Kaspersky uncovers global malicious campaign targeting fintech users through Telegram

ISLAMABAD: Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis team (GReAT) has uncovered a malicious global campaign in which attackers used Telegram to deliver Trojan spyware, potentially targeting individuals and businesses in the fintech and trading industries in multiple countries across Europe, Asia including Pakistan, Latin America, and the Middle East. The malware is designed to steal sensitive data, such as passwords, and take control of users’ devices for espionage purposes.

The campaign is believed to be linked to DeathStalker , an infamous hack-for-hire APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) actor offering specialized hacking and financial intelligence services. In the recent wave of attacks observed by Kaspersky, threat actors attempted to infect victims with DarkMe malware – a remote access Trojan (RAT), designed to steal information and execute remote commands from a server controlled by the perpetrators.

Deathstalker, previously known as Deceptikons, is a threat actor group active since at least 2018, and potentially since 2012. The group’s primary goal is collecting business, financial and private personal information, possibly for competitive or business intelligence purposes serving their clientele. They typically target small and medium businesses, financial, fintech, law firms, and on a few occasions, governmental entities. Despite going after these types of targets, DeathStalker has never been observed stealing funds, which is why Kaspersky believes it to be a private intelligence outfit .

“Instead of using traditional phishing methods, threat actors relied on Telegram channels to deliver the malware. In earlier campaigns, we also observed this operation using other messaging platforms, such as Skype, as a vector for initial infection. This method may make potential victims more inclined to trust the sender and open the malicious file than in the case with a phishing website. Additionally, downloading files through messaging apps may trigger fewer security warnings compared to standard internet downloads, which is favourable for the threat actors,” explains Maher Yamout, Lead Security Researcher from GReAT. “While we typically advise vigilance against suspicious emails and links, this campaign highlights the need for caution when dealing even with instant messaging apps like Skype and Telegram.”

The infection chain analysis reveals the attackers were most likely attaching malicious archives to posts in Telegram channels. The archives themselves, such as RAR or ZIP files, were not malicious, but they contained harmful files with extensions like .LNK, .com, and .cmd. If potential victims launched these files, it leads to the installation of the final-stage malware, DarkMe, in a series of actions.

In addition to using Telegram for malware delivery, the attackers improved their operational security and post-compromise cleanup. After installation, the malware removed the files used to deploy the DarkMe implant. To further hinder analysis and try to evade detection, perpetrators increased the implant’s file size and deleted other footprints, such as post-exploitation files, tools, and registry keys, after achieving their goal.

The group also has an interesting tendency to attempt to avoid attribution of their activities by mimicking other APT actors and incorporating false flags.

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