Cyber Threat Report: 'ANALYSIS OF THE APT31 INDICTMENT'

Blog post providing analysis of a March 2024 US Department of Justice indictment of 7 hackers associated with APT31. The post details attribution of APT31 to Wuhan XRZ as a front company and linked to the Hubei State Security Department and China's Ministry of State Security. The indictment states that the group (also known as BRONZE VINEWOOD, Zirconium or Judgment Panda) has been active for 14 years, targeting numerous sectors globally. The post details tactics, techniques and procedures used by the group as well as providing limited analysis of associated malware.

Restrict File and Directory Permissions

Restrict access by setting directory and file permissions that are not specific to users or privileged accounts.

Execution Prevention

Block execution of code on a system through application control, and/or script blocking.

User Training

Train users to be aware of access or manipulation attempts by an adversary to reduce the risk of successful spearphishing, social engineering, and other techniques that involve user interaction.

Behavior Prevention on Endpoint

Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior.

Antivirus/Antimalware

Use signatures or heuristics to detect malicious software.

Code Signing

Enforce binary and application integrity with digital signature verification to prevent untrusted code from executing.

Software Configuration

Implement configuration changes to software (other than the operating system) to mitigate security risks associated to how the software operates.