Summary:
SentinelOne researchers have detailed an active phishing campaign targeting “high-profile” X accounts endeavoring to hijack and exploit them to conduct malicious and fraudulent activity. SentinelOne observed this campaign targeting a variety of individual and organization accounts including U.S. political figures, leading international journalists, an X employee, large technology organizations, cryptocurrency organizations, and owners of valuable, short usernames. Based on their analysis, SentinelOne found links from this activity to a similar operation conducted last year that compromised multiple social platform accounts to spread financially motivated scams. This report is centered around activity against X accounts, but the adversary is not limited to a single social network platform. However, it appears that the threat actor is pursuing the same financial objectives.

This campaign has employed a variety of phishing lures in the past few weeks. In one example, the phishing emails purport to be a notice that the victim’s X account has been logged into and they are sent to the victim containing a malicious link that directs to credential phishing sites. Other lures documented by SentinelOne used copyright violation-themed phishing templates. SentinelLABS notes that directly phishing users may not be the sole access method employed by this threat actor. They also observed the actor abusing Google’s “AMP Cache” domain cdn.ampproject[.]org to evade email detections and redirect the user to a phishing domain in some recent cases. These credential phishing sites the victim is directed to from the copyright infringement lures send the user to an Action Needed page prompting them to enter their credentials. Following account takeover, the threat actor quickly locks the legitimate owner out of the account and leverages it to post fraudulent cryptocurrency opportunities or links to external sites designed to lure additional targets.

Security Officer Comments:
These accounts are targeted as delivery mechanisms for malicious activity because compromising a high-profile account expands the adversary’s attack scope by repurposing it to phish an expansive group of potential secondary victims with the goal of maximizing their financial gains. The adversary is highly adaptable with their tactics, incorporating new techniques while maintaining the same financial motive. By abusing legitimate website hosting services like FASTPANEL, the adversary can rapidly scale attacks at relatively low implementation costs. The rising adoption of cryptocurrency coins as a whole has blurred the line between legitimate projects and cryptocurrency scams. Recently, the X account of the late crypto-enthusiast and antivirus founder John McAfee was reactivated to promote a purportedly legitimate new coin, highlighting the highly adaptable social engineering techniques that increase the efficacy of attacks against cryptocurrency users. To safeguard social media accounts, SentinelLabs recommends using a unique password, enabling 2FA, and avoiding sharing credentials with third-party services. Always initiate password resets directly through the official app or website to avoid malicious links.

Suggested Corrections:
IOCs are available here.

• Users should always be cautious of individuals or organizations that ask for personal information. Most companies will not ask for sensitive data from their customers. If in doubt, users should verify with the company itself to avoid any potential issues.
• Users should always take a close look at the sender’s display name when checking the legitimacy of an email. Most companies use a single domain for their URLs and emails, so a message that originates from a different domain is a red flag.
• As a general rule, users should not click links or download files even if they come from seemingly “trustworthy” sources.
• Check for mismatched URLs. While an embedded URL might seem perfectly valid, hovering above it might show a different web address. In fact, users should avoid clicking links in emails unless they are certain that it is a legitimate link.
• Users should always be on the lookout for any grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Legitimate companies will often employ proofreaders and editors who ensure that the materials they send out are error-free.
• Users should not be frightened or intimidated by messages that have an alarmist tone. They should double check with the company if they are uncertain about the status of their accounts.
• Phishing emails are designed to be sent to a large number of people, so they need to be as impersonal as possible. Users should check whether the message contains a generic subject and greeting, as this can be a sign of a phishing attempt.
• Although not every end user has access to advanced anti-phishing software, they can still use the built-in protection of their email clients to filter messages. One example is setting the email client to block all images unless approved.
• Legitimate companies will never send confirmation emails unless there are specific reasons for doing so. In fact, most companies will avoid sending unsolicited messages unless it’s for company updates, newsletters, or advertising purposes.
• Users should always take the context of an email or message into account. For example, most online accounts do away with viewable member numbers, so users should be wary if they receive emails containing a “member number” for services that generally don’t use them.
• It is important to take note of unusual information in the text of the message. Any mentions of operating systems and software that are not typically used by consumers can often be indicators of a phishing attempt.
• If it seems suspicious, it probably is. Users should always err on the side of caution when it comes to sending out personally identifiable information through messages and emails.

SentinelOne Recommendations:
To safeguard your X account, we strongly recommend using a unique password, enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), and avoiding credential sharing with third-party services. Be especially cautious of messages containing links to account alerts or security notices. Always verify URLs before clicking, and if a password reset is needed, initiate it directly through the official website or app rather than relying on unsolicited links.

Link(s):
https://www.sentinelone.com/labs/phishing-on-x-high-profile-account-targeting-campaign-returns/