Blink and They’re In: How Rapid Phishing Attacks Exploit Weaknesses

Blink and They’re In: How Rapid Phishing Attacks Exploit Weaknesses
Recent findings indicate that a manufacturing sector breach involving phishing led to a substantial data exfiltration, with an alarming breakout time of just 48 minutes. Attackers employed tactics associated with the Black Basta ransomware group, highlighting a pressing need for faster security response capabilities. Recommendations for heightened defense measures against such threats are provided, alongside insights into future attack trends. Affected: manufacturing sector

Keypoints :

  • Attackers achieved a breakout time of 48 minutes, significantly faster than previous averages.
  • The breach utilized phishing techniques to gain initial access and control over user machines.
  • Attackers impersonated IT help-desk staff to exploit social engineering tactics.
  • DLL sideloading was employed to evade detection during the attack.
  • Data exfiltration was executed using WinSCP, moving sensitive data to a remote server.
  • Automated response measures can dramatically reduce response times to threats.

MITRE Techniques :

  • TA0001:T1566 – Phishing: Mass email spam campaign targeting users preceded initial access.
  • TA0004:T1055.001 – Process Injection: Dynamic-link Library Injection: Attackers injected malicious code into legitimate processes using DLL sideloading.
  • TA0002:T1053.005 – Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled Task: Used for executing injected processes on other internal hosts with scheduled tasks.
  • TA0003:T1078.002 – Domain Accounts: Accessed a service account used to manage an SQL database, gaining elevated permissions.
  • TA0010:T1567 – Exfiltration Over Web Service: Outbound web requests for data exfiltration from critical hosts.

Indicator of Compromise :

  • [Domain] pefidesk[.]com
  • [Domain] uptemp[.]icu
  • [Hash] c80883615157bd83dfed24683eee343a7b2ac5ab7949b3a260dc10e9f0044bb4



Full Story: https://www.reliaquest.com/blog/blink-and-theyre-in-how-rapid-phishing-attacks-exploit-weaknesses/