UAE and Kuwait government agencies are targets of a new cyberespionage campaign potentially carried out by Iranian threat actors, according to new research.
Attributing the operation to be the work of Static Kitten (aka MERCURY or MuddyWater), Anomali said the “objective of this activity is to install a remote management tool called ScreenConnect (acquired by ConnectWise 2015) with unique launch parameters that have custom properties,” with malware samples and URLs masquerading as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Kuwait and the UAE National Council.
Since its origins in 2017, MuddyWater has been tied to a number of attacks primarily against Middle Eastern nations, actively exploiting Zerologon vulnerability in real-world attack campaigns to strike prominent Israeli organizations with malicious payloads.
The state-sponsored hacking group is believed to be working at the behest of Iran’s Islamic Republic Guard Corps, the country’s primary intelligence and military service.
Anomali said it spotted two separate lure ZIP files hosted on Onehub that claimed to contain a report on relations between Arab countries and Israel or a file relating to scholarships.
“The URLs distributed through these phishing emails direct recipients to the intended file storage location on Onehub, a legitimate service known to be used by Static Kitten for nefarious purposes,” the researchers noted, adding “Static Kitten is continuing to use Onehub to host a file containing ScreenConnect.”
The attack commences by directing users to a downloader URL pointing to these ZIP files via a phishing email that, when opened, launches the installation process for ScreenConnect, and subsequently uses it to communicate with the adversary. The URLs themselves are distributed through decoy documents embedded in the emails.
ConnectWise Control (formerly called ScreenConnect) is a self-hosted remote desktop software application with support for unattended Access and meetings with screen-sharing features.
The ultimate goal of the attackers, it appears, is to use the software to connect to endpoints on client networks, enabling them to conduct further lateral movements and execute arbitrary commands in target environments in a bid to facilitate data theft.
“Utilizing legitimate software for malicious purposes can be an effective way for threat actors to obfuscate their operations,” the researchers concluded. “In this latest example, Static Kitten is very likely using features of ScreenConnect to steal sensitive information or download malware for additional cyber operations.”