ACTIVE THREAT

LARVA-208
Advanced Persistent Threat Group

Sophisticated cyber espionage campaign targeting critical infrastructure and government entities across North America and Europe. This threat actor demonstrates advanced capabilities in supply chain compromise and zero-day exploitation.

View Summary

Target Sectors

12

Critical Infrastructure

Geographic Scope

8

Countries Affected

Campaign Duration

18

Months Active

Threat Level

HIGH

Immediate Action Required

Executive Summary

LARVA-208 represents a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign that has been active since Q2 2023, targeting critical infrastructure sectors including energy, telecommunications, and government entities. The threat actor demonstrates advanced capabilities in supply chain compromise and zero-day exploitation.

Our analysis indicates this group operates with significant resources and demonstrates nation-state level capabilities, suggesting potential state-sponsored activity. The campaign has successfully compromised over 50 organizations across 8 countries.

Critical Finding: The group has developed custom malware families specifically designed to evade detection by major security vendors, with a 0% detection rate on initial deployment.

Attack Vectors

Spear Phishing

Highly targeted email campaigns with zero-day exploits

Supply Chain Compromise

Infiltration through trusted software vendors

Network Infrastructure

Exploitation of unpatched network devices

Timeline

Q2 2023

Initial campaign launch

Q4 2023

Supply chain attacks begin

Q1 2024

Zero-day exploitation phase

Present

Active campaign ongoing

Indicators

IP: 185.220.101.45
Domain: secure-update[.]com
Hash: a1b2c3d4e5f6...

Tactical Analysis

Malware Analysis

LARVA-BACKDOOR

Custom backdoor with modular architecture

  • • Encrypted command & control communication
  • • Process injection capabilities
  • • Anti-VM and anti-debugging techniques

LARVA-LOADER

Multi-stage payload delivery system

  • • DLL sideloading techniques
  • • Registry persistence mechanisms
  • • Network traffic obfuscation

Infrastructure

Command & Control

Distributed C2 infrastructure

  • • 15+ C2 servers identified
  • • Domain generation algorithms
  • • Fast-flux DNS techniques

Lateral Movement

Advanced persistence techniques

  • • Kerberoasting attacks
  • • Golden ticket exploitation
  • • Scheduled task creation

Operational Intelligence

Attribution Analysis

Based on TTP analysis, infrastructure patterns, and malware characteristics, LARVA-208 shows strong similarities to known APT groups operating in Eastern Europe. The sophistication level and resource availability suggest state-sponsored activity.

Confidence Level

85%

High confidence attribution

Geographic Origin

Eastern Europe

Based on infrastructure analysis

Motivation

Espionage

Intelligence gathering

Mitigation Strategies

Immediate Actions

  • • Block identified IOCs across all security controls
  • • Review and update email security policies
  • • Implement enhanced monitoring for suspicious activities
  • • Conduct incident response tabletop exercises

Long-term Measures

  • • Implement zero-trust architecture
  • • Enhance supply chain security controls
  • • Deploy advanced threat hunting capabilities
  • • Establish threat intelligence sharing partnerships