Written by: Chuong Dong Overview In our day-to-day work, the FLARE team often encounters malware written in Go that is protected using garble. While recent advancements in Go analysis from tools like IDA Pro have simplified the analysis process, garble…
Category: Threat Intelligence
Not Lost in Translation: Rosetta 2 Artifacts in macOS Intrusions
Written by: Joshua Goddard Executive Summary Rosetta 2 is Apple’s translation technology for running x86-64 binaries on Apple Silicon (ARM64) macOS systems. Rosetta 2 translation creates a cache of Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) files that can serve as valuable forensic artifacts. Mandiant…
Phishing Campaigns Targeting Higher Education Institutions
Written by: Ashley Pearson, Ryan Rath, Gabriel Simches, Brian Timberlake, Ryan Magaw, Jessica Wilbur < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Overview Beginning in August 2024, Mandiant observed a notable increase in phishing attacks targeting the education industry, specifically U.S.-based universities. A separate investigation conducted…
Signals of Trouble: Multiple Russia-Aligned Threat Actors Actively Targeting Signal Messenger
Written by: Dan Black < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”>Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has observed increasing efforts from several Russia state-aligned threat actors to compromise Signal Messenger accounts used by individuals of interest to Russia’s intelligence services. While this emerging operational interest…
Signals of Trouble: Multiple Russia-Aligned Threat Actors Actively Targeting Signal Messenger
Written by: Dan Black < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”>Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has observed increasing efforts from several Russia state-aligned threat actors to compromise Signal Messenger accounts used by individuals of interest to Russia’s intelligence services. While this emerging operational interest…
Cybercrime: A Multifaceted National Security Threat
< div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Executive Summary Cybercrime makes up a majority of the malicious activity online and occupies the majority of defenders’ resources. In 2024, Mandiant Consulting responded to almost four times more intrusions conducted by financially motivated actors than state-backed…
Using capa Rules for Android Malware Detection
< div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Mobile devices have become the go-to for daily tasks like online banking, healthcare management, and personal photo storage, making them prime targets for malicious actors seeking to exploit valuable information. Bad actors often turn to publishing and…
CVE-2023-6080: A Case Study on Third-Party Installer Abuse
Written By: Jacob Paullus, Daniel McNamara, Jake Rawlins, Steven Karschnia < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Executive Summary Mandiant exploited flaws in the Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) repair action of Lakeside Software’s SysTrack installer to obtain arbitrary code execution. An attacker with low-privilege…
Adversarial Misuse of Generative AI
< div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are unlocking new possibilities for the way we work and accelerating innovation in science, technology, and beyond. In cybersecurity, AI is poised to transform digital defense, empowering defenders and enhancing our…
Adversarial Misuse of Generative AI
< div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are unlocking new possibilities for the way we work and accelerating innovation in science, technology, and beyond. In cybersecurity, AI is poised to transform digital defense, empowering defenders and enhancing our…
ScatterBrain: Unmasking the Shadow of PoisonPlug’s Obfuscator
Written by: Nino Isakovic Introduction Since 2022, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has been tracking multiple cyber espionage operations conducted by China-nexus actors utilizing POISONPLUG.SHADOW. These operations employ a custom obfuscating compiler that we refer to as “ScatterBrain,” facilitating attacks…
Securing Cryptocurrency Organizations
Written by: Joshua Goddard < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> The Rise of Crypto Heists and the Challenges in Preventing Them Cryptocurrency crime encompasses a wide range of illegal activities, from theft and hacking to fraud, money laundering, and even terrorist financing, all…
Your Single-Page Applications Are Vulnerable: Here’s How to Fix Them
Written by: Steven Karschnia, Truman Brown, Jacob Paullus, Daniel McNamara < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Executive Summary Due to their client-side nature, single-page applications (SPAs) will typically have multiple access control vulnerabilities By implementing a robust access control policy on supporting APIs, the…
Backscatter: Automated Configuration Extraction
Written by: Josh Triplett < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Executive Summary Backscatter is a tool developed by the Mandiant FLARE team that aims to automatically extract malware configurations. It relies on static signatures and emulation to extract this information without dynamic execution,…
Ivanti Connect Secure VPN Targeted in New Zero-Day Exploitation
Written by: John Wolfram, Josh Murchie, Matt Lin, Daniel Ainsworth, Robert Wallace, Dimiter Andonov, Dhanesh Kizhakkinan, Jacob Thompson < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”>Note: This is a developing campaign under active analysis by Mandiant and Ivanti. We will continue to add more indicators,…
XRefer: The Gemini-Assisted Binary Navigator
Written by: Muhammad Umair Here at Mandiant FLARE, malware reverse engineering is a regular part of our day jobs. At times we are required to perform basic triages on binaries, where every hour saved is critical to incident response timelines.…
Bridging the Gap: Elevating Red Team Assessments with Application Security Testing
Written by: Ilyass El Hadi, Louis Dion-Marcil, Charles Prevost < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Executive Summary Whether through a comprehensive Red Team engagement or a targeted external assessment, incorporating application security (AppSec) expertise enables organizations to better simulate the tactics and techniques of…
(QR) Coding My Way Out of Here: C2 in Browser Isolation Environments
Written by: Thibault Van Geluwe de Berlaere Executive Summary Browser isolation is a security technology where web browsing activity is separated from the user’s local device by running the browser in a secure environment, such as a cloud server or…
Pirates in the Data Sea: AI Enhancing Your Adversarial Emulation
Matthijs Gielen, Jay Christiansen < div class=”block-paragraph_advanced”> Background New solutions, old problems. Artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) are here to signal a new day in the cybersecurity world, but what does that mean for us—the attackers and…
Emerging Threats: Cybersecurity Forecast 2025
Every November, we start sharing forward-looking insights on threats and other cybersecurity topics to help organizations and defenders prepare for the year ahead. The Cybersecurity Forecast 2025 report, available today, plays a big role in helping us accomplish this mission.…