Co-Authored by TLP WHITE Product ID AA22-011A January 11 2022 Understanding and Mitigating Russian StateSponsored Cyber Threats to U S Critical Infrastructure SUMMARY This joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA —authored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and National Security Agency NSA —is part of our continuing cybersecurity mission to warn organizations of cyber threats and help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats This CSA provides an overview of Russian statesponsored cyber operations commonly observed tactics techniques and procedures TTPs detection actions incident response guidance and mitigations This overview is intended to help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats Actions critical infrastructure organizations should implement to immediately strengthen their cyber posture • Patch all systems Prioritize patching known exploited vulnerabilities • Implement multi-factor authentication • Use antivirus software • Develop internal contact lists and surge support CISA the FBI and NSA encourage the cybersecurity community—especially critical infrastructure network defenders—to adopt a heightened state of awareness and to conduct proactive threat hunting as outlined in the Detection section Additionally CISA the FBI and NSA strongly urge network defenders to implement the recommendations listed below and detailed in the Mitigations section These mitigations will help organizations improve their functional resilience by reducing the risk of compromise or severe business degradation To report suspicious or criminal activity related to information found in this Joint Cybersecurity Advisory contact your local FBI field office at fbi gov contact-us field or the FBI’s 24 7 Cyber Watch CyWatch at 855 292-3937 or by e-mail at CyWatch@fbi gov When available please include the following information regarding the incident date time and location of the incident type of activity number of people affected type of equipment used for the activity the name of the submitting company or organization and a designated point of contact To request incident response resources or technical assistance related to these threats contact CISA at CISAServiceDesk@cisa dhs gov For NSA client requirements or general cybersecurity inquiries contact the Cybersecurity Requirements Center at 410-854-4200 or Cybersecurity_Requests@nsa gov This document is marked TLP WHITE Disclosure is not limited Sources may use TLP WHITE when information carries minimal or no foreseeable risk of misuse in accordance with applicable rules and procedures for public release Subject to standard copyright rules TLP WHITE information may be distributed without restriction For more information on the Traffic Light Protocol see cisa gov tlp TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE 1 Be prepared Confirm reporting processes and minimize personnel gaps in IT OT security coverage Create maintain and exercise a cyber incident response plan resilience plan and continuity of operations plan so that critical functions and operations can be kept running if technology systems are disrupted or need to be taken offline 2 Enhance your organization’s cyber posture Follow best practices for identity and access management protective controls and architecture and vulnerability and configuration management 3 Increase organizational vigilance Stay current on reporting on this threat Subscribe to CISA’s mailing list and feeds to receive notifications when CISA releases information about a security topic or threat CISA the FBI and NSA encourage critical infrastructure organization leaders to review CISA Insights Preparing for and Mitigating Cyber Threats for information on reducing cyber threats to their organization TECHNICAL DETAILS Note this advisory uses the MITRE ATT CK® for Enterprise framework version 10 See the ATT CK for Enterprise for all referenced threat actor tactics and techniques Historically Russian state-sponsored advanced persistent threat APT actors have used common but effective tactics—including spearphishing brute force and exploiting known vulnerabilities against accounts and networks with weak security—to gain initial access to target networks Vulnerabilities known to be exploited by Russian state-sponsored APT actors for initial access include • • • • • • • • • • • • • CVE-2018-13379 FortiGate VPNs CVE-2019-1653 Cisco router CVE-2019-2725 Oracle WebLogic Server CVE-2019-7609 Kibana CVE-2019-9670 Zimbra software CVE-2019-10149 Exim Simple Mail Transfer Protocol CVE-2019-11510 Pulse Secure CVE-2019-19781 Citrix CVE-2020-0688 Microsoft Exchange CVE-2020-4006 VMWare note this was a zero-day at time CVE-2020-5902 F5 Big-IP CVE-2020-14882 Oracle WebLogic CVE-2021-26855 Microsoft Exchange Note this vulnerability is frequently observed used in conjunction with CVE-2021-26857 CVE-2021-26858 and CVE-2021-27065 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have also demonstrated sophisticated tradecraft and cyber capabilities by compromising third-party infrastructure compromising third-party software or developing and deploying custom malware The actors have also demonstrated the ability to maintain persistent undetected long-term access in compromised environments—including cloud environments—by using legitimate credentials Page 2 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE In some cases Russian state-sponsored cyber operations against critical infrastructure organizations have specifically targeted operational technology OT industrial control systems ICS networks with destructive malware See the following advisories and alerts for information on historical Russian state-sponsored cyber-intrusion campaigns and customized malware that have targeted ICS • • • • • • ICS Advisory ICS Focused Malware – Havex ICS Alert Ongoing Sophisticated Malware Campaign Compromising ICS Update E ICS Alert Cyber-Attack Against Ukrainian Critical Infrastructure Technical Alert CrashOverride Malware CISA MAR HatMan Safety System Targeted Malware Update B CISA ICS Advisory Schneider Electric Triconex Tricon Update B Russian state-sponsored APT actors have used sophisticated cyber capabilities to target a variety of U S and international critical infrastructure organizations including those in the Defense Industrial Base as well as the Healthcare and Public Health Energy Telecommunications and Government Facilities Sectors High-profile cyber activity publicly attributed to Russian state-sponsored APT actors by U S government reporting and legal actions includes • • • Russian state-sponsored APT actors targeting state local tribal and territorial SLTT governments and aviation networks September 2020 through at least December 2020 Russian state-sponsored APT actors targeted dozens of SLTT government and aviation networks The actors successfully compromised networks and exfiltrated data from multiple victims Russian state-sponsored APT actors’ global Energy Sector intrusion campaign 2011 to 2018 These Russian state-sponsored APT actors conducted a multi-stage intrusion campaign in which they gained remote access to U S and international Energy Sector networks deployed ICS-focused malware and collected and exfiltrated enterprise and ICS-related data Russian state-sponsored APT actors’ campaign against Ukrainian critical infrastructure 2015 and 2016 Russian state-sponsored APT actors conducted a cyberattack against Ukrainian energy distribution companies leading to multiple companies experiencing unplanned power outages in December 2015 The actors deployed BlackEnergy malware to steal user credentials and used its destructive malware component KillDisk to make infected computers inoperable In 2016 these actors conducted a cyber-intrusion campaign against a Ukrainian electrical transmission company and deployed CrashOverride malware specifically designed to attack power grids For more information on recent and historical Russian state-sponsored malicious cyber activity see the referenced products below or cisa gov Russia • • Joint FBI-DHS-CISA CSA Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR Cyber Operations Trends and Best Practices for Network Defenders Joint NSA-FBI-CISA CSA Russian GRU Conducting Global Brute Force Campaign to Compromise Enterprise and Cloud Environments Page 3 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE • • • • • Joint FBI-CISA CSA Russian State-Sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat Actor Compromises U S Government Targets Joint CISA-FBI CSA APT Actors Chaining Vulnerabilities against SLTT Critical Infrastructure and Elections Organizations CISA’s webpage Remediating Networks Affected by the SolarWinds and Active Directory M365 Compromise CISA Alert Russian Government Cyber Activity Targeting Energy Sector and Other Critical Infrastructure Sectors CISA ICS Alert Cyber-Attack Against Ukrainian Critical Infrastructure Table 1 provides common publicly known TTPs employed by Russian state-sponsored APT actors which map to the MITRE ATT CK for Enterprise framework version 10 Note these lists are not intended to be all inclusive Russian state-sponsored actors have modified their TTPs before based on public reporting 1 Therefore CISA the FBI and NSA anticipate the Russian state-sponsored actors may modify their TTPs as they deem necessary to reduce their risk of detection Table 1 Common Tactics and Techniques Employed by Russian State-Sponsored APT Actors Tactic Reconnaissance TA0043 Technique Active Scanning Vulnerability Scanning T1595 002 Procedure Russian state-sponsored APT actors have performed largescale scans in an attempt to find vulnerable servers Phishing for Information T1598 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have conducted spearphishing campaigns to gain credentials of target networks Resource Development TA0042 Develop Capabilities Malware T1587 001 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have developed and deployed malware including ICS-focused destructive malware Initial Access TA0001 Exploit Public Facing Applications T1190 Russian state-sponsored APT actors use publicly known vulnerabilities as well as zero-days in internet-facing systems to gain access to networks Supply Chain Compromise Compromise Software Supply Chain T1195 002 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have gained initial access to victim organizations by compromising trusted thirdparty software Notable incidents include M E Doc accounting software and SolarWinds Orion Command and Scripting Interpreter PowerShell T1059 003 and Russian state-sponsored APT actors have used cmd exe to execute commands on remote machines They have also used PowerShell to create new tasks on remote machines Execution TA0002 Page 4 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE Tactic Technique Windows Command Shell T1059 003 Procedure identify configuration settings exfiltrate data and to execute other commands Persistence TA0003 Valid Accounts T1078 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have used credentials of existing accounts to maintain persistent long-term access to compromised networks Credential Access TA0006 Brute Force Password Guessing T1110 001 and Password Spraying T1110 003 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have conducted bruteforce password guessing and password spraying campaigns OS Credential Dumping NTDS T1003 003 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have exfiltrated credentials and exported copies of the Active Directory database ntds dit Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets Kerberoasting T1558 003 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have performed “Kerberoasting ” whereby they obtained the Ticket Granting Service TGS Tickets for Active Directory Service Principal Names SPN for offline cracking Credentials from Password Stores T1555 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have used previously compromised account credentials to attempt to access Group Managed Service Account gMSA passwords Exploitation for Credential Access T1212 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have exploited Windows Netlogon vulnerability CVE-2020-1472 to obtain access to Windows Active Directory servers Unsecured Credentials Private Keys T1552 004 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have obtained private encryption keys from the Active Directory Federation Services ADFS container to decrypt corresponding SAML signing certificates Proxy Multi-hop Proxy T1090 003 Russian state-sponsored APT actors have used virtual private servers VPSs to route traffic to targets The actors often use VPSs with IP addresses in the home country of the victim to hide activity among legitimate user traffic Command and Control TA0011 For additional enterprise TTPs used by Russian state-sponsored APT actors see the ATT CK for Enterprise pages on APT29 APT28 and the Sandworm Team respectively For information on ICS Page 5 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE TTPs see the ATT CK for ICS pages on the Sandworm Team BlackEnergy 3 malware CrashOveride malware BlackEnergy’s KillDisk component and NotPetya malware DETECTION Given Russian state-sponsored APT actors demonstrated capability to maintain persistent long-term access in compromised enterprise and cloud environments CISA the FBI and NSA encourage all critical infrastructure organizations to ● Implement robust log collection and retention Without a centralized log collection and monitoring capability organizations have limited ability to investigate incidents or detect the threat actor behavior described in this advisory Depending on the environment examples include o o ● Native tools such as M365’s Sentinel Third-party tools such as Sparrow Hawk or CrowdStrike's Azure Reporting Tool CRT to review Microsoft cloud environments and to detect unusual activity service principals and application activity Note for guidance on using these and other detection tools refer to CISA Alert Detecting Post-Compromise Threat Activity in Microsoft Cloud Environments Look for behavioral evidence or network and host-based artifacts from known Russian state-sponsored TTPs See table 1 for commonly observed TTPs o o To detect password spray activity review authentication logs for system and application login failures of valid accounts Look for multiple failed authentication attempts across multiple accounts To detect use of compromised credentials in combination with a VPS follow the below steps      Look for suspicious “impossible logins ” such as logins with changing username user agent strings and IP address combinations or logins where IP addresses do not align to the expected user’s geographic location Look for one IP used for multiple accounts excluding expected logins Look for “impossible travel ” Impossible travel occurs when a user logs in from multiple IP addresses that are a significant geographic distance apart i e a person could not realistically travel between the geographic locations of the two IP addresses during the time period between the logins Note implementing this detection opportunity can result in false positives if legitimate users apply VPN solutions before connecting into networks Look for processes and program execution command-line arguments that may indicate credential dumping especially attempts to access or copy the ntds dit file from a domain controller Look for suspicious privileged account use after resetting passwords or applying user account mitigations Page 6 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE   ● Look for unusual activity in typically dormant accounts Look for unusual user agent strings such as strings not typically associated with normal user activity which may indicate bot activity For organizations with OT ICS systems o o Take note of unexpected equipment behavior for example unexpected reboots of digital controllers and other OT hardware and software Record delays or disruptions in communication with field equipment or other OT devices Determine if system parts or components are lagging or unresponsive INCIDENT RESPONSE Organizations detecting potential APT activity in their IT or OT networks should 1 Immediately isolate affected systems 2 Secure backups Ensure your backup data is offline and secure If possible scan your backup data with an antivirus program to ensure it is free of malware 3 Collect and review relevant logs data and artifacts 4 Consider soliciting support from a third-party IT organization to provide subject matter expertise ensure the actor is eradicated from the network and avoid residual issues that could enable follow-on exploitation 5 Report incidents to CISA and or the FBI via your local FBI field office or the FBI’s 24 7 CyWatch at 855 292-3937 or CyWatch@fbi gov Note for OT assets organizations should have a resilience plan that addresses how to operate if you lose access to—or control of—the IT and or OT environment Refer to the Mitigations section for more information See the joint advisory from Australia Canada New Zealand the United Kingdom and the United States on Technical Approaches to Uncovering and Remediating Malicious Activity for guidance on hunting or investigating a network and for common mistakes in incident handling CISA the FBI and NSA encourage critical infrastructure owners and operators to see CISA’s Federal Government Cybersecurity Incident and Vulnerability Response Playbooks Although tailored to federal civilian branch agencies these playbooks provide operational procedures for planning and conducting cybersecurity incident and vulnerability response activities and detail each step for both incident and vulnerability response Note organizations should document incident response procedures in a cyber incident response plan which organizations should create and exercise as noted in the Mitigations section Page 7 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE MITIGATIONS CISA the FBI and NSA encourage all organizations to implement the following recommendations to increase their cyber resilience against this threat Be Prepared Confirm Reporting Processes and Minimize Coverage Gaps • • • Develop internal contact lists Assign main points of contact for a suspected incident as well as roles and responsibilities and ensure personnel know how and when to report an incident Minimize gaps in IT OT security personnel availability by identifying surge support for responding to an incident Malicious cyber actors are known to target organizations on weekends and holidays when there are gaps in organizational cybersecurity—critical infrastructure organizations should proactively protect themselves by minimizing gaps in coverage Ensure IT OT security personnel monitor key internal security capabilities and can identify anomalous behavior Flag any identified IOCs and TTPs for immediate response See table 1 for commonly observed TTPs Create Maintain and Exercise a Cyber Incident Response Resilience Plan and Continuity of Operations Plan • • Create maintain and exercise a cyber incident response and continuity of operations plan Ensure personnel are familiar with the key steps they need to take during an incident and are positioned to act in a calm and unified manner Key questions o Do personnel have the access they need o Do they know the processes • For OT assets networks o Identify a resilience plan that addresses how to operate if you lose access to—or control of—the IT and or OT environment  Identify OT and IT network interdependencies and develop workarounds or manual controls to ensure ICS networks can be isolated if the connections create risk to the safe and reliable operation of OT processes Regularly test contingency plans such as manual controls so that safety critical functions can be maintained during a cyber incident Ensure that the OT network can operate at necessary capacity even if the IT network is compromised o Regularly test manual controls so that critical functions can be kept running if ICS or OT networks need to be taken offline o Implement data backup procedures on both the IT and OT networks Backup procedures should be conducted on a frequent regular basis Regularly test backup procedures and ensure that backups are isolated from network connections that could enable the spread of malware Page 8 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE o In addition to backing up data develop recovery documents that include configuration settings for common devices and critical OT equipment This can enable more efficient recovery following an incident Enhance your Organization’s Cyber Posture CISA the FBI and NSA recommend organizations apply the best practices below for identity and access management protective controls and architecture and vulnerability and configuration management Identity and Access Management • • • • • Require multi-factor authentication for all users without exception Require accounts to have strong passwords and do not allow passwords to be used across multiple accounts or stored on a system to which an adversary may have access Secure credentials Russian state-sponsored APT actors have demonstrated their ability to maintain persistence using compromised credentials o Use virtualizing solutions on modern hardware and software to ensure credentials are securely stored o Disable the storage of clear text passwords in LSASS memory o Consider disabling or limiting New Technology Local Area Network Manager NTLM and WDigest Authentication o Implement Credential Guard for Windows 10 and Server 2016 Refer to Microsoft Manage Windows Defender Credential Guard for more information For Windows Server 2012R2 enable Protected Process Light for Local Security Authority LSA o Minimize the Active Directory attack surface to reduce malicious ticket-granting activity Malicious activity such as “Kerberoasting” takes advantage of Kerberos’ TGS and can be used to obtain hashed credentials that attackers attempt to crack Set a strong password policy for service accounts Audit Domain Controllers to log successful Kerberos TGS requests and ensure the events are monitored for anomalous activity o Secure accounts o Enforce the principle of least privilege Administrator accounts should have the minimum permission they need to do their tasks o Ensure there are unique and distinct administrative accounts for each set of administrative tasks o Create non-privileged accounts for privileged users and ensure they use the nonprivileged accounts for all non-privileged access e g web browsing email access Protective Controls and Architecture • Identify detect and investigate abnormal activity that may indicate lateral movement by a threat actor or malware Use network monitoring tools and host-based logs and monitoring tools such as an endpoint detection and response EDR tool EDR tools are particularly Page 9 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE • useful for detecting lateral connections as they have insight into common and uncommon network connections for each host Enable strong spam filters o Enable strong spam filters to prevent phishing emails from reaching end users o Filter emails containing executable files to prevent them from reaching end users o Implement a user training program to discourage users from visiting malicious websites or opening malicious attachments Note CISA the FBI and NSA also recommend as a longer-term effort that critical infrastructure organizations implement network segmentation to separate network segments based on role and functionality Network segmentation can help prevent lateral movement by controlling traffic flows between—and access to—various subnetworks • • Appropriately implement network segmentation between IT and OT networks Network segmentation limits the ability of adversaries to pivot to the OT network even if the IT network is compromised Define a demilitarized zone that eliminates unregulated communication between the IT and OT networks Organize OT assets into logical zones by taking into account criticality consequence and operational necessity Define acceptable communication conduits between the zones and deploy security controls to filter network traffic and monitor communications between zones Prohibit ICS protocols from traversing the IT network Vulnerability and Configuration Management • Update software including operating systems applications and firmware on IT network assets in a timely manner Prioritize patching known exploited vulnerabilities especially those CVEs identified in this CSA and then critical and high vulnerabilities that allow for remote code execution or denial-of-service on internet-facing equipment o Consider using a centralized patch management system For OT networks use a riskbased assessment strategy to determine the OT network assets and zones that should participate in the patch management program o Consider signing up for CISA’s cyber hygiene services including vulnerability scanning to help reduce exposure to threats CISA’s vulnerability scanning service evaluates external network presence by executing continuous scans of public static IP addresses for accessible services and vulnerabilities • Use industry recommended antivirus programs o Set antivirus antimalware programs to conduct regular scans of IT network assets using up-to-date signatures o Use a risk-based asset inventory strategy to determine how OT network assets are identified and evaluated for the presence of malware • Implement rigorous configuration management programs Ensure the programs can track and mitigate emerging threats Review system configurations for misconfigurations and security weaknesses Page 10 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA TLP WHITE • Disable all unnecessary ports and protocols o Review network security device logs and determine whether to shut off unnecessary ports and protocols Monitor common ports and protocols for command and control activity o Turn off or disable any unnecessary services e g PowerShell or functionality within devices • Ensure OT hardware is in read-only mode Increase Organizational Vigilance • Regularly review reporting on this threat Consider signing up for CISA notifications to receive timely information on current security issues vulnerabilities and high-impact activity RESOURCES • • • • For more information on Russian state-sponsored malicious cyber activity refer to cisa gov Russia Refer to CISA Analysis Report Strengthening Security Configurations to Defend Against Attackers Targeting Cloud Services for steps for guidance on strengthening your organizations cloud security practices Leaders of small businesses and small and local government agencies should see CISA’s Cyber Essentials for guidance on developing an actionable understanding of implementing organizational cybersecurity practices Critical infrastructure owners and operators with OT ICS networks should review the following resources for additional information o NSA and CISA joint CSA NSA and CISA Recommend Immediate Actions to Reduce Exposure Across Operational Technologies and Control Systems o CISA factsheet Rising Ransomware Threat to Operational Technology Assets for additional recommendations REWARDS FOR JUSTICE PROGRAM If you have information on state-sponsored Russian cyber operations targeting U S critical infrastructure contact the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program You may be eligible for a reward of up to $10 million which DOS is offering for information leading to the identification or location of any person who while acting under the direction or control of a foreign government participates in malicious cyber activity against U S critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act CFAA Contact 1-202-702-7843 on WhatsApp Signal or Telegram or send information via the Rewards for Justice secure Tor-based tips line located on the Dark Web For more details refer to rewardsforjustice net malicious_cyber_activity Page 11 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE TLP WHITE CISA FBI NSA CAVEATS The information you have accessed or received is being provided “as is” for informational purposes only CISA the FBI and NSA do not endorse any commercial product or service including any subjects of analysis Any reference to specific commercial products processes or services by service mark trademark manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement recommendation or favoring by CISA the FBI or NSA REFERENCES 1 Joint NCSC-CISA UK Advisory Further TTPs Associated with SVR Cyber Actors https www ncsc gov uk news joint-advisory-further-ttps-associated-with-svr-cyber-actors Page 12 of 12 Product ID AA22-011A TLP WHITE