A Different Kind of Equation
Both the mainstream media and our security media is abuzz with Kasperksy's disclosure of their research on the "Equation" group and the associated malware. You can find the original blog post here: http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/virus/2015/equation-group-the-crown-creator-of-cyber-espionage
But if you want some real detail, check out the Q&A document that goes with this post; http://securelist.com/files/2015/02/Equation_group_questions_and_answers.pdf
Way more detail, and much more sobering to see that this group of malware goes all the way back to 2001, and includes code to map disconnected networks (using USB key C&C like Stuxnet did), as well as the disk firmware facet that's everyone's headline today.
Some Indicators of Compromise, something we can use to identify if our organizations or clients are affected - are included in the PDF. The DNS IoC's included are especially easy to use, either as checks against logs or as black-hole entries.
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Rob VandenBrink
Metafore
Comments
I have to wonder if they are using HPA or DCO??? I can achieve both features Kaspersky mentions with either, namely,
"...Extreme persistence that survives disk formatting and OS reinstall; An invisible, persistent storage hidden inside the hard drive..."
To date, I've only encountered either in the wild twice, and a few motherboards use this hard drive feature to store backup (?) copies of their bios.
Anonymous
Feb 18th 2015
9 years ago
I wonder if it may contain any unexpected gifts.... an interesting ISC challenge.
Anonymous
Feb 18th 2015
9 years ago
Anonymous
Feb 20th 2015
9 years ago