Headline
U.S. DoJ Dismantles Warzone RAT Infrastructure, Arrests Key Operators
The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday announced the seizure of online infrastructure that was used to sell a remote access trojan (RAT) called Warzone RAT. The domains – www.warzone[.]ws and three others – were “used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims’ computers,” the DoJ said. Alongside the takedown, the
The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday announced the seizure of online infrastructure that was used to sell a remote access trojan (RAT) called Warzone RAT.
The domains – www.warzone[.]ws and three others – were “used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data from victims’ computers,” the DoJ said.
Alongside the takedown, the international law enforcement effort has arrested and indicted two individuals in Malta and Nigeria for their involvement in selling and supporting the malware and helping other cybercriminals use the RAT for malicious purposes.
The defendants, Daniel Meli (27) and Prince Onyeoziri Odinakachi (31) have been charged with unauthorized damage to protected computers, with the former also accused of “illegally selling and advertising an electronic interception device and participating in a conspiracy to commit several computer intrusion offenses.”
Meli is alleged to have offered malware services at least since 2012 through online hacking forums, sharing e-books, and helping other criminals use RATs to carry out cyber attacks. Prior to Warzone RAT, he had sold another RAT known as Pegasus RAT.
Like Meli, Odinakachi also provided online customer support to purchasers of Warzone RAT malware between June 2019 and no earlier than March 2023. Both individuals were arrested on February 7, 2024.
Warzone RAT, also known as Ave Maria, was first documented by Yoroi in January 2019 as part of a cyber attack targeting an Italian organization in the oil and gas sector towards the end of 2018 using phishing emails bearing bogus Microsoft Excel files exploiting a known security flaw in the Equation Editor (CVE-2017-11882).
Sold under the malware-as-a-service (Maas) model for $38 a month (or $196 for a year), it functions as an information stealer and facilitates remote control, thereby allowing threat actors to commandeer the infected hosts for follow-on exploitation.
Some of the notable features of the malware include the ability to browse victim file systems, take screenshots, record keystrokes, steal victim usernames and passwords, and activate the computer’s webcams without the victim’s knowledge or consent.
“Ave Maria attacks are initiated via phishing emails, once the dropped payload infects the victim’s machine with the malware, it establishes communication with the attacker’s command-and-control (C2) server on non-HTTP protocol, after decrypting its C2 connection using RC4 algorithm,” Zscaler ThreatLabz said in early 2023.
On one of the now-dismantled websites, which had the tagline “Serving you loyally since 2018,” the developers of the C/C++ malware described it as reliable and easy to use. They also provided the ability for customers to contact them via email (solmyr@warzone[.]ws), Telegram (@solwz and @sammysamwarzone), Skype (vuln.hf), as well as via a dedicated “client area.”
An additional contact avenue was Discord, where the users were asked to get in touch with an account with the ID Meli#4472. Another Telegram account linked to Meli was @daniel96420.
Outside of cybercrime groups, the malware has also been put to use by several advanced threat actors like YoroTrooper as well as those associated with Russia over the past year.
The DoJ said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) covertly purchased copies of Warzone RAT and confirmed its nefarious functions. The coordinated exercise involved assistance from authorities in Australia, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Romania, and Europol.
Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.
Related news
Spanish speakers beware! A new campaign using the Agent Tesla RAT targets Spanish-speaking individuals. Learn how to protect…
Attackers are weaponizing an old Microsoft Office vulnerability as part of phishing campaigns to distribute a strain of malware called Agent Tesla. The infection chains leverage decoy Excel documents attached in invoice-themed messages to trick potential targets into opening them and activate the exploitation of CVE-2017-11882 (CVSS score: 7.8), a memory corruption vulnerability in Office's
By Waqas KEY FINDINGS Organizations should take steps to protect themselves from this campaign by keeping software up to date,… This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Rust Implant Used in New Malware Campaign Against Azerbaijan
By Deeba Ahmed FortiGuard Discovers Phishing Campaign Distributing New Agent Tesla Variant to Windows Devices. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: New Agent Tesla Variant Uses Excel Exploit to Infect Windows PCs
Hello everyone! This month I decided NOT to make an episode completely dedicated to Microsoft Patch Tuesday. Instead, this episode will be an answer to the question of how my Vulnerability Management month went. A retrospection of some kind. Alternative video link (for Russia): https://vk.com/video-149273431_456239134 GitHub exploits and Vulristics This month I made some improvements […]
Fake travel reservations are exacting more pain from the travel weary, already dealing with the misery of canceled flights and overbooked hotels.
Over a dozen military-industrial complex enterprises and public institutions in Afghanistan and Europe have come under a wave of targeted attacks since January 2022 to steal confidential data by simultaneously making use of six different backdoors. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky attributed the attacks "with a high degree of confidence" to a China-linked threat actor tracked by Proofpoint
The dangerous malware appears to be well and truly back in action, sporting new variants and security-dodging behaviors in a wave of recent phishing campaigns.
Microsoft Word also leveraged in the email campaign, which uses a 22-year-old Office RCE bug.
An espionage-focused threat actor known for targeting China, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia has expanded to set its sights on Bangladeshi government organizations as part of an ongoing campaign that commenced in August 2021. Cybersecurity firm Cisco Talos attributed the activity with moderate confidence to a hacking group dubbed the Bitter APT based on overlaps in the command-and-control (C2)
Cisco Talos has observed an ongoing malicious campaign since August 2021 from the Bitter APT group that appears to target users in Bangladesh, a change from the attackers' usual victims.As part of this, there's a new trojan based on Apost Talos is calling "ZxxZ," that, among other... [[ This is only the beginning! Please visit the blog for the complete entry ]]