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Persirai Botnet

First observed in 2017, Persirai is an Internet-of-Things (IoT) worm with several similarities to the well-known Mirai malware. It is believed to be enrolling vulnerable IP cameras into its botnet for use in targeted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Threat ID:
CC-2805
Category:
botnet
Threat Severity:
Low
Threat Vector:
Insecure network, Exploit
Published:
22 November 2018 12:00 AM
Report a cyber attack: call 0300 303 5222 or email [email protected]

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This article no longer conforms to NHS Digital's standards for cyber alerts, and may contain outdated or inaccurate information. Use of this information contained in this page is at your own risk

Summary

First observed in 2017, Persirai is an Internet-of-Things (IoT) worm with several similarities to the well-known Mirai malware. It is believed to be enrolling vulnerable IP cameras into its botnet for use in targeted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Threat details

Persirai scans the public Internet for vulnerable IP cameras with open TCP port 81 and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) enabled before using brute-force attacks and default credentials to gain access. It will then use command injection to download two scripts and connect to a command and control (C2) server. Once the scripts are executed, Persirai will delete itself and all related files and run directly from memory.

Once installed, Persirai will scan for new devices using a number of vulnerabilities. It will also perform UDP-based DDoS attacks on target IP addresses sent from the C2 server

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Remediation steps

Type Step

By default, many IoT devices use insecure protocols or weak credentials. To avoid such devices becoming part of an IoT botnet, organisations should:

  • Review the network security of IoT devices on their estate.
  • Ensure all IoT devices on the estate are not using default credentials.

Additionally to prevent and detect an infection, ensure that:

  • A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails.
  • All operating systems, anti-virus and other security products are kept up-to-date.
  • Regular anti-virus and security scans are performed on your organisation’s estate.
  • All day-to-day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts.
  • Strong password policies are in place.
  • Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity.
  • User accounts accessed from affected devices should be reset on a clean computer.
  • Your organisation adopts a holistic all-round approach to Cyber Security as advocated by the 10 Steps to Cyber Security.

Last edited: 17 February 2020 1:00 pm