North Korean Hacking Group Konni’s Malware – Direction for Money Laundering Prevention Supervision for Virtual Asset Operators (2025.2.18)

North Korean Hacking Group Konni’s Malware – Direction for Money Laundering Prevention Supervision for Virtual Asset Operators (2025.2.18)
This article discusses a malware linked to the North Korean hacking group Konni, which is disguised as a file related to virtual asset operators’ anti-money laundering guidelines. The malware utilizes PowerShell commands embedded within a LNK file to execute further malicious activities, including data theft and persistence techniques.
Affected: virtual currency sector, Windows systems

Keypoints :

  • Malware disguised as a virtual asset regulatory document executed by the Konni hacking group.
  • Malware filename: ‘가상자산사업자 자금세탁방지 감독 방향.lnk’ with a size of 2 MB.
  • Includes encoded PowerShell commands to execute malicious activities upon running.
  • Employs XOR encryption techniques for hidden payloads.
  • Leverages persistence methods through registry modifications and LNK file manipulation.
  • Targets collection of system and user file information for theft.
  • Upload of sensitive information to remote servers for potential exploitation.

MITRE Techniques :

  • TA0001 – Initial Access: Using LNK file to initiate malware execution.
  • TA0002 – Execution: Executes PowerShell commands through the LNK file.
  • TA0006 – Credential Access: Collects system info and user files for potential credential acquisition.
  • TA0007 – Defense Evasion: Uses XOR encryption to obscure malicious payloads and employs tactics to hide execution.
  • TA0010 – Persistence: Modifies registry entries under HKCU to ensure malware executes on startup.
  • TA0011 – Collection: Gathers user file information from Downloads, Documents, and Desktop folders.
  • TA0013 – Exfiltration: Uploads collected data to remote servers for data leakage.

Indicator of Compromise :

  • [File Name] 가상자산사업자 자금세탁방지 감독 방향.lnk
  • [MD5] c09d17e968b250cadd66ec000d656d19
  • [SHA-1] 11f11d2ae39a35e433fe9c8f1b6a79798c447bc7
  • [SHA-256] 4a6c23e76524364fe9b9f5ecd46dc73e7714cac93849a380f0d1b746fae3650d
  • [URL] hxxp://kerkenraad(.)com/src/upload(.)php

Full Story: https://wezard4u.tistory.com/429413