Cobalt Group

Overview

Cobalt Group is a financially motivated threat group that has primarily targeted financial institutions since at least 2016. The group has conducted intrusions to steal money via targeting ATM systems, card processing, payment systems and SWIFT systems. Cobalt Group has mainly targeted banks in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. One of the alleged leaders was arrested in Spain in early 2018, but the group still appears to be active. The group has been known to target organizations in order to use their access to then compromise additional victims. Reporting indicates there may be links between Cobalt Group and both the malware Carbanak and the group Carbanak.

Naming & attribution

Cobalt Group is tracked under 4 names across the industry. It uses 34 documented ATT&CK techniques — more than 70% of the 174 groups tracked here. Activity attributed since at least 2016.

Distinctive techniques

Techniques this group uses that are rare across the other 173 tracked groups — these carry more signal than the near-universal ones.

• T1218.008 Odbcconf — used by 1 of 174 groups
• T1037.001 Logon Script (Windows) — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1218.003 CMSTP — used by 2 of 174 groups
• T1220 XSL Script Processing — used by 2 of 174 groups

Closest groups by technique overlap

Computed from shared ATT&CK techniques. Overlap is not attribution — distinct actors converge on the same tradecraft — but a high share is a useful pivot.

• Patchwork — 18 shared techniques (32% overlap)
• FIN8 — 16 shared techniques (30% overlap)
• Silence — 14 shared techniques (29% overlap)
• LazyScripter — 12 shared techniques (29% overlap)
• Sidewinder India — 14 shared techniques (28% overlap)
• TA2541 — 13 shared techniques (27% overlap)

Capabilities

• Supply-chain compromise — ATT&CK T1195.002
• Exploitation of public-facing / client applications — ATT&CK T1203
• Custom malware/implant development — ATT&CK: 3 attributed custom malware families

TTPs — 34 techniques across 9 tactics

Tools & malware (6)

Mimikatz · More_eggs · SpicyOmelette · SDelete · Cobalt Strike · PsExec

Reporting (3)

• Cobalt Group 2.0 — Gorelik, M
• Cybercriminals Increasingly Trying to Ensnare the Big Financial Fish — CTU
• Multiple Cobalt Personality Disorder — Svajcer, V