Security News > 2023 > April > Microsoft and Fortra crack down on malicious Cobalt Strike servers

"We will need to be persistent as we work to take down the cracked, legacy copies of Cobalt Strike hosted around the world," said Amy Hogan-Burney, the head of Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit.

Last Friday, March 31, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a court order allowing the coalition to seize the domain names and take down the IP addresses of servers hosting cracked versions of Cobalt Strike.

"Disrupting cracked legacy copies of Cobalt Strike will significantly hinder the monetization of these illegal copies and slow their use in cyberattacks, forcing criminals to re-evaluate and change their tactics," Hogan-Burney said.

Although the developer carefully screens customers and only licenses for lawful use, malicious actors have obtained and distributed cracked copies of the software over time, leading to Cobalt Strike becoming one of the most widely used tools in cyberattacks involving data theft and ransomware.

Microsoft has detected malicious infrastructure hosting Cobalt Strike across the globe, including in China, the United States, and Russia, although the identity of those behind the criminal operations remains unknown.

"The ransomware families associated with or deployed by cracked copies of Cobalt Strike have been linked to more than 68 ransomware attacks impacting healthcare organizations in more than 19 countries around the world," Hogan-Burney said.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-and-fortra-crack-down-on-malicious-cobalt-strike-servers/