It's a classic Hollywood heist, but in the digital realm—where the targets are cloud servers, and the perpetrators never even have to step foot near them. In a twist of ingenuity, the emerging tactic of "infrastructure laundering" has cybercriminals blending their malicious deeds indistinguishably within the everyday operations of tech giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
Imagine a concert hall. Among the legitimate attendees, a few thieves mingle, seamlessly blending in while they go about pocketing valuables. Now transpose that scene into cyberspace, where Funnull CDN— a China-based content delivery network—rents and rapidly cycles through thousands of IPs from reputable cloud platforms to mask its criminal activities.
Unlike shady offshore hosting services known for turning a blind eye to hijinks, this scheme exploits the inherent trust in mainstream platforms. Cybercriminals use stolen credentials to acquire cloud resources, essentially grafting their operations onto the trusted backbone of AWS and Azure.
Incredibly, they employ domain generation algorithms (DGAs) to produce an impressive volume of fake sites. Approximately 95% of these sites are associated with illicit activities.
Each of us, whether IT leaders or individual users, must remain vigilant, fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness, encouraging critical thinking, and knowing that the digital realm, much like the physical, demands informed guardianship.
Now, it's your move. What do you think should be AWS and Microsoft's strategy to address the surge in infrastructure laundering? Are current efforts hitting the mark, or do we need an overhaul in tactics? Share your thoughts with the community!
Source: Dark Reading https://www.darkreading.com/cloud-security/chinese-infrastructure-laundering-abuses-aws-microsoft-cloud
The Devious Dance of Infrastructure Laundering
What is Infrastructure Laundering?Imagine a concert hall. Among the legitimate attendees, a few thieves mingle, seamlessly blending in while they go about pocketing valuables. Now transpose that scene into cyberspace, where Funnull CDN— a China-based content delivery network—rents and rapidly cycles through thousands of IPs from reputable cloud platforms to mask its criminal activities.
Unlike shady offshore hosting services known for turning a blind eye to hijinks, this scheme exploits the inherent trust in mainstream platforms. Cybercriminals use stolen credentials to acquire cloud resources, essentially grafting their operations onto the trusted backbone of AWS and Azure.
Funnull CDN: The Puppet Master
Silent Push, a cybersecurity research team, has identified that Funnull CDN has rented over 1,200 IPs from AWS and nearly 200 from Microsoft, using them to animate an expansive web of deceit connecting more than 200,000 rogue hostnames. This includes everything from investment scams to fake gambling domains, seemingly backed by genuine cloud infrastructure.Incredibly, they employ domain generation algorithms (DGAs) to produce an impressive volume of fake sites. Approximately 95% of these sites are associated with illicit activities.
The Cloud in Crosshairs
Why Target AWS and Azure?
- Credibility: Traffic originating from these trusted platforms often evades initial suspicion, benefiting from the same trust users afford any legitimate mutual funds or corporate websites.
- Scalability: The pay-as-you-go ethos of cloud computing inadvertently serves these criminals well. They rent, execute their schemes, and abandon these digital ghosts, propelling the digital cat-and-mouse chase to dizzying speeds.
- Blending in: Given the enormity of AWS and Azure ecosystems, pinpointing the nefarious activity is like identifying a single deceptive attendee in a sold-out stadium concert.
The Cyber Arms Race: Showtime for AWS and Microsoft
AWS and Microsoft are not resting on their laurels. AWS acknowledged the issue, noting that while they were aware, the report provided valuable insights into ongoing efforts to suspend compromised accounts. Microsoft, too, is tackling misuse, although the relentless cycling of IPs presents a substantial challenge.What's Next?
For many businesses and individual users, news like this might evoke everything from mild curiosity to outright panic. For professionals dealing with Azure or AWS, this situation is a call to fortify defenses.Practical Defenses:
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Adding layers of authentication deters unauthorized access.
- Regular Audits: Audit cloud permissions and IP activity to ensure no strange digital footprints lurk.
- Data Monitoring: Deploy advanced threat detection systems to sift through network traffic anomalies.
- Education: Keep teams informed about the latest phishing tactics and credential safety best practices.
The Bigger Picture
In painting this artwork of cyber deception, Funnull revels in chaos. Yet, this tale highlights a universal truth—technology's evolution. Though cloud computing has transformed how we work, play, and communicate, it brings responsibilities.Each of us, whether IT leaders or individual users, must remain vigilant, fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness, encouraging critical thinking, and knowing that the digital realm, much like the physical, demands informed guardianship.
Now, it's your move. What do you think should be AWS and Microsoft's strategy to address the surge in infrastructure laundering? Are current efforts hitting the mark, or do we need an overhaul in tactics? Share your thoughts with the community!
Source: Dark Reading https://www.darkreading.com/cloud-security/chinese-infrastructure-laundering-abuses-aws-microsoft-cloud
