WASSONITE
Employs known malware for remote access, credential capture, and lateral movement.
THREAT DESCRIPTION
Dragos identified the WASSONITE activity group following a malware intrusion at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) nuclear facility in India. After further investigation, Dragos observed WASSONITE tools and behaviors targeting multiple industrial control system (ICS) entities including electric generation, nuclear energy, manufacturing, and organizations involved in space-centric research. WASSONITE has been active since at least 2018.
WASSONITE targeting focuses on Asian entities, largely in India, as well as possibly Japan and South Korea. At this time, WASSONITE does not appear to have an ICS-specific disruptive or destructive capability. All the activity represents Stage 1 ICS kill-chain: access operations within IT networks.
WASSONITE operations rely on deploying DTrack malware for remote access to victim machines, capturing credentials via Mimikatz and publicly available tools, and utilizing system tools to transfer files and move laterally within the enterprise system. Researchers first disclosed DTrack in late September 2019, and identified the tool targeting Indian financial institutions and research centers. DTrack is loosely connected to an earlier observed malware family, ATMDTrack, used for robbing ATM machines.
Third-party security firms associate DTrack and its related malware to the Lazarus Group. Dragos also associates the activity group COVELLITE to Lazarus Group. However, while COVELLITE is also linked to broader Lazarus activity, this group leveraged substantially different capabilities and infrastructure to pursue a target set that does not overlap with observed WASSONITE activity.
WASSONITE targeting focuses on Asian entities, largely in India, as well as possibly Japan and South Korea. At this time, WASSONITE does not appear to have an ICS-specific disruptive or destructive capability. All the activity represents Stage 1 ICS kill-chain: access operations within IT networks.
WASSONITE operations rely on deploying DTrack malware for remote access to victim machines, capturing credentials via Mimikatz and publicly available tools, and utilizing system tools to transfer files and move laterally within the enterprise system. Researchers first disclosed DTrack in late September 2019, and identified the tool targeting Indian financial institutions and research centers. DTrack is loosely connected to an earlier observed malware family, ATMDTrack, used for robbing ATM machines.
Third-party security firms associate DTrack and its related malware to the Lazarus Group. Dragos also associates the activity group COVELLITE to Lazarus Group. However, while COVELLITE is also linked to broader Lazarus activity, this group leveraged substantially different capabilities and infrastructure to pursue a target set that does not overlap with observed WASSONITE activity.
Date: Since 2018
ADVERSARY
- Some similarity to COVELLITE
- Links to Lazarus activity
CAPABILITIES
- DTrack RAT, Mimikatz, system tools for lateral movement & file transfer
VICTIM
- Electric, Nuclear, Manufacturing
- India, South Korea, Japan
INFRASTRUCTURE
- Adversary-registered and controlled domains & infrastructure for C2
- Use of compromised, legitimate services in some instances
ICS IMPACT
- Operations focus on ICS-related organizations, limited to IT network actions for initial access and information collection
