Avaddon

Post by @lazarusholic.bsky.social - Bluesky

A Sonatype report identified six malicious npm packages that used Ethereum transactions to retrieve and stage malicious payloads, an unusual delivery method that obscures second-stage infrastructure behind blockchain activity. The campaign was linked in public reporting to ContagiousInterview and NullReceiver, indicating continued abuse of the JavaScript and Node.js ecosystem for software supply-chain compromise. The activity aligns with broader attacker tradecraft documented for MITRE ATT&CK T1059.007 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript), which covers JavaScript and Node.js use for payload delivery, execution, reconnaissance, and command-and-control. Defenders monitoring follow-on behavior should watch for suspicious child-process activity and discovery commands launched from non-shell parent processes, a pattern reflected in Splunk detection guidance for tools such as ipconfig.exe, systeminfo.exe, net.exe, and whoami.exe executed outside normal cmd.exe or PowerShell chains.

Detection: Windows Suspicious Child Process of Consent.EXE | Splunk Security Content

Splunk published a Windows endpoint analytic that detects suspicious child processes launched by consent.exe, a behavior strongly associated with User Account Control (UAC) bypass and privilege escalation. Because consent.exe normally displays the UAC elevation prompt rather than spawning executables, the detection treats such process creation as anomalous, excluding WerFault.exe as a known crash-related exception. The analytic maps to MITRE ATT&CK techniques T1548.002, T1068, and T1059, and is designed for telemetry from Sysmon, Windows Security Event ID 4688, and CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2 data normalized into Splunk's Endpoint data model. The release aligns with MITRE ATT&CK documentation showing UAC bypass remains a widely used post-compromise technique across ransomware operators, commodity malware, and state-linked intrusion groups. ATT&CK lists methods including COM abuse through CMSTPLUA, scheduled task abuse such as SilentCleanup, registry hijacks involving ms-settings and mscfile, and abuse of trusted Windows binaries including fodhelper.exe, eventvwr.exe, and sdclt.exe. Splunk also published supporting attack simulation data for suspicious child processes of consent.exe, giving defenders a way to test visibility for this privilege-escalation pattern, although the analytic is disabled by default and generates intermediate risk events rather than direct notable alerts.

Windows Suspicious Child Of Consent.exe | Splunk Security Content

Telegram shortlinks knocked offline over sanctioned VPN connection

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned First VPN Service (1VPNS), its alleged Ukrainian administrator Dmytro Rashevskyi, and Belarusian cryptor seller Yevgeniy Vladimirovich Silayev for allegedly supporting ransomware and other cybercriminal activity. Officials said 1VPNS provided anonymizing infrastructure that helped threat actors hide their identities, disguise malware, and evade detection during attacks on U.S. municipalities, hospitals, schools, businesses, and critical infrastructure providers. Treasury alleged Rashevskyi used false identities to obtain infrastructure for the service, while Silayev sold malware-obfuscation tools that made malicious code harder for defenders to detect. The sanctions, issued under Executive Order 14390 and E.O. 13694 as amended, block U.S. persons from transacting with the designated parties and mark a broader move against ransomware enablers rather than only the gangs themselves. The action was coordinated with the United Kingdom and followed a May law enforcement takedown of 1VPNS infrastructure by European agencies with FBI support. Separate reporting said blockchain tracing tied payments from ransomware groups including Anubis, Qilin, and Sinobi Group to FirstVPN, adding financial evidence that the service was used as operational infrastructure by ransomware actors.

U.S. sanctions VPN provider and cryptor seller for aiding ransomware gangs | brief | SC Media

Власти США наложили санкции на First VPN из-за связей с вымогателями - Хакер

U.S. Treasury Sanctions VPN Provider and Cryptor Seller Behind Billions in Ransomware Losses

US sanctions First VPN and administrator for supporting ransomware | CyberScoop