Organizations in Taiwan and an American non-governmental organization (NGO) based in China have been targeted by a Beijing-funded hacking group. Daggers using an advanced malware toolkit.
The campaign is a sign that the group is “also engaged in domestic espionage,” Symantec’s threat-hunting team, part of Broadcom, said in a new report released today. “In the attack against this organization, attackers exploited a vulnerability in the Apache HTTP server to deliver the MgBot malware.”
Daggerfly, also known as Bronze Highland and Evasive Panda, came before is observed exploiting the modular structure of the MgBot malware in connection with an intelligence-gathering mission targeting telecommunications service providers in Africa. It is known that it has been in effect since 2012.
“Daggerfly appears to be able to respond to exposure by rapidly updating its toolset to continue its espionage activities with minimal disruption,” the company said.
The latest series of attacks is characterized by the use of a new family of malware based on MgBot, as well as an improved version of a well-known Apple macOS malware called MAKMAwhich was first exposed by Google’s Threat Analysis Team (TAG) in November 2021 as spreading through attacks on Internet users in Hong Kong using security flaws in the Safari browser.
The development marks the first time that a strain of malware capable of collecting sensitive information and executing arbitrary commands has been clearly linked to a specific group of hackers.
“The actors behind macOS.MACMA at least reused code from the ELF/Android developers and may have also been able to target Android phones with malware,” SentinelOne said. noted in the following analysis at that time.
MACMA’s connection to Daggerly is also due to the overlap of the malware’s source code with Mgbot’s, and because it connects to the command and control (C2) server (103.243.212(.)98) that was also used by the MgBot dropper.
Another new malware in its arsenal Night door (aka NetMM and Suzafk), an implant that uses the Google Drive API for C2 and has been used in attacks against Tibetan users since at least September 2023. Details of this activity were first documented by ESET earlier this March.
“The group is able to build versions of its tools targeting most major operating system platforms,” Symantec said, adding that it had “seen evidence of the ability to trojanize Android APKs, SMS interception tools, DNS query interception tools, and even a family of malware targeting Solaris OS. .”
The development took place, China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) said. Volt Typhoon – which has been attributed by the Five Eyes countries as a spy group linked to China – is the brainchild of US intelligence agencies, describing it as a disinformation campaign.
“Although its main targets are the US Congress and the American people, it is also trying to vilify China, sow discord between China and other countries, restrain China’s development and loot Chinese companies,” CVERC said. argued in a recent report.
