Procedure examples

GALLIUM used a modified version of HTRAN to redirect connections between networks.

An APT3 downloader establishes SOCKS5 connections for its initial C2.

menuPass has used a global service provider's IP as a proxy for C2 traffic from a victim.

MuddyWater has controlled POWERSTATS from behind a proxy network to obfuscate the C2 location. MuddyWater has used a series of compromised websites that victims connected to randomly to relay information to command and control (C2). MuddyWater has also used go-socks5 variants to bypass firewalls and Network Address Translation (NAT), to communicate with a hardcoded C2 server, and to exfiltrate data.

APT39 has used various tools to proxy C2 communications.

FIN5 maintains access to victim environments by using FLIPSIDE to create a proxy for a backup RDP tunnel.

APT29 uses compromised residential endpoints as proxies for defense evasion and network access.

APT28 used other victims as proxies to relay command traffic, for instance using a compromised Georgian military email server as a hop point to NATO victims. The group has also used a tool that acts as a proxy to allow C2 even if the victim is behind a router. APT28 has also used a machine to relay and obscure communications between CHOPSTICK and their server.

Tonto Team has routed their traffic through an external server in order to obfuscate their location.

Lazarus Group has used multiple proxies to obfuscate network traffic from victims.

Silence has used ProxyBot, which allows the attacker to redirect traffic from the current node to the backconnect server via Sock4\Socks5.