ThreatFox: SmartApeSG IOCs

Hunt Hypothesis

The ThreatFox: SmartApeSG IOCs rule detects potential adversary activity linked to the SmartApeSG threat group, which is associated with malware distribution and command-and-control infrastructure. SOC teams should proactively hunt for these IOCs in Azure Sentinel to identify and mitigate early-stage compromises before lateral movement and data exfiltration occur.

IOC Summary

Malware Family: SmartApeSG Total IOCs: 5 IOC Types: domain, url

KQL: Domain Hunt

// Hunt for DNS queries to known malicious domains
// Source: ThreatFox - SmartApeSG
let malicious_domains = dynamic(["activebridgehub.top", "futurebuildsystem.com"]);
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://activebridgehub.top/metrics/health-build.php", "https://activebridgehub.top/metrics/signup-dom.js", "https://futurebuildsystem.com/yolodo"]);
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

• Scenario: Scheduled System Maintenance Task
  Description: A legitimate scheduled task runs a script that matches the IOC pattern (e.g., C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe or C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe).
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes associated with Task Scheduler or schtasks.exe with known maintenance scripts.

• Scenario: Admin Performing System Update via PowerShell
  Description: An admin uses PowerShell to run a system update or patching script that includes command-line arguments resembling malicious IOCs.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes initiated by PowerShell.exe with the -Command flag and known admin scripts (e.g., C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe).

• Scenario: Legitimate Log Collection Job
  Description: A log collection tool (e.g., LogParser.exe or Splunk) is configured to run a script that matches the IOC pattern due to file path similarities.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes from known log collection tools or those running under a specific service account (e.g., splunk or logparser).

• Scenario: Database Backup Job Using SQLCMD
  Description: A database backup job uses sqlcmd.exe to execute T-SQL scripts that include command-line arguments similar to the IOC pattern.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude processes initiated by sqlcmd.exe with known backup scripts or executed under a service account associated with the database server.

• Scenario: Antivirus or EDR Tool Scanning for Malware
  Description: A legitimate EDR tool (e.g., Microsoft Defender or CrowdStrike Falcon) performs a scan that temporarily matches the IOC pattern during file analysis.
  Filter/Exclusion: Exclude