AMBERSQUID hides in the depths. [Research Saturday]
Oct 21, 2023
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Sysdig's researchers discuss their work on the AMBERSQUID Cloud-Native Cryptojacking Operation, targeting supposedly secure AWS services. The operation exploits services without triggering AWS resource approval, posing challenges in finding and eliminating miners. The podcast covers the tactics and strategies used by attackers for crypto mining, the challenges of detecting malicious services in AWS environments, and highlights the research conducted by Sysdig.
Identifying and investigating all the miners running across multiple services and regions poses a significant challenge for defenders.
Deep dives
Crypto Jacking Operation Exploiting AWS Services
In this podcast episode, researchers discuss a crypto jacking operation called the Amber Squid, which targets lesser-used AWS services rather than the more commonly targeted EC2. The attackers spin up resources in victims' AWS environments and use them to mine various cryptocurrencies. By spreading their activity across different services and regions, they aim to avoid detection. The attackers leverage legitimate AWS services like Fargate, CodeBuild, Amplify, and SageMaker, which offer runtime capabilities that bypass typical threat detection. Monitoring usage and implementing strong security measures, along with understanding if services are supposed to be running, are recommended for protection.
Challenges in Detecting and Responding to the Attack
Once victims fall for the attack and their AWS credentials are stolen, the attackers run Docker images that initiate the process of spinning up mining resources. Investigating and identifying all the miners running across multiple services and regions becomes a significant challenge. The attackers use scripts to periodically check if any resources are terminated and restart them if necessary. The persistence of the attack, combined with the use of building instances in the exploitation, complicates post-investigation efforts. The attackers mine a range of cryptocurrencies, including Tidecoin, F-Year, Belarus, and Monero.
Indication of Indonesian Origins and Financial Impact
Based on language used in the scripts, the attackers are believed to be of Indonesian origin. The low cost of living in Indonesia could incentivize them to target companies globally for crypto mining. While investigating wallets associated with the operation, researchers found evidence of at least $18,000 received. However, the actual amount is likely to be higher since not all wallets could be investigated. The financial gains indicate some level of success for the attackers.
Sysdig's Alessandro Brucato and Michael Clark join Dave to discuss their work on "AWS's Hidden Threat: AMBERSQUID Cloud-Native Cryptojacking Operation." Attackers are targeting what are typically considered secure AWS services, like AWS Fargate and Amazon SageMaker. This means that defenders generally aren’t as concerned with their security from end-to-end.
The research states "The AMBERSQUID operation was able to exploit cloud services without triggering the AWS requirement for approval of more resources, as would be the case if they only spammed EC2 instances." This poses additional challenges targeting multiple services since it requires finding and killing all miners in each exploited service.