Trochilus Remote Access Trojan

First observed in 2015, Trochilus is a file-less remote access trojan believed to have been created by the APT10 advanced persistent threat (AKA Stone Panda or MenuPass) before being used in other campaigns by an entity known as Group 27.

Threat ID:: CC-2929
Category:: Trojan
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:: Spear phishing
Published:: 13 February 2019 12:00 AM

Report a cyber attack: call 0300 303 5222 or email [email protected]

Summary

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows - All versions

Threat details

Targets include governmental, financial, biomedical and engineering organisations as well as IT managed-service providers (MSP)

Trochilus is primarily delivered via malicious archive files distributed as attachments in highly targeted spear-phishing campaigns. Prior to this, APT10 will perform extensive network reconnaissance and social engineering to ensure the success of these campaigns.

Once on an affected system, Trochilus will connect to a command and control server, with all communications encrypted using a hybrid RC4-Salsa20 cipher, before initiating a shellcode module to obtain administration privileges on the system. Trochilus can download and execute secondary payloads, obtain system and user information, delete or edit files and perform lateral network traversal.

Remediation steps

Type	Step
	To prevent and detect a trojan 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.

Type

Step

To prevent and detect a trojan 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: 14 February 2020 2:47 pm