The Chinese nation-state group Camaro Dragon is once again linked to a new backdoor malware, known as TinyNote, designed for intelligence-gathering purposes. Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point identified the Go-based malware, which serves as a first-stage payload capable of basic machine enumeration and command execution.
Although lacking sophistication, TinyNote compensates with redundant access retention methods and diverse communication techniques with different servers. Camaro Dragon, also known as Mustang Panda, was previously in the spotlight for its custom firmware implant, Horse Shell, that utilizes TP-Link routers to establish a covert mesh network for transmitting commands. These findings demonstrate the group’s evolving evasion tactics and the extensive array of custom tools used in breaching targeted systems.
TinyNote is distributed using names related to foreign affairs and is believed to target Southeast and East Asian embassies. Notably, it is the first known Mustang Panda artifact written in Golang and has the ability to bypass the Indonesian antivirus solution Smadav, indicating a high level of preparation and knowledge about the victims’ environments.
Check Point emphasizes the targeted approach of Camaro Dragon, highlighting the extensive research conducted before infiltrating victims’ systems and the active diversification of their attack arsenal using multiple tools. Meanwhile, another Chinese threat actor known as Sharp Panda has orchestrated a new phishing campaign targeting high-level government officials from G20 nations, utilizing booby-trapped versions of official documents employing the remote template injection method.
Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has been leveraging open-source information available on the internet and other sources for military intelligence purposes, aiming to gain a strategic advantage over the West. Recorded Future’s analysis reveals that the PLA’s use of open-source intelligence (OSINT) likely provides them with an advantage, as the West’s open information environment allows for the easy harvesting of large quantities of data, while Western militaries face challenges due to China’s closed information environment.
The analysis draws from a list of PLA and Chinese defense industry procurement records published between January 2019 and January 2023. Commercial data providers are urged to exercise due diligence when selling data to entities in China, considering that the military and defense industry might purchase it for intelligence purposes.
