Phoenix Information Stealing Trojan

Phoenix is a newly observed information stealing trojan sold through a number of hacking forums and dark web sites.

Threat ID:: CC-3295
Category:: Trojan
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:: Email-spam, Phishing
Published:: 21 November 2019 12:00 AM

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

Summary

Phoenix is a newly observed information stealing trojan sold through a number of hacking forums and dark web sites.

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows - All versions

Threat details

First released in July 2019 as a simple VB.NET-based keylogger; its creators, known as Illusion, have quickly added new features to improve its capabilities.

As Illusion provides Phoenix as a single binary, delivery vectors are chosen by affiliate users themselves. Distribution methods observed include spam or phishing campaigns, malvertising attacks, or direct downloads from third-party hosting sites.

Once delivered, Phoenix will perform extensive checks to ensure it is not running in a virtual machine or analysis environment, before gathering system information and sending it to an affiliate-supplied command and control server. If successful, Phoenix then attempts to disable Windows security services and begins extracting credentials from mail, chat, or FTP clients, web browsers, and cryptocurrency wallets. Phoenix will also use the SetWindowsHookExA function to enable keylogging on the affected system.

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 2:57 pm