McAfee Uncovers Operation Honeybee, a Malicious Document Campaign Targeting Humanitarian Aid Groups

2018-03-02 Mcafee

https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/mcafee-uncovers-operation-honeybee-malicious-document-campaign-targeting-humanitarian-aid-groups/

McAfee ATR identified Operation Honeybee as a malicious-document campaign targeting humanitarian aid organizations with North Korea-themed lures, later shifting to Word compatibility-message decoys submitted largely from South Korea. The documents used VBA macros with a custom alphabet to decode CAB files, drop SYSCON-related implants, and configure COMSysApp service persistence through DLLs loaded under svchost.exe, with UAC-bypass components such as cliconfg.exe. Related samples included a DPRK Red Cross-themed document and a signed Win32 dropper using an Adobe certificate, while infrastructure tied to the persona [email protected] included 1113427185.ifastnet.org and Byethost-hosted accounts. The report matters because it links shared author metadata, encoding keys, PDB paths, and C2 registration patterns across Honeybee and related SYSCON activity without requiring broader attribution than the source supports.

Indicators of Compromise

Type Value First Seen Last Seen
HASH 25f4819e7948086d46df8de2eeeaa2b… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 85e2453b37602429596c9681a8c58a5… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 66d2cea01b46c3353f4339a986a97b2… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH fe32d29fa16b1b71cd27b23a78ee9f6… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 5a6ad7a1c566204a92dd269312d1156… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 9e2c0bd19a77d712055ccc0276fdc06… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 4229896d61a5ad57ed5c247228606ce… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH e87de3747d7c12c1eea9e73d3c2fb08… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 7113aaab61cacb6086c5531a453adf8… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH bca861a46d60831a3101c50f80a6d62… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH f684e15dd2e84bac49ea9b89f9b2646… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 19d9573f0b2c2100accd562cc82d57a… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH f90a2155ac492c3c2d5e1d83e384e1a… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 9b7c3c48bcef6330e3086de592b3223… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 35ab747c15c20da29a14e8b46c07c04… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 1d280a77595a2d2bbd36b9b5d958f99… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 35904f482d37f5ce6034d6042bae207… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH d41daba0ebfa55d0c769ccfc03dbf6a… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 003e21b02be3248ff72cc2bfcd05bb1… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH f3b62fea38cb44e15984d941445d24e… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 0e4a7c0242b98723dc2b8cce1fbf1a4… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 4c7e975f95ebc47423923b855a7530a… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 01530adb3f947fabebae5d9c04fb69f… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 1dc50bfcab2bc80587ac900c03e23af… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
HASH 9b832dda912cce6b23da8abf3881fcf… 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
EMAIL [email protected] 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN 1113427185.ifastnet.org 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN nihon.byethost11.com 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN ftp.byethost31.com 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN navermail.byethost3.com 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN nihon.byethost3.com 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
DOMAIN ftp.byethost11.com 2018-03-02 2018-03-02
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