FBI issues alert on HiatusRAT malware

The FBI Dec. 16 released an alert warning of malicious activity by cyber actors using Hiatus Remote Access Trojan malware to attack Chinese-branded web cameras and digital video recorders. HiatusRAT actors in March conducted a scanning campaign on web cameras and DVRs located in the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The agency said the HiatusRAT campaign originally targeted outdated network devices, but cybersecurity companies have also witnessed cyber actors using the malware to target various organizations based in Taiwan and gather information from a U.S. government server used for submitting and retrieving defense contract proposals. 

The alert includes recommendations for organizations to reduce the risk of compromise from the malware. 

“This recent campaign appears to have targeted vulnerable Chinese-branded webcams and DVRs for specific, published vulnerabilities and default passwords set by the vendor,” said Scott Gee, AHA deputy national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “These devices are often used in security video monitoring systems. Several of these vulnerabilities impacting older, end-of-life devices have not been patched by the manufacturer and the FBI recommends replacing them with updated devices. The critical takeaway from this bulletin is that patch management programs must cover not only traditional computer systems, but also Internet of Things devices on your network.” 
 
For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Gee at sgee@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity