- Feb 7, 2014
- 1,540
Malware developers recently launched version 2.0 of GovRAT, a cyberespionage tool that has been used to target government and other types of organizations in the United States
GovRAT appears to have been around since 2014, but its existence was only brought to light in November 2015 by identity protection and threat intelligence company InfoArmor.
The creator of GovRAT, a cybercriminal who uses the online moniker “bestbuy,” had been offering the first version of the malware, including its source code and a code-signing digital certificate, for 4.5 Bitcoin on a hacking forum called TheRealDeal.
The developer recently launched GovRAT 2.0, which includes features for anti-debugging, detection evasion, automatically mapping hard disks and network shares, remote command execution, uploading and downloading files, communications protection, keylogging, browser and mail password dumping, Tor support, and network password sniffing. The threat also has worm capabilities that allow it to spread via USB devices and network shares.
For $1,000, interested parties can acquire the basic binaries and command and control (C&C) code for GovRAT 2.0. The complete package, which includes the source code of all components, costs $6,000.
Both GovRAT 1.0 and 2.0 have been used to target IT, scientific research, educational, military and government organizations. However, InfoArmor reported that government and military agencies have been increasingly targeted.
Bestbuy, who also started using the moniker “Popopret” after InfoArmor’s initial report on GovRAT, has leveraged spear-phishing and drive-by downloads to deliver the malware to victims. The Trojan has also helped him collect credentials for government and military organizations, which he has been offering for sale on cybercrime forums.
Researchers have identified credentials for many U.S. government domains, including gsa.gov, va.gov, nasa.gov, nps.gov, faa.gov and state.gov, and domains related to the U.S. military, such as navy.mil, mail.mil, army.mil and af.mil.
You can catch the rest of this news here: U.S. Government Targeted With GovRAT 2.0 Malware | SecurityWeek.Com
GovRAT appears to have been around since 2014, but its existence was only brought to light in November 2015 by identity protection and threat intelligence company InfoArmor.
The creator of GovRAT, a cybercriminal who uses the online moniker “bestbuy,” had been offering the first version of the malware, including its source code and a code-signing digital certificate, for 4.5 Bitcoin on a hacking forum called TheRealDeal.
The developer recently launched GovRAT 2.0, which includes features for anti-debugging, detection evasion, automatically mapping hard disks and network shares, remote command execution, uploading and downloading files, communications protection, keylogging, browser and mail password dumping, Tor support, and network password sniffing. The threat also has worm capabilities that allow it to spread via USB devices and network shares.
For $1,000, interested parties can acquire the basic binaries and command and control (C&C) code for GovRAT 2.0. The complete package, which includes the source code of all components, costs $6,000.
Both GovRAT 1.0 and 2.0 have been used to target IT, scientific research, educational, military and government organizations. However, InfoArmor reported that government and military agencies have been increasingly targeted.
Bestbuy, who also started using the moniker “Popopret” after InfoArmor’s initial report on GovRAT, has leveraged spear-phishing and drive-by downloads to deliver the malware to victims. The Trojan has also helped him collect credentials for government and military organizations, which he has been offering for sale on cybercrime forums.
Researchers have identified credentials for many U.S. government domains, including gsa.gov, va.gov, nasa.gov, nps.gov, faa.gov and state.gov, and domains related to the U.S. military, such as navy.mil, mail.mil, army.mil and af.mil.
You can catch the rest of this news here: U.S. Government Targeted With GovRAT 2.0 Malware | SecurityWeek.Com
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