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DarkHydrus

DarkHydrus is a threat group that has targeted government agencies and educational institutions in the Middle East since at least 2016. The group heavily leverages open-source tools and custom payloads for carrying out attacks. [1] [2]

ID: G0079
Contributors: Oleg Skulkin, Group-IB
Version: 1.3
Created: 17 October 2018
Last Modified: 25 April 2025
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Enterprise Layer
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Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
Enterprise T1059 .001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

DarkHydrus leveraged PowerShell to download and execute additional scripts for execution.[1][2]
Enterprise T1187 Forced Authentication

DarkHydrus used Template Injection to launch an authentication window for users to enter their credentials.[3]
Enterprise T1564 .003 Hide Artifacts: Hidden Window

DarkHydrus has used -WindowStyle Hidden to conceal PowerShell windows. [1]
Enterprise T1588 .002 Obtain Capabilities: Tool

DarkHydrus has obtained and used tools such as Mimikatz, Empire, and Cobalt Strike.[1]
Enterprise T1566 .001 Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment

DarkHydrus has sent spearphishing emails with password-protected RAR archives containing malicious Excel Web Query files (.iqy). The group has also sent spearphishing emails that contained malicious Microsoft Office documents that use the "attachedTemplate" technique to load a template from a remote server.[1][3][2]
Enterprise T1221 Template Injection

DarkHydrus used an open-source tool, Phishery, to inject malicious remote template URLs into Microsoft Word documents and then sent them to victims to enable Forced Authentication.[3]
Enterprise T1204 .002 User Execution: Malicious File

DarkHydrus has sent malware that required users to hit the enable button in Microsoft Excel to allow an .iqy file to be downloaded.[1][2]

Software

ID Name References Techniques
S0154 Cobalt Strike [1][2] Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Sudo and Sudo Caching, Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Bypass User Account Control, Access Token Manipulation: Parent PID Spoofing, Access Token Manipulation: Token Impersonation/Theft, Access Token Manipulation: Make and Impersonate Token, Account Discovery: Domain Account, Application Layer Protocol: DNS, Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols, Application Layer Protocol: File Transfer Protocols, BITS Jobs, Browser Session Hijacking, Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic, Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell, Command and Scripting Interpreter: Python, Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell, Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service, Data Encoding: Standard Encoding, Data from Local System, Data Obfuscation: Protocol or Service Impersonation, Data Transfer Size Limits, Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information, Encrypted Channel: Asymmetric Cryptography, Encrypted Channel: Symmetric Cryptography, Exploitation for Client Execution, Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, File and Directory Discovery, Hide Artifacts: Process Argument Spoofing, Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools, Indicator Removal: Timestomp, Ingress Tool Transfer, Input Capture: Keylogging, Modify Registry, Native API, Network Service Discovery, Network Share Discovery, Non-Application Layer Protocol, Obfuscated Files or Information: Indicator Removal from Tools, Obfuscated Files or Information, Office Application Startup: Office Template Macros, OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory, OS Credential Dumping: Security Account Manager, Permission Groups Discovery: Domain Groups, Permission Groups Discovery: Local Groups, Process Discovery, Process Injection: Dynamic-link Library Injection, Process Injection: Process Hollowing, Process Injection, Protocol Tunneling, Proxy: Domain Fronting, Proxy: Internal Proxy, Query Registry, Reflective Code Loading, Remote Services: Remote Desktop Protocol, Remote Services: SSH, Remote Services: Windows Remote Management, Remote Services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares, Remote Services: Distributed Component Object Model, Remote System Discovery, Scheduled Transfer, Screen Capture, Software Discovery, Subvert Trust Controls: Code Signing, System Binary Proxy Execution: Rundll32, System Network Configuration Discovery, System Network Connections Discovery, System Service Discovery, System Services: Service Execution, Use Alternate Authentication Material: Pass the Hash, Valid Accounts: Domain Accounts, Valid Accounts: Local Accounts, Windows Management Instrumentation
S0002 Mimikatz [1][2] Access Token Manipulation: SID-History Injection, Account Manipulation, Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Security Support Provider, Credentials from Password Stores, Credentials from Password Stores: Credentials from Web Browsers, Credentials from Password Stores: Windows Credential Manager, OS Credential Dumping: DCSync, OS Credential Dumping: Security Account Manager, OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory, OS Credential Dumping: LSA Secrets, Rogue Domain Controller, Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates, Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets: Golden Ticket, Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets: Silver Ticket, Unsecured Credentials: Private Keys, Use Alternate Authentication Material: Pass the Hash, Use Alternate Authentication Material: Pass the Ticket
S0270 RogueRobin [1][4] Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Shortcut Modification, Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder, Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell, Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell, Data Encoding: Standard Encoding, Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information, Ingress Tool Transfer, Obfuscated Files or Information: Command Obfuscation, Process Discovery, Screen Capture, Software Discovery: Security Software Discovery, System Binary Proxy Execution: Regsvr32, System Information Discovery, System Network Configuration Discovery, System Owner/User Discovery, Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion: System Checks, Web Service: Bidirectional Communication, Windows Management Instrumentation

References

  1. Falcone, R., et al. (2018, July 27). New Threat Actor Group DarkHydrus Targets Middle East Government. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  2. Unit 42. (2017, December 15). Unit 42 Playbook Viewer. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  1. Falcone, R. (2018, August 07). DarkHydrus Uses Phishery to Harvest Credentials in the Middle East. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  2. Lee, B., Falcone, R. (2019, January 18). DarkHydrus delivers new Trojan that can use Google Drive for C2 communications. Retrieved April 17, 2019.