New Threat Actor Harvester Focuses on South Asian Targets with New Cyber Weapons

Description

FortiGuard Labs is aware of a report that a new threat actor, "Harvester," attacked targets in South Asia with previously unseen arsenals for cyber espionage. According to security vendor Symantec, the Harvester group began their activities in June 2021 and targeted telecommunications, government, and information technology (IT) organizations in the region with a special focus on Afghanistan. Symantec believes that Harvester is a nation-state-backed threat actor.

Why is this Significant?

This is significant because an alleged nation-state-backed threat actor Harvester targeted organizations in South Asia with previously unseen malware for cyber espionage. The Harvester group appears to have special focus on Afghanistan whose ongoing situation in the country is drawing international attention.

What's the Details of the Attack?

While the initial infection vector has not been identified, activities involving a URL were found on the victim's machine from which a custom backdoor, downloader and screenshotter were likely deployed. Also, Cobalt Strike and Metasploit were reportedly found on the compromised system. The custom backdoor communicates with the attacker's Command and Control (C&C) servers, where stolen data was encrypted and sent to. The custom downloader installs a DLL, creates a loadpoint and opens an embedded web browser within its own UI. The custom screenshotter takes screenshots and saves them to a password-protected zip file as part of information stealing activities.

Who are the Targets of the Harvester Group?

According to Symantec, Harvester targeted telecommunications, government, and information technology (IT) organizations in South Asia.

Is Harvester a Nation-state Threat Actor?

The security vendor indicates Harvester is a nation-state-backed threat actor, however the country that sponsors the group was not disclosed.

What is the Status of Coverage?

FortiGuard Labs provides the following AV coverage against the available files used in the attack:

MSIL/Agent.UWS!tr

PossibleThreat.PALLAS.H

W64/Cobalt.LXTDIKT!tr

VBS/Starter.BC42!tr

MSIL/BackDoor.3CD3!tr

All Network IOC's related to this threat are blocked by the FortiGuard WebFiltering Client.

FortiGuard Labs is investigating additional coverage. This Threat Signal will be updated when additional protection becomes available.

Appendix

Harvester: Nation-state-backed group uses new toolset to target victims in South Asia (Symantec)