279. The Confucius Group Uses Malicious PowerPoint Show Files

Hello everyone!

I love when adversaries leverage uncommon file types in their spear phishing campaigns. And I spotted another interesting example today, this time its a PPSX file.

According to the report, The Confucius group used such files phishing email campaign targeted users in Pakistan.

A PPSX file is a PowerPoint Show file created by Microsoft PowerPoint (or compatible programs like LibreOffice Impress or Google Slides). It’s a special type of PowerPoint file that opens directly in slideshow mode rather than in edit mode.

It's not very common, so it may be a good idea to hunt for any suspicious files with this extension:

event_type: "processcreatewin"

AND

proc_file_path: "powerpnt.exe"

AND

cmdline: *ppsx

See you tomorrow!

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