Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) named the group ‘Polonium’
Microsoft has detected and disabled a previously undocumented Lebanon-based activity group that is working with other actors affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) to attack organisations in Israel.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) named the group ‘Polonium’.
More than 20 malicious OneDrive applications created by Polonium actors were suspended by the tech giant, affected organisations were notified, and a series of security intelligence updates were deployed that will quarantine tools developed by Polonium operators.
“Our goal is to help deter future activity by exposing and sharing the Polonium tactics with the community at large,” the company said in a statement.
The group is linked with Iranian government and such collaboration or direction from Tehran would align with a string of revelations since late 2020 that the “Government of Iran is using third parties to carry out cyber operations on their behalf, likely to enhance Iran’s plausible deniability.”
Over the past three months, more than 20 organisations based in Israel and one intergovernmental organisation with operations have been targeted or compromised by Polonium.
“This actor has deployed unique tools that abuse legitimate cloud services for command and control (C2) across most of their victims. Polonium was observed creating and using legitimate OneDrive accounts, then utilising those accounts as C2 to execute part of their attack operation,” explained Microsoft.
This activity does not represent any security issues or vulnerabilities on the OneDrive platform.
“As with any observed nation-state actor activity, Microsoft directly notifies customers that have been targeted or compromised, providing them with the information they need to secure their accounts,” said the company.
With a focus on critical manufacturing, IT, and Israel’s defense industry, Polonium, since February, has been observed primarily targeting organisations in Israel.
In at least one case, Polonium’s compromise of an IT company was used to target a downstream aviation company and law firm in a supply chain attack that relied on service provider credentials to gain access to the targeted networks, according to the researchers.
Also read: CIO News interviews Shri Wangki Lowang, Minister (IT) of Arunachal Pradesh
Do Follow: CIO News LinkedIn Account | CIO News Facebook | CIO News Youtube | CIO News Twitter
About us:
CIO News, a proprietary of Mercadeo, produces award-winning content and resources for IT leaders across any industry through print articles and recorded video interviews on topics in the technology sector such as Digital Transformation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cloud, Robotics, Cyber-security, Data, Analytics, SOC, SASE, among other technology topics
