November 2, 2023 at 03:16PM
The backdoor Trojan Kazuar has been enhanced to be more difficult to detect and can now operate covertly while evading analysis and malware protection tools. It has been used by the Russian-backed APT Pensive Ursa to target Ukraine’s defense sector. Kazuar has sophisticated commands and a command-and-control channel that allows attackers to access systems and exfiltrate data. Researchers have also found similarities between Kazuar and the Sunburst backdoor Trojan used in the SolarWinds supply chain attack.
Key information from the meeting notes:
– Kazuar, a backdoor Trojan, has undergone enhancements to make it more challenging to detect and operate covertly.
– The Russian-backed APT group known as Pensive Ursa has used the new version of Kazuar to target Ukraine’s defense sector.
– Pensive Ursa, also known as Turla Group, Snake, Uroburos, and Venomous Bear, has links to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and has been active since 2004.
– The recent Ukrainian attacks sought sensitive assets such as messages, source control, and cloud platform data.
– Kazuar has a multi-staged delivery mechanism and has seen significant improvements in its code structure and functionality.
– It has primarily been identified in attacks against the military and European government entities.
– Kazuar is a multiplatform espionage backdoor Trojan with API access to an embedded Web server.
– It has a command-and-control channel (C2) and can use various protocols for communication.
– Some features of Kazuar overlap with Sunburst, the backdoor discovered in the SolarWinds supply chain attack.
– Kazuar has been observed in deployments by the Turla Group, including a case in a South American country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Please let me know if you need further clarification or have specific questions about the meeting notes.