On Thursday, security researchers from SentinelOne reported that the North Korean state-sponsored APT group, Kimsuky, has been observed utilizing a brand new malware component called ReconShark. The malware is disseminated through spear-phishing emails that are specifically targeted, containing OneDrive links that, when clicked, trigger the download of documents that subsequently activate malicious macros.
Tom Hegel and Aleksandar Milenkoski from SentinelOne revealed that the spear-phishing emails used to distribute ReconShark are tailored to specific individuals, with a high level of design quality that increases the likelihood of the target opening them. These emails appear legitimate, using proper formatting, grammar, and visual clues that can deceive unsuspecting users.
Moreover, the malicious documents and the links in the emails are disguised with the names of real individuals whose knowledge or expertise is relevant to the subject of the lure, for instance, political scientists.
Furthermore, the researcher added that “The ability of ReconShark to exfiltrate valuable information, such as deployed detection mechanisms and hardware information, indicates that ReconShark is part of a Kimsuky-orchestrated reconnaissance operation that enables subsequent precision attacks, possibly involving malware specifically tailored to evade defenses and exploit platform weaknesses”.
This article has been indexed from CySecurity News – Latest Information Security and Hacking Incidents
Read the original article: