Tortoiseshell

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 





Overview

Tortoiseshell is an Iranian threat actor active since at least 2018. It was tracked by the broader security community under the names Crimson Sandstorm (previously Curium), Imperial Kitten, TA456, and Yellow Liderc. It uses both custom and off-the-shelf malware to target the IT providers of Saudi Arabia. Their main goal is to eventually compromise the IT providers' customers. Total 11 organizations were hit by this group with majority based in Saudi Arabia. 

They use strategic website compromises as a ploy to facilitate the distribution of malware. In the years 2022 and 2023, they attacked many legitimate websites by embedding malicious JavaScript to gather more details about the visitors, their location, time of visit, and device information. The intrusions focused on the maritime, shipping and logistics sectors in the Mediterranean. If the victim is a high-value target, then IMAPLoader is also deployed as a follow-on payload.

Motive

This threat actor group targets IT providers. It strongly point towards supply chain attack to gain access to the networks of some of the IT providers' customers. These attacks exploit the third-party services and software to compromise a final target, take many forms, while hijacking software updates and injecting malicious code into legitimate software.

Since IT providers have high level access to their clients' computers, they became the ideal target for these threat actors. It also offers access to the victims' networks without compromising the network themselves reducing the easy discovery of attacks. However, targeting the third-party service provider makes it harder to pinpoint the true intended targets of the attackers. 

Prevention

In order to overcome such attacks a highly advanced cybersecurity program must be utilized. It should also contain some of the most advanced security solutions, email as well as web content filtering, antiviruses, and threat hunting measures. Application of Zero Trust Model, Multifactor Authentication, in-depth defense, etc., are a must to prevent and mitigate the potential damage done by Tortoiseshell.


























































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deployment (Part 3)

By Ashwin Venugopal -
Image
  To read part 1, please click  here To read part 2, please click  here Microsoft Monitoring Agent (MMA) MMA is used across multiple Microsoft solutions and has undergone a few name changes as its features and functionality have evolved. If it is being considered to be used, then following areas should be covered during a Microsoft Sentinel deployment project: Consider the timelines and the strategy for a migration to AMA (Azure Monitor Agent) before the MMA end-of-life.  Consider the central deployment and management methodology for MMA. Determine which endpoints are in scope for deployment as these affect the log ingestion volume significantly.  Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) Organizations with MMA as the main Microsoft Sentinel agent should start planning the migration to AMA as soon as possible to avoid a rushed migration. One of the main advantages of AMA is the ability to control the log collection policy centrally and apply different policies against different groups of computers, re
Read more

Project Resourcing (Part 2)

By Ashwin Venugopal -
Image
  To read part 1, please click  here Engineering - SIEM The SIEM engineers configures Microsoft Sentinel, including Log Analytics, Logic Apps, workbooks, and playbooks. They are also responsible for the following high-level tasks: Initial configuration of Azure tenant, including provisioning required resources, assigning access roles, and configuring workspace parameters like log retention, resource tagging, and blueprints.  Deployment and configuration of syslog/CEF log collection agents in appropriate locations to collect logs from on-premises devices. Generally, it will be joint effort of both system engineer and SIEM engineer, involving configuration and potential troubleshooting.  Working with system owners to enable log forwarding and configuring any required parsing of log data in Log Analytics.  Working with security operations to create and deploy KQL analytic rules to offer detections for SOC/Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSRIT) use. Tuning of alert rule parameter
Read more

Design Planning (Part 3)

By Ashwin Venugopal -
Image
  To read part 1, please click  here To read part 2, please click  here Complex Organizational Structures SIEM can be an expensive security control, hence, it is common multiple businesses to contribute to the overall expense. Various organizational units may require a level of access to specific dashboards or sets of data. Microsoft Sentinel offers the ability to assign table-level permissions and limit the level of access to the minimum required to perform requisite job functions.  Role-based Access Control (RBAC) Requirements Microsoft Sentinel offers an extensive list of Azure built-in roles that can be used to provide granular access according to the job requirements and permitted level of access. Some of them are various Microsoft Sentinel dedicated roles: Microsoft Sentinel Contributor- Can perform all engineering-related configuration, such as creating alert rules, configuring data connectors, and additional similar tasks.  Microsoft Sentinel Reader- Can query the log data stor
Read more