Operation Jacana

Also known as: Operation Jacana

(ESET) In February 2023, ESET researchers detected a spearphishing campaign targeting a governmental entity in Guyana. While we haven’t been able to link the campaign, which we named Operation Jacana, to any specific APT group, we believe with medium confidence that a China-aligned threat group is behind this incident. In the attack, the operators used a previously undocumented C++ backdoor that can exfiltrate files, manipulate Windows registry keys, execute CMD commands, and more. We named the backdoor DinodasRAT based on the victim identifier it sends to its C&C: the string always begins with Din, which reminded us of the hobbit Dinodas from the Lord of the Rings.

🌍 Country ["China"]

Introduction

(ESET) In February 2023, ESET researchers detected a spearphishing campaign targeting a governmental entity in Guyana. While we haven’t been able to link the campaign, which we named Operation Jacana, to any specific APT group, we believe with medium confidence that a China-aligned threat group is behind this incident. In the attack, the operators used a previously undocumented C++ backdoor that can exfiltrate files, manipulate Windows registry keys, execute CMD commands, and more. We named the backdoor DinodasRAT based on the victim identifier it sends to its C&C: the string always begins with Din, which reminded us of the hobbit Dinodas from the Lord of the Rings.

Activities and Tactics

Country of Origin: 🇨🇳 [“China”]

Notable Campaigns

Information pending cataloguing.

Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs)

Information pending cataloguing.

Notable Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

No curated IOCs are currently published for this actor. This section will be updated when stable, attributable indicators are available.

Malware and Tools

  • DinodasRAT
  • Impacket
  • PlugX
  • SoftEther VPN
  • DinodasRAT:
  • Impacket:
  • PlugX:
  • SoftEther VPN:

Attribution and Evidence

Country of Origin: [“China”] Additional attribution information pending cataloguing.

References

References pending cataloguing.