Rewterz Threat Alert – Shuckworm APT Group aka Armageddon – Active IOCs

Severity

Medium

Analysis Summary

Shuckworm APT – aka Actinium, Armageddon, Primitive Bear, Gamaredon, and Trident Ursa – is a Russia-backed advanced persistent threat (APT) that has been operating since at least 2013. This cyber-espionage group is known to target government, military, and other high-value targets, primarily in Ukraine and has been linked to several advanced persistent threats (APT) campaigns. The main goal of this APT is to use the malicious document to gain control of the target machine. The exploit document uses the template injection technique to infect the victim’s computer with further malware. When the document is opened, it connects to the hacker’s server and downloads the payload file. Gamaredon’s tools are simple and designed to collect sensitive information from hacked systems and propagate it further. Its information-gathering efforts are nearly comparable to those of a second-tier APT, whose primary purpose is to collect and disseminate information with their units. The Gamaredon APT group’s recent attack leverages a decree document from the Russian Federation government as bait. In July, this APT group targets Ukrainian entities with PowerShell info-stealer malware dubbed GammaLoad.

Gamaredon APT is particularly known for its ability to steal sensitive information from its targets, including intellectual property, confidential documents, and login credentials. In some cases, the group has also been observed exfiltrating large amounts of data from its targets over extended periods of time.

It is important for organizations to be aware of the threat posed by Gamaredon APT and to implement appropriate security measures to protect against this group and other advanced persistent threats. This may include implementing strong security controls, regularly monitoring network activity for signs of compromise, and using advanced threat detection and response technologies.

Impact

• Template Injection 
• Sensitive Data Exposure

Indicators of Compromise

MD5

• a8827ffa206a2927d5c9e4a9e82d558c
• 94ed7f52db861b4c7891ac53df8c41a9

SHA-256

• f56e11c2a8bbfeb7f5eab1b47ee150865e358a6db9f7bb9142e3ae13570418ab
• 74f2bcd384b0eb3c1f80faa3b799e8b52d040db68bf650a2d89d0bc8358b34bc

SHA-1

• 6c5c34995ac665e0c04bab9375b29919ffe8eac3
• 5742877cd585efdceca630ecc966df18a40423fd

URL

• http://128.199.99.145/snstance51/index.html=?51
• http://89.185.84.85/snfer51/index.html=?51

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
• Emails from unknown senders should always be treated with caution.
• Never trust or open ” links and attachments received from unknown sources/sender