CommentCrew-threat-apt1 detects potential adversary behavior involving the use of comment-based payloads or obfuscated scripts commonly associated withAPT1 tactics, which may indicate low-and-slow compromise. SOC teams should proactively hunt for this behavior in Azure Sentinel to identify and mitigate early-stage threats that evade traditional detection methods.
YARA Rule
rule HACKSFASE1_APT1
{
meta:
author = "AlienVault Labs"
info = "CommentCrew-threat-apt1"
strings:
$s1 = {cb 39 82 49 42 be 1f 3a}
condition:
all of them
}
This YARA rule can be deployed in the following contexts:
This rule contains 1 string patterns in its detection logic.
Scenario: Scheduled System Maintenance Job
Description: A legitimate scheduled task runs a script that includes a comment with the word “Crew” as part of a job name or log entry.
Filter/Exclusion: process.name != "schtasks.exe" OR process.name != "task scheduler" or process.arguments NOT LIKE "*Crew*"
Scenario: Admin Task with Comment in Script
Description: An administrator runs a PowerShell or Bash script that includes a comment such as # Crew Maintenance as part of a documentation comment.
Filter/Exclusion: process.name NOT IN ("powershell.exe", "bash.exe") or process.arguments NOT LIKE "*Crew*"
Scenario: Log File Parsing or Analysis Tool
Description: A log analysis tool like Splunk or ELK parses logs and includes a comment with “Crew” in the log message or metadata.
Filter/Exclusion: process.name NOT IN ("splunkd.exe", "elasticsearch.exe", "logstash.exe")
Scenario: Software Update or Patching Tool
Description: A patching tool like Microsoft Update or SCCM includes a comment in its log file that contains the word “Crew” as part of a version or build identifier.
Filter/Exclusion: process.name NOT IN ("wuauserv.exe", "ccmexec.exe") or process.arguments NOT LIKE "*Crew*"
Scenario: Internal Documentation or Comment in Code
Description: A developer adds a comment in source code (e.g., in Python, Java, or C#) that includes the word “Crew” as part of an internal note or placeholder.
Filter/Exclusion: process.name NOT IN ("python.exe", "javac.exe", "msbuild.exe") or