Malicious FortiGateUpdate Service DLL Registration by Cyber Partisans (via registry_set)

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1543.003Windows Service
Priv Esc
- T1543.003Windows Service
Defense Evasion
- T1036.004Masquerade Task or Service
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects registration of a ServiceDll under the FortiGateUpdate service Parameters key, a masqueraded service used to load a DNSCat2 tunneling DLL. This behavior was observed in Cyber Partisans activity aimed at espionage and disruption against industrial targets. The security-product masquerade combined with a ServiceDll load is a strong persistence and C2 indicator.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1543.003 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious FortiGateUpdate Service DLL Registration by Cyber Partisans (via registry_set)

Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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