Over 500 Organizations Hit in Years-Long Phishing Campaign

SOCRadar identified two dozen command-and-control (C&C) servers associated with Operation HookedWing, as well as over 100 GitHub domains, and over a dozen distribution domains on other platforms.“Analysis of recovered logs and identified infrastructure reveals a targeting pattern that is not random, as it focuses on infrastructure of high geopolitical relevance,” SOCRadar says.“Victim selection suggests a particular interest in environments with access to sensitive information, critical operations, or high-privilege credentials that can be sold or used by other adversaries,” the company adds.Operation HookedWing relies on phishing emails impersonating human resources or colleagues, or posing as notifications. The messages have a simple structure and are designed to convey authority and urgency without raising suspicion.Many of the emails contain links to GitHub repositories, with some of them pointing to intermediaries hosted on other platforms. The landing pages simulate Microsoft Outlook behavior through a full-screen pre-loader and personalize the displayed text based on the victim organization.“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

“Analysis of recovered logs and identified infrastructure reveals a targeting pattern that is not random, as it focuses on infrastructure of high geopolitical relevance,” SOCRadar says.“Victim selection suggests a particular interest in environments with access to sensitive information, critical operations, or high-privilege credentials that can be sold or used by other adversaries,” the company adds.Operation HookedWing relies on phishing emails impersonating human resources or colleagues, or posing as notifications. The messages have a simple structure and are designed to convey authority and urgency without raising suspicion.Many of the emails contain links to GitHub repositories, with some of them pointing to intermediaries hosted on other platforms. The landing pages simulate Microsoft Outlook behavior through a full-screen pre-loader and personalize the displayed text based on the victim organization.“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

“Victim selection suggests a particular interest in environments with access to sensitive information, critical operations, or high-privilege credentials that can be sold or used by other adversaries,” the company adds.Operation HookedWing relies on phishing emails impersonating human resources or colleagues, or posing as notifications. The messages have a simple structure and are designed to convey authority and urgency without raising suspicion.Many of the emails contain links to GitHub repositories, with some of them pointing to intermediaries hosted on other platforms. The landing pages simulate Microsoft Outlook behavior through a full-screen pre-loader and personalize the displayed text based on the victim organization.“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

Operation HookedWing relies on phishing emails impersonating human resources or colleagues, or posing as notifications. The messages have a simple structure and are designed to convey authority and urgency without raising suspicion.Many of the emails contain links to GitHub repositories, with some of them pointing to intermediaries hosted on other platforms. The landing pages simulate Microsoft Outlook behavior through a full-screen pre-loader and personalize the displayed text based on the victim organization.“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

Many of the emails contain links to GitHub repositories, with some of them pointing to intermediaries hosted on other platforms. The landing pages simulate Microsoft Outlook behavior through a full-screen pre-loader and personalize the displayed text based on the victim organization.“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

“This introduces an important behavioral element. If the victim watches the loading screen, seeing their own organization name or something related to the previous email reinforces the credibility of the environment before the form appears,” SOCRadar notes.In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

In the meantime, a background script performs email and URL validation, injects a PHP form with pre-filled fields to collect the victims’ credentials, and retrieves geolocation data about the victim.When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

When the victim clicks the sign-in button on the page, the attacker “receives, in a single record, the email, password, IP address, full geolocation, source URL, and the victim organization domain”, SOCRadar explains.Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

Related:Microsoft Warns of Sophisticated Phishing Campaign Targeting US OrganizationsRelated:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

Related:New Bluekit Phishing Kit Features AI AssistantRelated:Tycoon 2FA Loses Phishing Kit Crown Amid Surge in AttacksRelated:Security Firm Executive Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Attack

Source: SecurityWeek