Rewterz Threat Alert – Donot APT Group – Active IOCs

Severity

High

Analysis Summary

Donot APT, also known as Advanced Persistent Threat, is a highly sophisticated and persistent cyber threat group that has been active in recent years. Their activities primarily focus on conducting targeted cyber espionage campaigns against various organizations, including government entities, defense contractors, and technology companies.

Donot APT has demonstrated advanced technical capabilities and employs a range of sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to gain unauthorized access to their targets’ networks and steal sensitive information. They often utilize a combination of social engineering, spear-phishing emails, and zero-day vulnerabilities to compromise their victims’ systems.

Once inside the targeted network, Donot APT engages in lateral movement, escalating privileges, and maintaining persistent access. They employ custom-built malware, including remote access trojans (RATs), backdoors, and keyloggers, to exfiltrate data and maintain control over compromised systems. Additionally, they leverage advanced anti-forensic techniques to evade detection and maintain their presence within the targeted networks for extended periods, sometimes lasting years.

Attribution of Donot APT to a specific nation-state or organization is challenging, as they exhibit a high level of operational security and employ false flag techniques to misdirect investigators. However, security researchers and intelligence agencies have linked the group to state-sponsored cyber activities.

Impact

• Information Theft and Espionage

Indicators of Compromise

MD5

• d32983799143c030a6fa5ca743ea3607

SHA-256

• af59c0bc8523a152239ca5d6a2d513f849417911acb327002f3330b5dfb89af3

SHA-1

• b9592ffc9e689af28323a524c580ee2fa9c36dae

URL

• http://preferbrowse.buzz/0utNprDhoXX9Hf5m/pjTix8ipYjFw9YVx.php

Remediation

• Block all threat indicators at your respective controls.
• Search for Indicators of compromise (IOCs) in your environment utilizing your respective security controls
• Maintain cyber hygiene by updating your anti-virus software and implementing a patch management lifecycle.
• Maintain Offline Backups – In a ransomware attack, the adversary will often delete or encrypt backups if they have access to them. That’s why it’s important to keep offline (preferably off-site), encrypted backups of data and test them regularly.
• Emails from unknown senders should always be treated with caution.
• Never trust or open links and attachments received from unknown sources/senders.