CISA issued a StopRansomware alert on ALPHV/Blackcat, highlighting new C2 indicators and the Kill Chain activities associated with the threat actors. Infoblox argues its suspicious DNS domain feeds can surface and block these domains earlier, potentially breaking the Blackcat Kill Chain before data exfiltration and triple extortion occur. #Blackcat #ALPHV #pcrendal #Docusong
Keypoints
- The CISA alert introduces new IoCs, including several C2 domains critical to the Blackcat Kill Chain.
- Infoblox’s DNS Early Detection program can flag suspicious domains days to months before OSINT visibility, enabling proactive blocking.
- Blackcat operates as a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) with a triple extortion model (decrypt, leak, and DoS/extortion threats).
- Attackers often rotate domains; the window between domain creation and OSINT detection is when organizations are most vulnerable.
- Initial access commonly relies on compromised credentials to reach Active Directory and C2 infrastructure.
- The Kill Chain uses PowerShell, Cobalt Strike, and GPO-based deployment via Windows Task Scheduler, while attempting to disable defenses.
MITRE Techniques
- [T1598] Phishing for Information – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘Blackcat ransomware affiliates pose as company IT and/or helpdesk staff using phone calls or SMS messages to obtain credentials from employees to access the target network.’
- [T1586] Compromise Accounts – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘The Blackcat threat actors leverage previously compromised user credentials to access the victim system.’
- [T1555] Obtain Credentials from Password Stores – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘Blackcat ransomware affiliates obtain (steal!) password s from local networks, deleted servers, and domain controllers.’
- [T1558] Steal or Force Kerberos Tickets – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘Blackcat ransomware affiliates use Kerberos token generation for domain access.’
- [T1557] Adversary (Man)-in-the-Middle – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘Blackcat ransomware affiliates use the open-source framework Evilginx2 to obtain MFA credentials, login credentials, and session cookies for targeted networks.’
- [T1053.005] Scheduled Task – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘The malware uses the Windows Task Scheduler to configure malicious Group Policy Objects (GPO) to deploy ransomware.’
- [T1059.001] PowerShell – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘The Blackcat threat actors leverage PowerShell Scripts and Cobalt Strike and disable security features within the victims’ network.’
- [T1562.001] Impair Defenses – Brief description of how it was used. Quote: ‘disable security features within the victims’ network.’
Indicators of Compromise
- [Domain] C2/malicious domains – pcrendal[.]com, Docusong[.]com, and other domains