers as proxy infrastructure is likely an attempt to obfuscate the C2 operations, the researchers said.

The findings come more than six months after Lumen Black Lotus Labs also shed light on an unrelated router-focused malware campaign that used a novel trojan called ZuoRAT.

“The discovery of Hiatus confirms that actors are continuing to pursue router exploitation,” Dehus said. “These campaigns demonstrate the need to secure the router ecosystem, and routers should be regularly monitored, rebooted, and updated, while end-of-life devices should be replaced.”

Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.





Source link

Tags: computer securitycyber attackscyber newscyber security newscyber security news todaycyber security updatescyber updatesdata breachhacker newshacking newshow to hackinformation securitynetwork securityransomware malwaresoftware vulnerabilitythe hacker news
Previous Post

How to use policies to restrict where EC2 instance credentials can be used from

Next Post

Initiativesoffit ~ Future of CIO

Related Posts

Information Security

Spyware Vendors Caught Exploiting Zero-Day Vulnerabilities on Android and iOS Devices

by admin
March 29, 2023
Information Security

How to use Amazon GuardDuty and AWS WAF v2 to automatically block suspicious hosts

by admin
March 29, 2023
Information Security

Microsoft Introduces GPT-4 AI-Powered Security Copilot Tool to Empower Defenders

by admin
March 28, 2023
Information Security

20-Year-Old BreachForums Founder Faces Up to 5 Years in Prison

by admin
March 27, 2023
Information Security

Microsoft Warns of Stealthy Outlook Vulnerability Exploited by Russian Hackers

by admin
March 26, 2023
Next Post

Initiativesoffit ~ Future of CIO

Recommended

Innatelogicalfluency ~ Future of CIO

March 30, 2023

Spyware Vendors Caught Exploiting Zero-Day Vulnerabilities on Android and iOS Devices

March 29, 2023

How to use Amazon GuardDuty and AWS WAF v2 to automatically block suspicious hosts

March 29, 2023

Influencing ~ Future of CIO

March 29, 2023

Microsoft Introduces GPT-4 AI-Powered Security Copilot Tool to Empower Defenders

March 28, 2023

Illogic ~ Future of CIO

March 28, 2023

© CIO News Hubb All rights reserved.

Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement unless specified. By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • News
  • Operations CIO
  • Visionary CIO
  • IT Management
  • Information Security
  • Contact

Newsletter Sign Up

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Operations CIO
  • Visionary CIO
  • IT Management
  • Information Security
  • Contact

© 2022 CIO News Hubb All rights reserved.