Malicious 'SNS Sender' Script Exploits AWS for Smishing Campaigns

A malicious Python script named SNS Sender is being promoted as a tool for threat actors to distribute bulk smishing messages by exploiting Amazon Web Services (AWS) Simple Notification Service (SNS).

What is SNS Sender?

A Python-based script known as SNS Sender is being distributed within phishing kits, leveraging AWS services to send large volumes of SMS text messages. These messages, disguised as notifications from the postal service about missed package deliveries, actually contain smishing links designed to extract victims’ personally identifiable information (PII) and payment card details. This information comes from a report by cybersecurity firm SentinelOne.

SentinelOne’s recent report attributes the propagation of malicious links, aimed at capturing victims’ personally identifiable information (PII) and payment card details, to a threat actor known as ARDUINO_DAS.

Security researcher Alex Delamotte noted that the smishing scams frequently masquerade as messages from the United States Postal Service (USPS) concerning a missed package delivery.

How ‘SNS Sender’ Script Exploits ?

The malware necessitates a list of phishing links stored in a file named links.txt in its working directory, along with a list of AWS access keys, the phone numbers to target, the sender ID (also known as the display name), and the content of the message.

The requirement to include a sender ID for sending the scam texts is notable because support for sender IDs varies from country to country. This implies that the author of SNS Sender likely originates from a country where the use of sender IDs is a common practice.

“For example, carriers in the United States don’t support sender IDs at all, but carriers in India require senders to use sender IDs,” according to Amazon’s documentation.

Bank logs containing references to ARDUINO_DAS shared on carding forums like Crax Pro indicate that this operation may have been active since at least July 2022. Moreover, security researcher @JCyberSec_ on X (formerly Twitter) revealed in early September 2022 that a vast majority of the phishing kits are USPS-themed, directing users to bogus package tracking pages where they are prompted to enter personal and credit/debit card information.

The researcher further noted, “Do you think the deploying actor knows all the kits have a hidden backdoor sending the logs to another place?”

If anything, the development represents the ongoing efforts of commodity threat actors to exploit cloud environments for smishing campaigns. In April 2023, Permiso revealed an activity cluster that exploited previously exposed AWS access keys to infiltrate AWS servers and send SMS messages using SNS.

The findings coincide with the discovery of a new dropper called TicTacToe, presumably offered as a service to threat actors. It has been observed spreading a range of information stealers and remote access trojans (RATs) targeting Windows users throughout 2023.

Fortinet FortiGuard Labs, which uncovered the malware, outlined a four-stage infection chain initiated by an ISO file attached to email messages.

Another pertinent example of threat actors continually innovating their tactics involves leveraging advertising networks to orchestrate successful spam campaigns and distribute malware like DarkGate.

“HP Wolf Security reported that the threat actor utilized an advertising network to proxy links, evading detection while capturing analytics about their victims. These campaigns began with malicious PDF attachments disguised as OneDrive error messages, ultimately leading to the distribution of malware.”

Indicators of Compromise

8fd501d7af71afee3e692a6880284616522d709e – sns_sender.py, SNS Sender

Phishing URLs

hxxps[:]//perwebsolutions[.]com/js/
hxxps[:]//usps[.]mytrackingh[.]top
hxxps[:]//u-sipsl[.]cc

Phish Kit Archives

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