Web Service

APT32 has used Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Google Drive to host malicious downloads.^[2]

APT41 DUST used compromised Google Workspace accounts for command and control.^[3]

APT42 has used various links, such as links with typo-squatted domains, links to Dropbox files and links to fake Google sites, in spearphishing operations.^[4][5][6]

BADHATCH can be utilized to abuse sslip.io, a free IP to domain mapping service, as part of actor-controlled C2 channels.^[7]

Bazar downloads have been hosted on Google Docs.^[8][9]

BoomBox can download files from Dropbox using a hardcoded access token.^[10]

Brute Ratel C4 can use legitimate websites for external C2 channels including Slack, Discord, and MS Teams.^[11]

Bumblebee has been downloaded to victim's machines from OneDrive.^[12]

During C0017, APT41 used the Cloudflare services for C2 communications.^[13]

During C0027, Scattered Spider downloaded tools from sites including file.io, GitHub, and paste.ee.^[14]

Carbon can use Pastebin to receive C2 commands.^[15]

CharmPower can download additional modules from actor-controlled Amazon S3 buckets.^[16]

CHIMNEYSWEEP has the ability to use use Telegram channels to return a list of commands to be executed, to download additional payloads, or to create a reverse shell.^[17]

DarkTortilla can retrieve its primary payload from public sites such as Pastebin and Textbin.^[18]

Doki has used the dogechain.info API to generate a C2 address.^[19]

DropBook can communicate with its operators by exploiting the Simplenote, DropBox, and the social media platform, Facebook, where it can create fake accounts to control the backdoor and receive instructions.^[20][21]

EXOTIC LILY has used file-sharing services including WeTransfer, TransferNow, and OneDrive to deliver payloads.^[22]

FIN6 has used Pastebin and Google Storage to host content for their operations.^[23]

FIN8 has used sslip.io, a free IP to domain mapping service that also makes SSL certificate generation easier for traffic encryption, as part of their command and control.^[24]

Fox Kitten has used Amazon Web Services to host C2.^[25]

Gamaredon Group has used GitHub repositories for downloaders which will be obtained by the group's .NET executable on the compromised system.^[26]

GuLoader has the ability to download malware from Google Drive.^[27]

Hildegard has downloaded scripts from GitHub.^[28]

Inception has incorporated at least five different cloud service providers into their C2 infrastructure including CloudMe.^[29][30]

Latrodectus has used Google Firebase to download malicious installation scripts.^[31]

LazyScripter has used GitHub to host its payloads to operate spam campaigns.^[32]

MOPSLED can use third-party web services such as GitHub and Google Drive for C2.^[33]

Mustang Panda has used DropBox URLs to deliver variants of PlugX.^[34] Mustang Panda has also used Google Drive to host malicious downloads.^[35]

NETWIRE has used web services including Paste.ee to host payloads.^[36]

ngrok has been used by threat actors to proxy C2 connections to ngrok service subdomains.^[37]

Nightdoor can utilize Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive for command and control purposes.^[38][39]

During Operation Spalax, the threat actors used OneDrive and MediaFire to host payloads.^[40]

Raspberry Robin second stage payloads can be hosted as RAR files, containing a malicious EXE and DLL, on Discord servers.^[41]

RedCurl has used web services to download malicious files.^[42][43]

RedLine Stealer has leveraged legitimate file sharing web services to host malicious payloads.^[44][45]

Rocke has used Pastebin, Gitee, and GitLab for Command and Control.^[46][47]

SharpStage has used a legitimate web service for evading detection.^[20]

ShrinkLocker uses a subdomain on the legitimate Cloudflare resource "trycloudflare[.]com" to obfuscate the threat actor's actual address and to tunnel information sent from victim systems.^[48]

Sibot has used a legitimate compromised website to download DLLs to the victim's machine.^[49]

SMOKEDHAM has used Google Drive and Dropbox to host files downloaded by victims via malicious links.^[50]

Snip3 can download additional payloads from web services including Pastebin and top4top.^[51]

SocGholish has used Amazon Web Services to host second-stage servers.^[52]

TeamTNT has leveraged iplogger.org to send collected data back to C2.^[53][54]

Turla has used legitimate web services including Pastebin, Dropbox, and GitHub for C2 communications.^[15][55]

WhisperGate can download additional payloads hosted on a Discord channel.^{[56][57][58][59][60]}

Network intrusion detection and prevention systems that use network signatures to identify traffic for specific adversary malware can be used to mitigate activity at the network level.

Web proxies can be used to enforce external network communication policy that prevents use of unauthorized external services.