Savvy Seahorse: The DNS-based Traffic Distribution System Undermining Cybersecurity

In the vast landscape of cyber threats, a new player named Savvy Seahorse has emerged, showcasing a distinctive modus operandi that sets it apart from its counterparts. While the investment scam it orchestrates is unfortunately commonplace, it’s the intricate infrastructure supporting it that demands attention. 

Savvy Seahorse employs a sophisticated Traffic Distribution System (TDS), capitalizing on the Domain Name System (DNS) to perpetually alter its malicious domains, making takedowns a formidable challenge. This TDS, as detailed in a recent report by Infoblox, leverages Canonical Name (CNAME) records to maintain a fluid network of thousands of diverse domains. 

Traditionally associated with HTTP-based TDS networks, the use of DNS in this context is a novel approach that poses unique challenges for cybersecurity professionals. Renée Burton, Head of Threat Intelligence at Infoblox, emphasizes that DNS-based TDSs are often overlooked, with a prevailing focus on HTTP-based systems. 

However, Savvy Seahorse has been operational since at least August 2021, operating in the shadows and evading conventional detection methods.

The key to Savvy Seahorse’s success lies in its exploitation of CNAME records. In the DNS realm, CNAME allows multiple domains to map to a single base (canonical) domain. This seemingly innocuous feature is manipulated by Savvy Seahorse to rapidly scale and relocate its operations. 

Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.