The FBI warned US companies that the financially motivated FIN7 cybercriminal group has targeted the US defense industry with packages containing malicious USB devices to deploy ransomware.
The attackers mailed packages containing ‘BadUSB’ or ‘Bad Beetle USB’ devices with the LilyGO logo, commonly available for sale on the Internet.
They used the United States Postal Service (USPS) and United Parcel Service (UPS) to email the malicious packages to businesses in the transportation and insurance industries since August 2021 and defense firms starting with November 2021.
FIN7 operators impersonated Amazon and the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to trick the targets into opening the packages and connecting the USB drives to their systems.
According to reports, these malicious packages also contain letters about COVID-19 guidelines or counterfeit gift cards and forged thank you notes, depending on the impersonated entity.
After the targets plug the USB drive into their computers, it automatically registers as a Human Interface Device (HID) Keyboard (allowing it to operate even with removable storage devices toggled off).
It then starts injecting keystrokes to install malware payloads on the compromised systems.
FIN7’s main aim in such attacks is to access the victims’ networks and deploy ransomware within a compromised network using various tools, including Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, Carbanak malware, the Griffon backdoor, and PowerShell scripts.
Attacks like those attempted by FIN7 are known as HID or USB drive-by attacks, and they can only be successful if the victims are tricked into plugging unknown USB devices into their workstations.
Companies can defend against such attacks by allowing their employees to connect only USB devices based on their hardware ID or those approved by their security team.
Credits : Bleeping Computer
Comments