Cybersecurity and intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes nations have released a joint advisory detailing the evolving tactics of the Russian state-sponsored threat actor known as APT29.
The hacking outfit, also known as BlueBravo, Cloaked Ursa, Cozy Bear, Midnight Blizzard (formerly Nobelium), and The Dukes, is assessed to be affiliated with the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation.
Previously attributed to the supply chain compromise of SolarWinds software, the cyber espionage group attracted attention in recent months for targeting Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and other organizations with an aim to further their strategic objectives.
“As organizations continue to modernize their systems and move to cloud-based infrastructure, the SVR has adapted to these changes in the operating environment,” according to the security bulletin.
These include –
“For organizations that have moved to cloud infrastructure, the first line of defense against an actor such as SVR should be to protect against SVR’ TTPs for initial access,” the agencies said. “Once the SVR gains initial access, the actor is capable of deploying highly sophisticated post compromise capabilities such as MagicWeb.”
