Red Sky Alliance monthly queries our backend databases, identifying all new data containing Motor Vessel (MV) and Motor Tanker (MT) in the subject line of malicious emails. Malicious actors use emails with Motor Vessel (MV) or Motor Tanker (MT) in the subject line as a lure to entice users in the maritime industry to open emails containing malicious attachments. Red Sky Alliance is providing this list of Motor Vessels in which we directly observed the vessel being impersonated, with associated malicious emails. The identified emails attempted to deliver malware or phishing links to compromise the vessels, parent companies, ports and the entire Transportation Supply Chain. Full report available here.
Significant Vessel Keys Words:
Figure 1. Map displaying location of attacker domains
Figure 2. Map displaying location of victim domains
Figure 3. Distribution of attacker and target domains
Table 1: List of dates, subject lines, malware detections, and sender data seen in Red Sky Alliance’s malicious email collection from last 30 days. Information extrapolated from the Subject Line. Full table attached.
Analysis
The five most common subject lines seen in our recent query are as follows:
- MV TRANS-ASIA I
- SHIPPING DOCS FOR REF NO HAMB2200022 VSL# OOCL SHANGHAI 066S FFAU3493855
- CLEARANCE/VERIFICATION - FOR CONTAINER REFUND REQUEST
- RE: PRE DOCUMENTS OF MV STAR TRADER
- Mv Carina, request proforma D/A, Discharging abt 16600 mts of shredded tyres.
There are several themes represented by the subject lines seen. Specifically, we can see shipping requests, port disbursement requests, and invoices. These emails are seen to utilize common terminology to establish credibility. This credibility can make for a solid lure. In terms of the sending emails themselves, we can see impersonations of companies in many industries. In our most recent query, we saw a Chinese ship management company, a Portuguese tool manufacturer, a Romanian power company, and a Korean sky freight company.
In addition to impersonating these companies and various types of communication, these emails are also seen to be impersonating specific vessels. Some of the vessels being impersonated by these emails include the following:
- Star Trader (pictured above), which is a bulk carrier currently en route to CN NJG and is sailing under the flag of Bahamas.
- Trans-Asia 1 (pictured below), which was a passenger cargo ship registered to Trans-Asia Sg Line Inc. This vessel has not been in service since 2021.
As one might expect, fabricating a vessel name is not difficult, but using a real ship’s name does not take much effort and could result in an increase of credibility.
The top five most prevalent malware detections associated with these emails are as follows:
- CVE-2018-0802.Gen – Arcabit
- Siggen.525 – DrWeb
- Script.Heuristic-js.iacgm - NANO-Antivirus
- HTML.Doc – Ikarus
- HTML/Phish.EJD!tr - Fortinet
We have been seeing Exploit.CVE-2018-0802.Gen detections since early 2018, but the rate of detection did not grow much until early 2021. This detection is in relation to a vulnerability that exists in some version of Microsoft Office’s memory handling and can be used to execute malicious code remotely. The specific Java.Siggen.525 detection we have only been seeing since early this year, but it is worth noting that this detection is also labeled as a generic trojan like HEUR:Trojan.Java.Generic. We have seen Trojan.Script.Heuristic-js.iacgm detections since 2016, with the highest detection rates occurring between late 2016 and late 2016. Minimal numbers of detections have been occurring each month since then. Phishing.HTML.Doc is a returning detection to these reports and is a detection we’ve been seeing since mid-2017. Highest number of detections thus far occurred in the middle months of 2021. HTML/Phish.EJD!tr is a specific detection we have only been seeing in the last few months, but can also be identified as Phishing.HTML.Doc.
Vessel Flag of Convenience – All shipping size vessels which fall under international law, must fly a country flag where it is registered. The flag of convenience (FOC) is the system that allows the vessel owners to avoid burdensome international legal regulations. When the ships are involved in this system, they are not connected to the laws of the countries where they are registered. The top five (5) flag states with the largest number of registered vessels are: Panama, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore.[1]
Supply Chain Spoofing: In 2023, our analyst began looking into the transportation supply chain, as often these transportation companies are used to gain cyber access to valuable targets. Maritime shipping is just one portion of the entire commercial transportation supply chain. By querying our data with numerous important supply chain keywords, we can also extract some more general supply chain related malicious emails. The five most prevalent subject lines seen with a general supply chain focus are as follows:
- Purchase Order
- Al Rouba Purchase Order MO2101358-2022.
- PURCHASE ORDER
- CONFIRMATION OF INVOICE STATEMENT DURING JULY MONTH
- Re: Purchase Order PO-9528 from Naturgy Energy Group S.A
Much like maritime related emails, we can see several themes emerge in the subject lines of these malicious emails. Most prevalently in the last month, we can see purchase orders and invoices. These emails can also contain impersonations of companies in many industries. In our most recent query, we saw a Vietnamese grocery store, a German ventilation manufacturer, a Bulgarian auto parts store, a wellness clinic in Colorado in addition to a number of shipping companies.
The five most prevalent detections associated with these emails are as follows:
- HTML.Doc – Ikarus
- HTML:PhishingMS-AGB [Phish] – Avast
- HTML/Phish.MS!tr – Fortinet
- Generic-HTML.Save.7b263796 – Sangfor
- DownLoader.2938 - DrWeb
As mentioned in previous reports, detections found in more general supply chain related emails tend to exhibit more focus on phishing malware, as we can see above. Many of those listed are repeat detections from previous reports. Again, Phishing.HTML.Doc is a very common trojan detection and can be an additional identifier for a vast number of specific trojan detections, such as HTML:PhishingMS-AGB, which we have been seeing specifically since late 2022. Similarly, we have been seeing HTML/Phish.MS! since 2019.
Malware.Generic-HTML.Save variants we have been seeing since early 2021, with the highest number of detections occurring in the summer of 2022. W97M.DownLoader variants, which we have seen since 2018 typically involved specially crafted Microsoft Office files that contain malicious macros intended to download additional files to a victim’s machine.
Table 2: List of dates, subject lines, malware detections, and sender data seen in Red Sky Alliance’s malicious email collection from last 30 days. Information extrapolated from the Subject Line. Full table attached.
Closing: These analytical results illustrate how a recipient could be fooled into opening an infected email and what sorts of dangers can accompany these emails. It is common for attackers to specifically target pieces of a company’s supply chain to build up cyber-attacks targeting larger companies. Doing so could cause the recipient to become an infected member of the maritime supply chain and thus possibly infect victim vessels, port facilities and/or shore companies in the marine, agricultural, and other industries with additional malware. With approximately 90% of products being shipped in the maritime related supply chain, this is a serious cyber matter.
Fraudulent emails designed to make recipients hand over sensitive information, extort money, or trigger malware installation on shore-based or vessel IT networks remains one of the biggest day-to-day cyber threats facing the maritime industry and associated transportation supply line. These threats often carry a financial liability to one or all those involved in the Transportation Supply Chain. Preventative cyber protection offers a strong first-line defense by preventing deceptive messages from ever reaching staff inboxes, but malicious hackers are daily developing new techniques to evade current detection. This supports our recommendation of daily cyber diligence.
The more convincing an email appears, the greater the chance employees will fall victim to a scam. To address this residual risk, software-based protection should be treated as one constituent of a wider strategy that also encompasses the human-element as well as organizational workflows and procedures.
It is important to:
- Train all levels of the marine supply chain to realize they are under constant cyber-attack.
- Emphasize maintaining constant attention to real-world cyber consequences of careless cyber practices or general inattentiveness.
- Provide practical guidance on how to identify a potential phishing attempt.
- Use direct communication to verify emails and supply chain email communication.
About Red Sky Alliance
Red Sky Alliance strongly recommends ongoing monitoring from both internal and external perspectives. Internal monitoring is common practice. However, external threats are often overlooked and can represent an early warning of impending cyber-attacks. Red Sky Alliance can provide both internal monitoring in tandem with RedXray notifications on external threats to include, botnet activity, public data breaches, phishing, fraud, and general targeting. All emails connected to the Transportation Supply Chain, to include Vessels, should be viewed with scrutiny.
Red Sky Alliance is in New Boston, NH USA. We are a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. We have been tracking vessel impersonation for over 5 years (and maintain historical reports). For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
- Reporting: https://www.redskyalliance.org/
- Website: https://www.wapacklabs.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/64265941
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