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FIN7, a notorious cybercriminal group, has resurfaced with renewed vigor, adapting its tactics and expanding its target scope. Known for its financially motivated attacks, FIN7 has historically plagued the retail, restaurant, and hospitality sectors. However, recent activity indicates a shift towards a broader range of industries and an increased reliance on ransomware, posing a significant threat to organizations worldwide. This article delves into FIN7's origins, evolution, tactics, targets, attack campaigns, and, most importantly, the defense strategies to counter this persistent threat actor.
Origins & Evolution
FIN7, also known by aliases such as Carbon Spider, ELBRUS, Sangria Tempest, and GOLD NIAGARA, has been active since at least mid-2015. The group is believed to be of Eastern European or Russian origin, and is characterized as one of the most successful financially driven cybercrime operations. Initially, FIN7 focused on targeting U.S. retail, restaurant, and hospitality businesses, primarily aiming to steal payment card data.
Over time, FIN7's tactics have evolved significantly. They transitioned from primarily using point-of-sale (POS) malware to incorporating ransomware into their attacks, often partnering with other ransomware groups. There is evidence suggesting collaborations or affiliations with ransomware groups. The are linked with ALPHV (BlackCat), and Ryuk.
A key element in FIN7's operations has been the use of front companies, such as "Combi Security," to disguise their activities and recruit unsuspecting individuals. This tactic highlights the group's sophisticated organizational structure and their efforts to appear legitimate.
Despite law enforcement actions, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charging and sentencing several members in 2018 and 2021, FIN7 remains active. This persistence underscores the group's adaptability and the challenges in completely dismantling such cybercriminal enterprises. The group's continued development and obfuscation of their tools, along with using pseudonyms makes it harder to track them. A good Patch Management strategy can help mitigate the risks.
Tactics & Techniques
FIN7 employs a diverse range of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), demonstrating their adaptability and sophistication. Their attacks typically involve multiple stages, from initial access to data exfiltration and ransomware deployment.
Initial Access:
Spearphishing: FIN7 is known for its highly targeted spearphishing campaigns, often crafting emails with malicious links or attachments tailored to specific individuals within an organization. These emails often impersonate legitimate businesses or government agencies. Learn about types of phishing attacks.
BadUSB Attacks: A signature tactic of FIN7 involves sending physical packages containing malicious USB drives disguised as legitimate items (e.g., gift cards, COVID-19 information). These USB drives, when plugged in, emulate a keyboard and execute PowerShell commands to download malware.
Exploiting Public-Facing Applications: FIN7 has exploited vulnerabilities in public-facing applications, such as Microsoft Exchange (e.g., CVE-2021-31207), to gain initial access.
Compromised Credentials: FIN7 leverages the use of stolen or compromised RDP and other credentials.
Persistence:
Registry Run Keys: FIN7 frequently uses registry Run and RunOnce keys to ensure their malware automatically executes upon system startup. Understand Windows Registry structure.
Scheduled Tasks: They create scheduled tasks to maintain persistence and re-establish access.
SSH-based Backdoor: Uses OpenSSH and 7zip for persistance and stealthy exfiltration of data.
Lateral Movement:
SSH: FIN7 uses SSH for lateral movement within compromised networks, often leveraging harvested administrative credentials.
Remote Access Software Abuse: They have abused legitimate remote management software, like Atera, to deploy malware and maintain control.
Reconnaissance:
System and User Discovery: FIN7 uses built-in Windows commands (e.g.,
quser) and tools to gather information about the compromised system and its users.Screen and Video Capture: They employ tools for capturing screenshots and recording video of user activity.
Command and Control (C2):
Non-Standard Ports: FIN7 often uses non-standard ports (e.g., 53, 80, 443, 8080) for C2 communication to evade detection.
Fallback Channels: Some of their malware, like the Harpy backdoor, utilizes fallback C2 channels, such as DNS, for resilience.
Malware and Tools:
POWERPLANT: A versatile PowerShell backdoor framework that has become a primary tool for FIN7.
BEACON (Cobalt Strike): Often used as secondary access after initial compromise.
POWERTRASH: A heavily obfuscated PowerShell loader used to deploy various payloads, including CARBANAK, DICELOADER, and others.
DICELOADER (Lizar/IceBot): A minimal backdoor that establishes a C2 channel.
AvNeutralizer (AuKill): A tool designed to tamper with security solutions, sold to other cybercriminals.
Carbanak: A well-known backdoor historically used by FIN7.
Core Impact: A commercial penetration testing tool used for its exploit capabilities.
Evasion:
Obfuscation: FIN7 heavily employs obfuscation techniques in their droppers and downloaders to avoid signature-based detection.
Testing Against Public Repositories:** The group is known to test their malware against services like VirusTotal to check and minimize detection rates. Exploring VirusTotal is helpful to avoid being a victim.
Data Exfiltration: FIN7 collects files and sensitive information from compromised networks, often staging it before exfiltration.
Ransomware Deployment: FIN7 has increasingly incorporated ransomware into their attacks, deploying strains like REvil, BlackMatter, Ryuk, and ALPHV (BlackCat). They have also offered ALPHV as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS).
Targets or Victimology
FIN7's initial focus was primarily on the U.S. retail, restaurant, and hospitality sectors, targeting point-of-sale (POS) systems to steal payment card data. However, their target profile has expanded considerably.
Industries: Recent campaigns have shown FIN7 targeting a wider range of industries, including:
Transportation
Insurance
Defense
Software
Consulting
Financial Services
Medical Equipment
Cloud Services
Media
Food and Beverage
Utilities
Automotive
Technology
Geography: While initially focused on the U.S., FIN7's operations have a global reach, with victims identified in numerous countries.
Motivations: FIN7 is primarily driven by financial gain. Their shift towards ransomware reflects a strategy to maximize profits through extortion. While espionage is not their primary goal, the nature of some of their targets (e.g., defense contractors) suggests that data theft for intelligence purposes cannot be entirely ruled out.
Impact: FIN7 attacks can have severe consequences, including:
Data Breaches: Theft of sensitive data, including payment card information, personal data, and intellectual property.
Operational Disruption: Ransomware attacks can cripple business operations, leading to significant downtime and financial losses.
Reputational Damage: Data breaches and service disruptions can severely damage an organization's reputation.
Attack Campaigns
FIN7 has been associated with numerous high-profile attack campaigns over the years. Some notable examples include:
Mid-2015 onwards: Extensive targeting of U.S. retail, restaurant, and hospitality businesses, stealing millions of payment card records.
March 2017: Spearphishing campaign targeting employees involved with SEC filings.
August 2018: U.S. DOJ charges against three FIN7 members for cybercrimes impacting over 100 U.S. companies.
November 2018: Linked to data breaches at several major restaurant and hotel chains, including Red Robin, Chili's, Arby's, and Omni Hotels.
2020-2021: Increased use of ransomware, including REvil, BlackMatter, and ALPHV (BlackCat), often delivered through BadUSB attacks.
January 2022: FBI warning about BadUSB attacks targeting transportation, insurance, and defense industries, delivering ransomware.
Late 2023: Targeted attack on a large U.S.-based automotive manufacturer using a spearphishing campaign and a fake IP scanning tool website.
2024: Continued activity with a reported over 4000 domain, large-scale infrastructure. And, targeting multiple large companies like: Louvre Museum, Meta, Reuters, Microsoft, Wall Street Journal, Midjourney, CNN, Quickbooks, Alliant, Grammarly, Airtable, Webex, Lexis Nexis, Bloomberg, Quicken, Cisco Webex, Zoom, Investing[.]com, SAP Concur, Google, Android Developer, Asana, Workable, SAP (Ariba), Microsoft (Sharepoint), RedFin, Manulife Insurance, Regions Bank Onepass, American Express, Twitter, Costco, DropBox, Netflix, Paycor, Harvard, Affinity Energy, RuPay, Goto[.]com, Bitwarden, and Trezor. The numerous attacks leads to discussion about cybersecurity in the age of IoT.
Defenses
Combating FIN7 requires a multi-layered defense strategy that addresses their diverse TTPs. Key defensive measures include:
User Awareness Training: Educate employees about phishing attacks, social engineering tactics, and the risks of plugging in unknown USB devices. Regular training and simulated phishing exercises are crucial. Conduct phishing simulation to educate employees.
Email Security: Implement robust email security measures, including:
Advanced Email Filtering: Utilize email gateways that can detect and block malicious attachments and links.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC: Implement these email authentication protocols to prevent email spoofing. Learn what is DMARC and how it works.
Sandboxing: Employ email sandboxing to analyze suspicious attachments in a safe environment.
Endpoint Security:
Antivirus and EDR: Deploy and maintain up-to-date antivirus and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions to detect and block known malware.
Application Control: Restrict the execution of unauthorized applications, particularly PowerShell scripts.
USB Device Control: Implement strict policies regarding the use of external USB devices.
Network Security:
Network Segmentation: Segment networks to limit the lateral movement of attackers.
Firewall Configuration: Properly configure firewalls to block unauthorized inbound and outbound traffic, especially on non-standard ports.
Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): Deploy and maintain IDS/IPS to detect and block malicious network activity.
Vulnerability Management:
Regular Patching: Keep all systems and software up-to-date with the latest security patches, particularly for public-facing applications.
Vulnerability Scanning: Conduct regular vulnerability scans to identify and remediate weaknesses. Read about vulnerability assessments.
Identity and Access Management (IAM):
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforce MFA for all user accounts, especially for remote access and privileged accounts.
Principle of Least Privilege: Grant users only the minimum necessary access rights.
Regular Account Reviews: Periodically review user accounts and permissions to identify and remove unnecessary access.
Threat Intelligence:
Leverage Threat Feeds: Utilize threat intelligence feeds to stay informed about the latest FIN7 TTPs, indicators of compromise (IOCs), and campaigns.
Threat Hunting: Proactively hunt for signs of FIN7 activity within your environment, focusing on their known behaviors and TTPs. Learn how to use the MITRE ATT&CK framework for threat hunting.
Incident Response:
Develop and Test an Incident Response Plan: Have a well-defined incident response plan in place to quickly and effectively respond to potential FIN7 attacks.
Regular Backups: Maintain regular, offline backups of critical data to ensure recovery in case of a ransomware attack.
Monitoring for Suspicious Behavior: Detect unusual login attempts and unauthorized access. Consider using User and Event Behavioral Analytics.
Data Protection and Encryption: Encrypt sensitive data.
Conclusion
FIN7 remains a significant and evolving threat to organizations across various industries. Their shift towards ransomware and continued development of sophisticated tools and techniques demonstrate their commitment to financial gain. Despite law enforcement efforts, FIN7 has proven to be resilient and adaptable. Organizations must adopt a proactive, multi-layered defense strategy that combines user awareness, robust security controls, threat intelligence, and a well-defined incident response plan to effectively mitigate the risks posed by this persistent cybercriminal group. Staying informed about FIN7's latest TTPs and proactively hunting for their activity are crucial for maintaining a strong security posture.
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Arun KL
Arun KL is a cybersecurity professional with 15+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, cloud security, vulnerability management, Penetration Testing, security operations, and incident response. He is adept at designing and implementing robust security solutions to safeguard systems and data. Arun holds multiple industry certifications including CCNA, CCNA Security, RHCE, CEH, and AWS Security.
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