MESSAGETAP is a data mining malware family deployed by APT41 into telecommunications networks to monitor and save SMS traffic from specific phone numbers, IMSI numbers, or that contain specific keywords. [1]
8
Techniques38th pct
4
Tactics32nd pct
1
Threat groupunranked
0
CampaignsNone recorded
Enterprise ATT&CK only. Any Mobile or ICS rows on the same ATT&CK page are not carried.
MESSAGETAP uses the libpcap library to listen to all traffic and parses network protocols starting with Ethernet and IP layers. It continues parsing protocol layers including SCTP, SCCP, and TCAP and finally extracts SMS message data and routing metadata. 2
MESSAGETAP checks two files, keyword_parm.txt and parm.txt, for instructions on how to target and save data parsed and extracted from SMS message data from the network traffic. If an SMS message contained either a phone number, IMSI number, or keyword that matched the predefined list, it is saved to a CSV file for later theft by the threat actor.7
Collection11 detection rules
Standing S0443
Reach is how much of ATT&CK this malware touches. Coverage is how well defended each thing it does is, as a median per technique rather than a total — a total would just restate the reach. Each figure is ranked against all 825 ATT&CK software entries only where that population actually spreads. Where most of the population shares one value, a percentile would rank the tie instead of the entity, so the raw value is shown and no rank is claimed.
Reach
Techniques838th pct
38th percentile · 62% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more Enterprise techniques.
Tactics432nd pct
32nd percentile · 68% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more tactics spanned.
Threat group161% tie · 22 values
61% of the population shares a single value across only 22 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Campaigns085% tie · 8 values
85% of the population shares a single value across only 8 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Coverage
Rules / technique14.5med30th pct
30th percentile · 70% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more detection rules per technique.
Tests / technique8med72nd pct
72nd percentile · 72% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have this many atomic tests per technique or fewer.
Data comps / technique5med54% tie · 11 values
54% of the population shares a single value across only 11 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Mitigations / technique0medBottom 17%
17th percentile · 83% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more mitigations per technique.
5 of 8 axes carry an honest rank on this page. Coverage medians are taken across this malware’s 8 Enterprise techniques.
Range
Technique Campaign use over its cumulative rule count.
The following analytic detects the use of CertUtil.exe with the 'decode' argument, which may indicate an attempt to decode a previously encoded file, potentially containing malicious payloads. (...)
This analytic detects changes to SNMP community strings on Cisco devices, which could indicate an attacker establishing persistence or attempting to extract credentials. (...)
Detects PowerShell scripts that make use of the "Compress-Archive" Cmdlet in order to compress folders and files where the output is stored in a potentially suspicious location that is used often by malware for exfiltration. (...)
The following analytic identifies the execution of `powershell.exe` with the `Get-NetTcpConnection` command, which lists current TCP connections on a system. (...)
The following analytic detects the execution of the `Get-NetTcpconnection` PowerShell cmdlet using PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious Base64 decode operations that may indicate malicious activity, such as data exfiltration or execution of encoded commands. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious database file and directory discovery activities, which may signal an attacker attempt to locate and assess critical database assets on a compromised system. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious file and directory discovery activities, which may indicate an attacker's effort to locate sensitive documents and files on a compromised system. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious creation of hidden files and directories, which may indicate an attacker's attempt to conceal malicious activities or unauthorized data. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious discovery of virtual disk files and directories, which may indicate an attacker's attempt to locate and access virtualized storage environments. (...)