Blog
/
Compliance
/
September 4, 2024

What you need to know about FAA Security Protection Regulations 2024

This blog gives an overview of the proposed FAA regulations for safeguarding aviation systems and their cyber-physical networks. Read more to discover key points, challenges, and potential solutions for each use case.
Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Daniel Simonds
Director of Operational Technology
Default blog imageDefault blog imageDefault blog imageDefault blog imageDefault blog imageDefault blog image
04
Sep 2024

Overview of FAA Rules 2024

Objective

The goal of the Federal Aviation Administration amended rules is to create new design standards that protect airplane systems from intentional unauthorized electronic interactions (IUEI), which can pose safety risks. The timely motivation for this goal is due to the ongoing trend in aircraft design, which features a growing integration of airplane, engine, and propeller systems, along with expanded connectivity to both internal and external data networks and services.

“This proposed rulemaking would impose new design standards to address cybersecurity threats for transport category airplanes, engines, and propellers. The intended effect of this proposed action is to standardize the FAA’s criteria for addressing cybersecurity threats, reducing certification costs and time while maintaining the same level of safety provided by current special conditions.” (1)

Background

Increasing integration of aircraft systems with internal and external networks raises cybersecurity vulnerability concerns.

Key vulnerabilities include:  

  • Field Loadable Software
  • Maintenance laptops
  • Public networks (e.g., Internet)
  • Wireless sensors
  • USB devices
  • Satellite communications
  • Portable devices and flight bags  

Requirements for Applicants

Applicants seeking design approval must:

  • Provide isolation or protection from unauthorized access
  • Prevent inadvertent or malicious changes to aircraft systems
  • Establish procedures to maintain cybersecurity protections

Purpose

“These changes would introduce type certification and continued airworthiness requirements to protect the equipment, systems, and networks of transport category airplanes, engines, and propellers against intentional unauthorized electronic interactions (IUEI)1 that could create safety hazards. Design approval applicants would be required to identify, assess, and mitigate such hazards, and develop Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) that would ensure such protections continue in service.” (1)

Key points:

  • Introduce new design standards to address cybersecurity threats for transport category airplanes, engines, and propellers.
  • Aim to reduce certification costs and time while maintaining safety levels similar to current special conditions

Applicant Responsibilities for Identifying, Assessing, and Mitigating IUEI Risks

The proposed rule requires applicants to safeguard airplanes, engines, and propellers from intentional unauthorized electronic interactions (IUEI). To do this, they must:

  1. Identify and assess risks: Find and evaluate any potential electronic threats that could harm safety.
  2. Mitigate risks: Take steps to prevent these threats from causing problems, ensuring the aircraft remain safe and functional.

Let’s break down each of the requirements:

Performing risk analysis

“For such identification and assessment of security risk, the applicant would be required to perform a security risk analysis to identify all threat conditions associated with the system, architecture, and external or internal interfaces.”(3)

Challenge

The complexity and variety of OT devices make it difficult and time-consuming to identify and associate CVEs with assets. Security teams face several challenges:

  • Prioritization Issues: Sifting through extensive CVE lists to prioritize efforts is a struggle.
  • Patch Complications: Finding corresponding patches is complicated by manufacturer delays and design flaws.
  • Operational Constraints: Limited maintenance windows and the need for continuous operations make it hard to address vulnerabilities, often leaving them unresolved for years.
  • Inadequate Assessments: Standard CVE assessments may not fully capture the risks associated with increased connectivity, underscoring the need for a contextualized risk assessment approach.

This highlights the need for a more effective and tailored approach to managing vulnerabilities in OT environments.

Assessing severity of risks

“The FAA would expect such risk analysis to assess the severity of the effect of threat conditions on associated assets (system, architecture, etc.), consistent with the means of compliance the applicant has been using to meet the FAA’s special conditions on this topic.” (3)

Challenge

As shown by the MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques for ICS matrices, threat actors can exploit many avenues beyond just CVEs. To effectively defend against these threats, security teams need a broader perspective, considering lateral movement and multi-stage attacks.

Challenges in Vulnerability Management (VM) cycles include:

  • Initiation: VM cycles often start with email updates from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), listing new CVEs from the NIST database.
  • Communication: Security practitioners must survey and forward CVE lists to networking teams at facilities that might be running the affected assets. Responses from these teams are inconsistent, leading vulnerability managers to push patches that may not fit within limited maintenance windows.
  • Asset Tracking: At many OT locations, determining if a company is running a specific firmware version can be extremely time-consuming. Teams often rely on spreadsheets and must perform manual checks by physically visiting production floors ("sneaker-netting").
  • Coordination: Plant engineers and centralized security teams must exchange information to validate asset details and manually score vulnerabilities, further complicating and delaying remediation efforts.

Determine likelihood of exploitation

“Such assessment would also need to analyze these vulnerabilities for the likelihood of exploitation.” (3)

Challenge

Even when a vulnerability is identified, its actual impact can vary significantly based on the specific configurations, processes, and technologies in use within the organization. This creates challenges for OT security practitioners:

  • Risk Assessment: Accurately assessing and prioritizing the risk becomes difficult without a clear understanding of how the vulnerability affects their unique systems.
  • Decision-Making: Practitioners may struggle to determine whether immediate action is necessary, balancing the risk of operational downtime against the need for security.
  • Potential Consequences: This uncertainty can lead to either leaving critical systems exposed or causing unnecessary disruptions by applying measures that aren't truly needed.

This complexity underscores the challenge of making informed, timely decisions in OT security environments.

Vulnerability mitigation

“The proposed regulation would then require each applicant to 'mitigate' the vulnerabilities, and the FAA expects such mitigation would occur through the applicant’s installation of single or multilayered protection mechanisms or process controls to ensure functional integrity, i.e., protection.” (3)

Challenge

OT security practitioners face a constant challenge in balancing security needs with the requirement to maintain operational uptime. In many OT environments, especially in critical infrastructure, applying security patches can be risky:

  • Risk of Downtime: Patching can disrupt essential processes, leading to significant financial losses or even safety hazards.
  • Operational Continuity vs. Security: Practitioners often prioritize operational continuity, sometimes delaying timely security updates.
  • Alternative Strategies: To protect systems without direct patching, they must implement compensating controls, further complicating security efforts.

This delicate balance between security and uptime adds complexity to the already challenging task of securing OT environments.

Establishing procedures/playbooks

“Finally, each applicant would be required to include the procedures within their instructions for continued airworthiness necessary to maintain such protections.” (3)

Challenge

SOC teams typically have a lag before their response, leading to a higher dwell time and bigger overall costs. On average, only 15% of the total cost of ransomware is affiliated with the ransom itself (2). The rest is cost from business interruption. This means it's crucial that organizations can respond and recover earlier. 

Darktrace / OT enabling compliance and enhanced cybersecurity

Darktrace's OT solution addresses the complex challenges of cybersecurity compliance in Operational Technology (OT) environments by offering a comprehensive approach to risk management and mitigation.

Key risk management features include:

  • Contextualized Risk Analysis: Darktrace goes beyond traditional vulnerability scoring, integrating IT, OT, and CVE data with MITRE techniques to map critical attack paths. This helps in identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their exposure, difficulty of exploitation, and network impact.
  • Guidance on Remediation: When patches are unavailable, Darktrace provides alternative strategies to bolster defenses around vulnerable assets, ensuring unpatched systems are not left exposed—a critical need in OT environments where operational continuity is essential.
  • AI-Driven Adaptability: Darktrace's AI continuously adapts to your organization as it grows; refining incident response playbooks bespoke to your environment in real-time. This ensures that security teams have the most up-to-date, tailored strategies, reducing response times and minimizing the impact of security incidents.

Ready to learn more?  

Darktrace / OT doesn’t just offer risk management capabilities. It is the only solution  
that leverages Self-Learning AI to understand your normal business operations, allowing you to detect and stop insider, known, unknown, and zero-day threats at scale.  

Dive deeper into how Darktrace / OT secures critical infrastructure organizations with in-depth insights on its advanced capabilities. Download the Darktrace / OT Solution Brief to explore the technology behind its AI-driven protection and see how it can transform your OT security strategy.

Curious about how Darktrace / OT enhances aviation security? Explore our customer story on Brisbane Airport to see how our solution is transforming security operations in the aviation sector.  

References

  1. https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/313646831/Catch_Me_if_You_Can.pdf
  1. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransom-payment-is-roughly-15-percent-of-the-total-cost-of-ransomware-attacks/
  1. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-17916.pdf?mod=djemCybersecruityPro&tpl=cs
Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Written by
Daniel Simonds
Director of Operational Technology

More in this series

No items found.

Blog

/

Cloud

/

July 10, 2025

Crypto Wallets Continue to be Drained in Elaborate Social Media Scam

password on computer screenDefault blog imageDefault blog image

Overview

Continued research by Darktrace has revealed that cryptocurrency users are being targeted by threat actors in an elaborate social engineering scheme that continues to evolve. In December 2024, Cado Security Labs detailed a campaign targeting Web 3 employees in the Meeten campaign. The campaign included threat actors setting up meeting software companies to trick users into joining meetings and installing the information stealer Realst disguised as video meeting software.

The latest research from Darktrace shows that this campaign is still ongoing and continues to trick targets to download software to drain crypto wallets. The campaign features:

  • Threat actors creating fake startup companies with AI, gaming, video meeting software, web3 and social media themes.
  • Use of compromised X (formerly Twitter) accounts for the companies and employees - typically with verification to contact victims and create a facade of a legitimate company.
  • Notion, Medium, Github used to provide whitepapers, project roadmaps and employee details.
  • Windows and macOS versions.
  • Stolen software signing certificates in Windows versions for credibility and defense evasion.
  • Anti-analysis techniques including obfuscation, and anti-sandboxing.

To trick as many victims as possible, threat actors try to make the companies look as legitimate as possible. To achieve this, they make use of sites that are used frequently with software companies such as Twitter, Medium, Github and Notion. Each company has a professional looking website that includes employees, product blogs, whitepapers and roadmaps. X is heavily used to contact victims, and to increase the appearance of legitimacy. Some of the observed X accounts appear to be compromised accounts that typically are verified and have a higher number of followers and following, adding to the appearance of a real company.

Example of a compromised X account to create a “BuzzuAI” employee.
Figure 1: Example of a compromised X account to create a “BuzzuAI” employee.

The threat actors are active on these accounts while the campaign is active, posting about developments in the software, and product marketing. One of the fake companies part of this campaign, “Eternal Decay”, a blockchain-powered game, has created fake pictures pretending to be presenting at conferences to post on social media, while the actual game doesn’t exist.

From the Eternal Decay X account, threat actors have altered a photo from an Italian exhibition (original on the right) to make it look like Eternal Decay was presented.
Figure 2: From the Eternal Decay X account, threat actors have altered a photo from an Italian exhibition (original on the right) to make it look like Eternal Decay was presented.

In addition to X, Medium is used to post blogs about the software. Notion has been used in various campaigns with product roadmap details, as well as employee lists.

Notion project team page for Swox.
Figure 3: Notion project team page for Swox.

Github has been used to detail technical aspects of the software, along with Git repositories containing stolen open-source projects with the name changed in order to make the code look unique. In the Eternal Decay example, Gitbook is used to detail company and software information. The threat actors even include company registration information from Companies House, however they have linked to a company with a similar name and are not a real registered company.

 From the Eternal Decay Gitbook linking to a company with a similar name on Companies House.
Figure 4: From the Eternal Decay Gitbook linking to a company with a similar name on Companies House.
Gitbook for “Eternal Decay” listing investors.
Figure 5: Gitbook for “Eternal Decay” listing investors.
Gameplay images are stolen from a different game “Zombie Within” and posted pretending to be Eternal Decay gameplay.
Figure 6: Gameplay images are stolen from a different game “Zombie Within” and posted pretending to be Eternal Decay gameplay.

In some of the fake companies, fake merchandise stores have even been set up. With all these elements combined, the threat actors manage to create the appearance of a legitimate start-up company, increasing their chances of infection.

Each campaign typically starts with a victim being contacted through X messages, Telegram or Discord. A fake employee of the company will contact a victim asking to test out their software in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment. The victim will be directed to the company website download page, where they need to enter a registration code, provided by the employee to download a binary. Depending on their operating system, the victim will be instructed to download a macOS DMG (if available) or a Windows Electron application.

Example of threat actor messaging a victim on X with a registration code.
Figure 7: Example of threat actor messaging a victim on X with a registration code.

Windows Version

Similar to the aforementioned Meeten campaign, the Windows version being distributed by the fake software companies is an Electron application. Electron is an open-source framework used to run Javascript apps as a desktop application. Once the user follows directions sent to them via message, opening the application will bring up a Cloudflare verification screen.

Cloudflare verification screen.
Figure 8: Cloudflare verification screen.

The malware begins by profiling the system, gathering information like the username, CPU and core count, RAM, operating system, MAC address, graphics card, and UUID.

Code from the Electron app showing console output of system profiling.
Figure 9: Code from the Electron app showing console output of system profiling.

A verification process occurs with a captcha token extracted from the app-launcher URL and sent along with the system info and UUID. If the verification is successful, an executable or MSI file is downloaded and executed quietly. Python is also retrieved and stored in /AppData/Temp, with Python commands being sent from the command-and-control (C2) infrastructure.

Code from the Electron app looping through Python objects.
Figure 10: Code from the Electron app looping through Python objects.

As there was no valid token, this process did not succeed. However, based on previous campaigns and reports from victims on social media, an information stealer targeting crypto wallets is executed at this stage. A common tactic in the observed campaigns is the use of stolen code signing certificates to evade detection and increase the appearance of legitimate software. The certificates of two legitimate companies Jiangyin Fengyuan Electronics Co., Ltd. and Paperbucketmdb ApS (revoked as of June 2025) were used during this campaign.

MacOS Version

For companies that have a macOS version of the malware, the user is directed to download a DMG. The DMG contains a bash script and a multiarch macOS binary. The bash script is obfuscated with junk, base64 and is XOR’d.

Obfuscated Bash script.
Figure 11: Obfuscated Bash script.

After decoding, the contents of the script are revealed showing that AppleScript is being used. The script looks for disk drives, specifically for the mounted DMG “SwoxApp” and moves the hidden .SwoxApp binary to /tmp/ and makes it executable. This type of AppleScript is commonly used in macOS malware, such as Atomic Stealer.

AppleScript used to mount the malware and make it executable.
Figure 12: AppleScript used to mount the malware and make it executable.

The SwoxApp binary is the prominent macOS information stealer Atomic Stealer. Once executed the malware performs anti-analysis checks for QEMU, VMWare and Docker-OSX, the script exits if these return true.  The main functionality of Atomic Stealer is to steal data from stores including browser data, crypto wallets, cookies and documents. This data is compressed into /tmp/out.zip and sent via POST request to 45[.]94[.]47[.]167/contact. An additional bash script is retrieved from 77[.]73[.]129[.]18:80/install.sh.

Additional Bash script ”install.sh”.
Figure 13: Additional Bash script ”install.sh”.

Install.sh, as shown in Figure 13, retrieves another script install_dynamic.sh from the server https://mrajhhosdoahjsd[.]com. Install_dynamic.sh downloads and extracts InstallerHelper.app, then sets up persistence via Launch Agent to run at login.

Persistence added via Plist configuration.
Figure 14: Persistence added via Plist configuration.

This plist configuration installs a macOS LaunchAgent that silently runs the app at user login. RunAtLoad and KeepAlive keys are used to ensure the app starts automatically and remains persistent.

The retrieved binary InstallerHelper is an Objective-C/Swift binary that logs active application usage, window information, and user interaction timestamps. This data is written to local log files and periodically transmits the contents to https://mrajhhoshoahjsd[.]com/collect-metrics using scheduled network requests.

List of known companies

Darktrace has identified a number of the fake companies used in this scam. These can be found in the list below:

Pollens AI
X: @pollensapp, @Pollens_app
Website: pollens.app, pollens.io, pollens.tech
Windows: 02a5b35be82c59c55322d2800b0b8ccc
Notes: Posing as an AI software company with a focus on “collaborative creation”.

Buzzu
X: @BuzzuApp, @AI_Buzzu, @AppBuzzu, @BuzzuApp
Website: Buzzu.app, Buzzu.us, buzzu.me, Buzzu.space
Windows: 7d70a7e5661f9593568c64938e06a11a
Mac: be0e3e1e9a3fda76a77e8c5743dd2ced
Notes: Same as Pollens including logo but with a different name.

Cloudsign
X: @cloudsignapp
Windows: 3a3b13de4406d1ac13861018d74bf4b2
Notes: Claims to be a document signing platform.

Swox
X: @SwoxApp, @Swox_AI, @swox_app, @App_Swox, @AppSwox, @SwoxProject, @ProjectSwox
Website: swox.io, swox.app, swox.cc, swoxAI.com, swox.us
Windows: d50393ba7d63e92d23ec7d15716c7be6
Mac: 81996a20cfa56077a3bb69487cc58405ced79629d0c09c94fb21ba7e5f1a24c9
Notes: Claims to be a “Next gen social network in the WEB3”. Same GitHub code as Pollens.

KlastAI
X: Links to Pollens X account
Website: Links to pollens.tech
Notes: Same as Pollens, still shows their branding on its GitHub readme page.

Wasper
X: @wasperAI, @WasperSpace
Website: wasper.pro, wasper.app, wasper.org, wasper.space
Notes: Same logo and GitHub code as Pollens.

Lunelior
Website: lunelior.net, Lunelior.app, lunelior.io, lunelior.us
Windows: 74654e6e5f57a028ee70f015ef3a44a4
Mac: d723162f9197f7a548ca94802df74101

BeeSync
X: @BeeSyncAI, @AIBeeSync
Website: beesync.ai, beesync.cc
Notes: Previous alias of Buzzu, Git repo renamed January 2025.

Slax
X: @SlaxApp, @Slax_app, @slaxproject
Website: slax.tech, slax.cc, slax.social, slaxai.app

Solune
X: @soluneapp
Website: solune.io, solune.me
Windows: 22b2ea96be9d65006148ecbb6979eccc

Eternal Decay
X: @metaversedecay
Website: eternal-decay.xyz
Windows: 558889183097d9a991cb2c71b7da3c51
Mac: a4786af0c4ffc84ff193ff2ecbb564b8

Dexis
X: @DexisApp
Website: dexis.app
Notes: Same branding as Swox.

NexVoo
X: @Nexvoospace
Website: nexvoo.app, Nexvoo.net, Nexvoo.us

NexLoop
X: @nexloopspace
Website: nexloop.me

NexoraCore
Notes: Rename of the Nexloop Git repo.

YondaAI
X: @yondaspace
Website: yonda.us

Traffer Groups

A “traffer” malware group is an organized cybercriminal operation that specializes in directing internet users to malicious content typically information-stealing malware through compromised or deceptive websites, ads, and links. They tend to operate in teams with hierarchical structures with administrators recruiting “traffers” (or affiliates) to generate traffic and malware installs via search engine optimization (SEO), YouTube ads, fake software downloads, or owned sites, then monetize the stolen credentials and data via dedicated marketplaces.

A prominent traffer group “CrazyEvil” was identified by Recorded Future in early 2025. The group, who have been active since at least 2021, specialize in social engineering attacks targeted towards cryptocurrency users, influencers, DeFi professionals, and gaming communities. As reported by Recorded Future, CrazyEvil are estimated to have made millions of dollars in revenue from their malicious activity. CrazyEvil and their sub teams create fake software companies, similar to the ones described in this blog, making use of Twitter and Medium to target victims. As seen in this campaign, CrazyEvil instructs users to download their software which is an info stealer targeting both macOS and Windows users.

While it is unclear if the campaigns described in this blog can be attributed to CrazyEvil or any sub teams, the techniques described are similar in nature. This campaign highlights the efforts that threat actors will go to make these fake companies look legitimate in order to steal cryptocurrency from victims, in addition to use of newer evasive versions of malware.

Indicators of Compromise (IoCs)

Manboon[.]com

https://gaetanorealty[.]com

Troveur[.]com

Bigpinellas[.]com

Dsandbox[.]com

Conceptwo[.]com

Aceartist[.]com

turismoelcasco[.]com

Ekodirect[.]com

https://mrajhhosdoahjsd[.]com

https://isnimitz.com/zxc/app[.]zip

http://45[.]94[.]47[.]112/contact

45[.]94[.]47[.]167/contact

77[.]73[.]129[.]18:80

Domain Keys associated with the C2s

YARA Rules

rule Suspicious_Electron_App_Installer

{

  meta:

      description = "Detects Electron apps collecting HWID, MAC, GPU info and executing remote EXEs/MSIs"

      date = "2025-06-18"

  strings:

      $electron_require = /require\(['"]electron['"]\)/

      $axios_require = /require\(['"]axios['"]\)/

      $exec_use = /exec\(.*?\)/

      $url_token = /app-launcher:\/\/.*token=/

      $getHWID = /(Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct).UUID/

      $getMAC = /details\.mac && details\.mac !== '00:00:00:00:00:00'/

      $getGPU = /wmic path win32_VideoController get name/

      $getInstallDate = /InstallDate/

      $os_info = /os\.cpus\(\)\[0\]\.model/

      $downloadExe = /\.exe['"]/

      $runExe = /msiexec \/i.*\/quiet \/norestart/

      $zipExtraction = /AdmZip\(.*\.extractAllTo/

  condition:

      (all of ($electron_require, $axios_require, $exec_use) and

       3 of ($getHWID, $getMAC, $getGPU, $getInstallDate, $os_info) and

       2 of ($downloadExe, $runExe, $zipExtraction, $url_token))

}

Continue reading
About the author
Tara Gould
Threat Researcher

Blog

/

Identity

/

July 9, 2025

Defending the Cloud: Stopping Cyber Threats in Azure and AWS with Darktrace

fingerprintDefault blog imageDefault blog image

Real-world intrusions across Azure and AWS

As organizations pursue greater scalability and flexibility, cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have become essential for enabling remote operations and digitalizing corporate environments. However, this shift introduces a new set of security risks, including expanding attack surfaces, misconfigurations, and compromised credentials frequently exploited by threat actors.

This blog dives into three instances of compromise within a Darktrace customer’s Azure and AWS environment which Darktrace.

  1. The first incident took place in early 2024 and involved an attacker compromising a legitimate user account to gain unauthorized access to a customer’s Azure environment.
  2. The other two incidents, taking place in February and March 2025, targeted AWS environments. In these cases, threat actors exfiltrated corporate data, and in one instance, was able to detonate ransomware in a customer’s environment.

Case 1 - Microsoft Azure

Simplified timeline of the attack on a customer’s Azure environment.
Figure 1: Simplified timeline of the attack on a customer’s Azure environment.

In early 2024, Darktrace identified a cloud compromise on the Azure cloud environment of a customer in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

Initial access

In this case, a threat actor gained access to the customer’s cloud environment after stealing access tokens and creating a rogue virtual machine (VM). The malicious actor was found to have stolen access tokens belonging to a third-party external consultant’s account after downloading cracked software.

With these stolen tokens, the attacker was able to authenticate to the customer’s Azure environment and successfully modified a security rule to allow inbound SSH traffic from a specific IP range (i.e., securityRules/AllowCidrBlockSSHInbound). This was likely performed to ensure persistent access to internal cloud resources.

Detection and investigation of the threat

Darktrace / IDENTITY recognized that this activity was highly unusual, triggering the “Repeated Unusual SaaS Resource Creation” alert.

Cyber AI Analyst launched an autonomous investigation into additional suspicious cloud activities occurring around the same time from the same unusual location, correlating the individual events into a broader account hijack incident.

Cyber AI Analyst’s investigation into unusual cloud activity performed by the compromised account.
Figure 2: Cyber AI Analyst’s investigation into unusual cloud activity performed by the compromised account.
Figure 2: Surrounding resource creation events highlighted by Cyber AI Analyst.
Figure 3: Surrounding resource creation events highlighted by Cyber AI Analyst.
Figure 4: Surrounding resource creation events highlighted by Cyber AI Analyst.

“Create resource service limit” events typically indicate the creation or modification of service limits (i.e., quotas) for a specific Azure resource type within a region. Meanwhile, “Registers the Capacity Resource Provider” events refer to the registration of the Microsoft Capacity resource provider within an Azure subscription, responsible for managing capacity-related resources, particularly those related to reservations and service limits. These events suggest that the threat actor was looking to create new cloud resources within the environment.

Around ten minutes later, Darktrace detected the threat actor creating or modifying an Azure disk associated with a virtual machine (VM), suggesting an attempt to create a rogue VM within the environment.

Threat actors can leverage such rogue VMs to hijack computing resources (e.g., by running cryptomining malware), maintain persistent access, move laterally within the cloud environment, communicate with command-and-control (C2) infrastructure, and stealthily deliver and deploy malware.

Persistence

Several weeks later, the compromised account was observed sending an invitation to collaborate to an external free mail (Google Mail) address.

Darktrace deemed this activity as highly anomalous, triggering a compliance alert for the customer to review and investigate further.

The next day, the threat actor further registered new multi-factor authentication (MFA) information. These actions were likely intended to maintain access to the compromised user account. The customer later confirmed this activity by reviewing the corresponding event logs within Darktrace.

Case 2 – Amazon Web Services

Simplified timeline of the attack on a customer’s AWS environment
Figure 5: Simplified timeline of the attack on a customer’s AWS environment

In February 2025, another cloud-based compromised was observed on a UK-based customer subscribed to Darktrace’s Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service.

How the attacker gained access

The threat actor was observed leveraging likely previously compromised credential to access several AWS instances within customer’s Private Cloud environment and collecting and exfiltrating data, likely with the intention of deploying ransomware and holding the data for ransom.

Darktrace alerting to malicious activity

This observed activity triggered a number of alerts in Darktrace, including several high-priority Enhanced Monitoring alerts, which were promptly investigated by Darktrace’s Security Operations Centre (SOC) and raised to the customer’s security team.

The earliest signs of attack observed by Darktrace involved the use of two likely compromised credentials to connect to the customer’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) environment.

Internal reconnaissance

Once inside, the threat actor performed internal reconnaissance activities and staged the Rclone tool “ProgramData\rclone-v1.69.0-windows-amd64.zip”, a command-line program to sync files and directories to and from different cloud storage providers, to an AWS instance whose hostname is associated with a public key infrastructure (PKI) service.

The threat actor was further observed accessing and downloading multiple files hosted on an AWS file server instance, notably finance and investment-related files. This likely represented data gathering prior to exfiltration.

Shortly after, the PKI-related EC2 instance started making SSH connections with the Rclone SSH client “SSH-2.0-rclone/v1.69.0” to a RockHoster Virtual Private Server (VPS) endpoint (193.242.184[.]178), suggesting the threat actor was exfiltrating the gathered data using the Rclone utility they had previously installed. The PKI instance continued to make repeated SSH connections attempts to transfer data to this external destination.

Darktrace’s Autonomous Response

In response to this activity, Darktrace’s Autonomous Response capability intervened, blocking unusual external connectivity to the C2 server via SSH, effectively stopping the exfiltration of data.

This activity was further investigated by Darktrace’s SOC analysts as part of the MDR service. The team elected to extend the autonomously applied actions to ensure the compromise remained contained until the customer could fully remediate the incident.

Continued reconissance

Around the same time, the threat actor continued to conduct network scans using the Nmap tool, operating from both a separate AWS domain controller instance and a newly joined device on the network. These actions were accompanied by further internal data gathering activities, with around 5 GB of data downloaded from an AWS file server.

The two devices involved in reconnaissance activities were investigated and actioned by Darktrace SOC analysts after additional Enhanced Monitoring alerts had triggered.

Lateral movement attempts via RDP connections

Unusual internal RDP connections to a likely AWS printer instance indicated that the threat actor was looking to strengthen their foothold within the environment and/or attempting to pivot to other devices, likely in response to being hindered by Autonomous Response actions.

This triggered multiple scanning, internal data transfer and unusual RDP alerts in Darktrace, as well as additional Autonomous Response actions to block the suspicious activity.

Suspicious outbound SSH communication to known threat infrastructure

Darktrace subsequently observed the AWS printer instance initiating SSH communication with a rare external endpoint associated with the web hosting and VPS provider Host Department (67.217.57[.]252), suggesting that the threat actor was attempting to exfiltrate data to an alternative endpoint after connections to the original destination had been blocked.

Further investigation using open-source intelligence (OSINT) revealed that this IP address had previously been observed in connection with SSH-based data exfiltration activity during an Akira ransomware intrusion [1].

Once again, connections to this IP were blocked by Darktrace’s Autonomous Response and subsequently these blocks were extended by Darktrace’s SOC team.

The above behavior generated multiple Enhanced Monitoring alerts that were investigated by Darktrace SOC analysts as part of the Managed Threat Detection service.

Enhanced Monitoring alerts investigated by SOC analysts as part of the Managed Detection and Response service.
Figure 5: Enhanced Monitoring alerts investigated by SOC analysts as part of the Managed Detection and Response service.

Final containment and collaborative response

Upon investigating the unusual scanning activity, outbound SSH connections, and internal data transfers, Darktrace analysts extended the Autonomous Response actions previously triggered on the compromised devices.

As the threat actor was leveraging these systems for data exfiltration, all outgoing traffic from the affected devices was blocked for an additional 24 hours to provide the customer’s security team with time to investigate and remediate the compromise.

Additional investigative support was provided by Darktrace analysts through the Security Operations Service, after the customer's opened of a ticket related to the unfolding incident.

Simplified timeline of the attack
Figure 8: Simplified timeline of the attack

Around the same time of the compromise in Case 2, Darktrace observed a similar incident on the cloud environment of a different customer.

Initial access

On this occasion, the threat actor appeared to have gained entry into the AWS-based Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network via a SonicWall SMA 500v EC2 instance allowing inbound traffic on any port.

The instance received HTTPS connections from three rare Vultr VPS endpoints (i.e., 45.32.205[.]52, 207.246.74[.]166, 45.32.90[.]176).

Lateral movement and exfiltration

Around the same time, the EC2 instance started scanning the environment and attempted to pivot to other internal systems via RDP, notably a DC EC2 instance, which also started scanning the network, and another EC2 instance.  

The latter then proceeded to transfer more than 230 GB of data to the rare external GTHost VPS endpoint 23.150.248[.]189, while downloading hundreds of GBs of data over SMB from another EC2 instance.

Cyber AI Analyst incident generated following the unusual scanning and RDP connections from the initial compromised device.
Figure 7: Cyber AI Analyst incident generated following the unusual scanning and RDP connections from the initial compromised device.

The same behavior was replicated across multiple EC2 instances, whereby compromised instances uploaded data over internal RDP connections to other instances, which then started transferring data to the same GTHost VPS endpoint over port 5000, which is typically used for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP).

What Darktrace detected

Darktrace observed the threat actor uploading a total of 718 GB to the external endpoint, after which they detonated ransomware within the compromised VPC networks.

This activity generated nine Enhanced Monitoring alerts in Darktrace, focusing on the scanning and external data activity, with the earliest of those alerts triggering around one hour after the initial intrusion.

Darktrace’s Autonomous Response capability was not configured to act on these devices. Therefore, the malicious activity was not autonomously blocked and escalated to the point of ransomware detonation.

Conclusion

This blog examined three real-world compromises in customer cloud environments each illustrating different stages in the attack lifecycle.

The first case showcased a notable progression from a SaaS compromise to a full cloud intrusion, emphasizing the critical role of anomaly detection when legitimate credentials are abused.

The latter two incidents demonstrated that while early detection is vital, the ability to autonomously block malicious activity at machine speed is often the most effective way to contain threats before they escalate.

Together, these incidents underscore the need for continuous visibility, behavioral analysis, and machine-speed intervention across hybrid environments. Darktrace's AI-driven detection and Autonomous Response capabilities, combined with expert oversight from its Security Operations Center, give defenders the speed and clarity they need to contain threats and reduce operational disruption, before the situation spirals.

Credit to Alexandra Sentenac (Senior Cyber Analyst) and Dylan Evans (Security Research Lead)

References

[1] https://www.virustotal.com/gui/ip-address/67.217.57.252/community

Case 1

Darktrace / IDENTITY model alerts

IaaS / Compliance / Uncommon Azure External User Invite

SaaS / Resource / Repeated Unusual SaaS Resource Creation

IaaS / Compute / Azure Compute Resource Update

Cyber AI Analyst incidents

Possible Unsecured AzureActiveDirectory Resource

Possible Hijack of Office365 Account

Case 2

Darktrace / NETWORK model alerts

Compromise / SSH Beacon

Device / Multiple Lateral Movement Model Alerts

Device / Suspicious SMB Scanning Activity

Device / SMB Lateral Movement

Compliance / SSH to Rare External Destination

Device / Anomalous SMB Followed By Multiple Model Alerts

Device / Anonymous NTLM Logins

Anomalous Connection / SMB Enumeration

Device / New or Uncommon SMB Named Pipe Device / Network Scan

Device / Suspicious Network Scan Activity

Device / New Device with Attack Tools

Device / RDP Scan Device / Attack and Recon Tools

Compliance / High Priority Compliance Model Alert

Compliance / Outgoing NTLM Request from DC

Compromise / Large Number of Suspicious Successful Connections

Device / Large Number of Model Alerts

Anomalous Connection / Multiple Failed Connections to Rare Endpoint

Unusual Activity / Internal Data Transfer

Anomalous Connection / Unusual Internal Connections

Device / Anomalous RDP Followed By Multiple Model Alerts

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Activity

Unusual Activity / Enhanced Unusual External Data Transfer

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Data Transfer

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Data to New Endpoint

Anomalous Connection / Multiple Connections to New External TCP Port

Darktrace / Autonomous Response model alerts

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Enhanced Monitoring from Server Block

Antigena / Network / Manual / Quarantine Device

Antigena / MDR / MDR-Quarantined Device

Antigena / MDR / Model Alert on MDR-Actioned Device

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Enhanced Monitoring from Client Block

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Alerts Over Time Block

Antigena / Network / Insider Threat / Antigena Network Scan Block

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Significant Server Anomaly Block

Antigena / Network / Insider Threat / Antigena SMB Enumeration Block

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Controlled and Model Alert

Antigena / Network / Significant Anomaly / Antigena Significant Anomaly from Client Block

Antigena / Network / External Threat / Antigena Suspicious Activity Block

Antigena / Network / Insider Threat / Antigena Internal Data Transfer Block

Cyber AI Analyst incidents

Possible Application Layer Reconnaissance Activity

Scanning of Multiple Devices

Unusual Repeated Connections

Unusual External Data Transfer

Case 3

Darktrace / NETWORK model alerts

Unusual Activity / Unusual Large Internal Transfer

Compliance / Incoming Remote Desktop

Unusual Activity / High Volume Server Data Transfer

Unusual Activity / Internal Data Transfer

Anomalous Connection / Unusual Internal Remote Desktop

Anomalous Connection / Unusual Incoming Data Volume

Anomalous Server Activity / Domain Controller Initiated to Client

Device / Large Number of Model Alerts

Anomalous Connection / Possible Flow Device Brute Force

Device / RDP Scan

Device / Suspicious Network Scan Activity

Device / Network Scan

Anomalous Server Activity / Anomalous External Activity from Critical Network Device

Anomalous Connection / Download and Upload

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Data Transfer

Unusual Activity / High Volume Client Data Transfer

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Activity

Anomalous Connection / Uncommon 1 GiB Outbound

Device / Increased External Connectivity

Compromise / Large Number of Suspicious Successful Connections

Anomalous Connection / Data Sent to Rare Domain

Anomalous Connection / Low and Slow Exfiltration to IP

Unusual Activity / Enhanced Unusual External Data Transfer

Anomalous Connection / Multiple Connections to New External TCP Port

Anomalous Server Activity / Outgoing from Server

Anomalous Connection / Multiple Connections to New External UDP Port

Anomalous Connection / Possible Data Staging and External Upload

Unusual Activity / Unusual External Data to New Endpoint

Device / Large Number of Model Alerts from Critical Network Device

Compliance / External Windows Communications

Anomalous Connection / Unusual Internal Connections

Cyber AI Analyst incidents

Scanning of Multiple Devices

Extensive Unusual RDP Connections

MITRE ATT&CK mapping

(Technique name – Tactic ID)

Case 1

Defense Evasion - Modify Cloud Compute Infrastructure: Create Cloud Instance

Persistence – Account Manipulation

Case 2

Initial Access - External Remote Services

Execution - Inter-Process Communication

Persistence - External Remote Services

Discovery - System Network Connections Discovery

Discovery - Network Service Discovery

Discovery - Network Share Discovery

Lateral Movement - Remote Desktop Protocol

Lateral Movement - Remote Services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares

Collection - Data from Network Shared Drive

Command and Control - Protocol Tunneling

Exfiltration - Exfiltration Over Asymmetric Encrypted Non-C2 Protocol

Case 3

Initial Access - Exploit Public-Facing Application

Discovery - Remote System Discovery

Discovery - Network Service Discovery

Lateral Movement - Remote Services

Lateral Movement - Remote Desktop Protocol  

Collection - Data from Network Shared Drive

Collection - Data Staged: Remote Data Staging

Exfiltration - Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

Command and Control - Non-Standard Port

Command and Control – Web Service

Impact - Data Encrypted for Impact

List of IoCs

IoC         Type      Description + Probability

193.242.184[.]178 - IP Address - Possible Exfiltration Server  

45.32.205[.]52  - IP Address  - Possible C2 Infrastructure

45.32.90[.]176 - IP Address - Possible C2 Infrastructure

207.246.74[.]166 - IP Address - Likely C2 Infrastructure

67.217.57[.]252 - IP Address - Likely C2 Infrastructure

23.150.248[.]189 - IP Address - Possible Exfiltration Server

Continue reading
About the author
Alexandra Sentenac
Cyber Analyst
Your data. Our AI.
Elevate your network security with Darktrace AI