In November 2023, security vendors identified a new NetSupport RAT campaign that used fake browser updates from compromised and malicious websites to trick users into downloading a stager that downloads and invokes PowerShell commands to install the NetSupport manager agent onto the victim’s machine and establish persistence.
In January 2024, security researchers published another analysis of the same campaign, although with some differences in the initial JavaScript payload, which demonstrates a threat actor re-focusing on the obfuscation of the initial stager. There are also modifications observed in the agent installation including new paths for the randomized installation.
So, Cisco Talos followed suit with our own in-depth analysis. We identified multiple obfuscation and evasion techniques being used by the campaign and created appropriate detection to keep users protected. By identifying specific weaknesses in the campaign’s obfuscation techniques and identifying indicators of compromise (IOCs), we can create highly accurate detection of this campaign. Talos is also in a unique position of having primarily open-source detection tools such as Snort and ClamAV. To highlight these capabilities, we will provide a detailed explanation of our detection methodology.
Campaign history
NetSupport Manager has been commercially available for remote device administration since 1989. Like many tools in the IT remote su ..
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