A new threat actor, Savvy Seahorse, has emerged, employing a highly sophisticated technique to power financial scams through the abuse of DNS CNAME records. The modus operandi involves targeting victims via Facebook ads, directing them to deceptive investment platforms where they unknowingly deposit funds and provide sensitive personal information. What sets this operation apart is the integration of chatbots in the scams, engaging directly with victims to convince them of lucrative investment returns, streamlining the fraudulent process for the attackers.
Infoblox researchers, who uncovered this operation, highlight its longevity, with short attack waves occurring since at least August 2021. The unique aspect of Savvy Seahorse’s approach is the use of Canonical Name (CNAME) records as a Traffic Distribution System (TDS), providing a dynamic and easily managed infrastructure. By registering multiple subdomains under a common CNAME record, the threat actor can efficiently rotate to new destinations, enhancing detection evasion. This marks the first public case of such abuse of DNS CNAMEs, leading Infoblox to term the method ‘CNAME TDS.’
Savvy Seahorse goes further by employing domain generation algorithms (DGAs) to create and manage thousands of domains within the CNAME TDS system. Additionally, the gang uses wildcard DNS responses, making tracking and mapping of its infrastructure more challenging. The threat actor’s global targeting scope is evident in their multi-language approach, using lures in English, Russian, Polish, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Czech, and Turkish. Savvy Seahorse’s infrastructure resilience is heightened by spreading across multiple registrars and hosting providers, aiding in both evasion of attribution and operational continuity.
