Summary: A report from Elastic reveals how threat actors are misusing AWS Simple Notification Service (SNS) for data exfiltration and phishing attacks. The research uncovers techniques employed by adversaries to exploit SNS, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities for detection. The findings underline the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities inherent in cloud services to bolster security measures.
Affected: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Elastic
Keypoints :
- Adversaries can use SNS to create a proxy for stolen data, subscribing external media to receive exfiltrated information.
- The report details a workflow involving access to an EC2 instance where sensitive data is published to SNS and sent to a subscribed email.
- Attackers can also exploit SNS for smishing or phishing campaigns using bulk SMS tools, leveraging legitimate service functionalities to bypass security measures.
- The report stresses the necessity for enhanced detection practices and security hardening to mitigate risks associated with SNS abuse.