This report provides an analysis of Dark Caracal, a threat actor known for its cyber-espionage operations targeting various sectors worldwide. The report focuses on indicators observed in campaigns, discovered malware samples and targeted industries. The findings are based on data from open intelligence sources and cybersecurity research. It is not an in-depth analysis of Dark Caracal’s tactics and techniques but a collection of indicators to help identify similar activity, with an emphasis on their recent operations.
Dark Caracal is a Lebanese cyber-espionage group active since at least 2012. It is known for conducting large-scale cyber-espionage operations targeting various sectors worldwide. Recent campaigns have primarily focused on Spanish-speaking users and Latin American countries.
Espionage
Financial gain
Dark Caracal’s Evolution: Poco RAT Campaign Analysis
In early 2024, the Dark Caracal group began using a new tool—Poco RAT, targeting Spanish-speaking users in Latin America. To deliver the malware, attackers leverage social engineering tactics, including phishing emails with attachments or links leading to the download of .rev archives from legitimate file-sharing services. These archives contain a dropper that injects Poco RAT into system processes such as iexplore.exe or cttune.exe. Once deployed, Poco RAT grants attackers full control over the system, enabling them to upload files, capture screenshots, and execute commands. The malware communicates with command-and-control (C2) servers using IP addresses such as 185.216.68.121,193.233.203.63 and 94.131.119.126.
With the following TI lookup query, we can search through recent public tasks and identify this malicious activity.
TI lookup:
(destinationIP:"193.233.203.63" or destinationIP:"185.216.68.121") and commandLine:"*cttune.exe"
SHA-256: 12e849ffba407d5db756879fd257c4b736eb4b6adac6320d2f1916d6a923fa46
Sample: ANY.RUN
SHA-256: b6a04e446bdb4289260be4be0549266a8a5ec8929b26c7a193f8bfe68f962ce0
Sample: ANY.RUN
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 Caracal’s Evolution: Poco RAT Campaign Analysis
Bandook: A Persistent Threat That Keeps Evolving
Bandook RAT is a modular remote access trojan that leverages the Windows registry to store information about its components and maintain persistence. Upon execution, it creates a key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, where the key name corresponds to the PID of the injected process, and the value contains Base64-encoded paths to the payload. These paths typically start with C:\Users\ and end with |None|, making them a key indicator for detection.
With the following TI lookup query, we can search through recent public tasks and identify this malicious activity.
TI lookup:
registryKey:"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion" AND registryValue:"QzpcVXNlcn*Tm9uZX*"
SHA-256: aed7ab5d0de01c3724c917c034e26a5e9eed3f7fbf4082b024576a41725d66cf
Sample: ANY.RUN
SHA-256: 430b9e91a0936978757eb8c493d06cbd2869f4e332ae00be0b759f2f229ca8ce
Sample: ANY.RUN
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.131.119.126185.216.68.121193.233.203.6383.97.20.15345.67.34.219185.10.68.5277.91.100.237185.216.68.143194.48.248.72Bandook: A Persistent Threat That Keeps Evolving
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