ThreatFox: SmartApeSG IOCs

Hunt Hypothesis

This hunt targets network connections to known SmartApeSG indicators of compromise, which are frequently associated with phishing campaigns and initial access attempts. Proactively identifying these IOCs in Azure Sentinel allows the SOC to detect potential footholds in the environment before adversaries can establish persistence or execute lateral movement.

IOC Summary

Malware Family: SmartApeSG Total IOCs: 2 IOC Types: url, domain

KQL: Domain Hunt

// Hunt for DNS queries to known malicious domains
// Source: ThreatFox - SmartApeSG
let malicious_domains = dynamic(["cloveranthology.org"]);
DnsEvents
| where Name has_any (malicious_domains)
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Name, IPAddresses, QueryType
| order by TimeGenerated desc

KQL: Url Hunt

// Hunt for access to known malicious URLs
// Source: ThreatFox - SmartApeSG
let malicious_urls = dynamic(["https://cloveranthology.org/route/route-script.js"]);
UrlClickEvents
| where Url has_any (malicious_urls)
| project Timestamp, AccountUpn, Url, ActionType, IsClickedThrough
| order by Timestamp desc

Required Data Sources

References

• ThreatFox — SmartApeSG

False Positive Guidance

• Legacy Application Dependency on Specific Hashes: A widely deployed, legacy Java-based enterprise application (e.g., an internal ERP module or a specific version of a banking client) may contain binaries or configuration files that match the SHA-256 hashes of the SmartApeSG IOCs due to shared compiler artifacts or similar code structures.
  • Filter/Exclusion: Exclude the specific process path (e.g., C:\Program Files\LegacyERP\bin\app.exe) or the specific user account (e.g., svc-legacy-app) from the hash-based detection logic, provided the parent process is verified as the known application launcher.
• Scheduled Maintenance Jobs in DevOps Pipelines: A CI/CD pipeline or a scheduled PowerShell maintenance script (e.g., C:\Scripts\NightlyCleanup.ps1) might download or extract a specific utility jar or binary that matches one of the IOCs for temporary use during a build or cleanup task.
  • Filter/Exclusion: Exclude events where the parent process is pwsh.exe or powershell.exe and the command line contains specific keywords like -File C:\Scripts\NightlyCleanup.ps1, or exclude the specific directory path (e.g., C:\Temp\build-artifacts\) where the file is temporarily stored.
• Third-Party Plugin or Extension: A popular browser extension (e.g., a specific version of a password manager or a developer tool like Postman) or a desktop application plugin may bundle a helper executable that matches the IOCs.
  • Filter/Exclusion: Exclude the specific plugin directory (e.g., C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Postman\plugins\) or the specific parent process (e.g., postman.exe) if the IOC is associated with a child process spawned by the main application.
• **Test Environment or