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A Rising Digital Threat in Latin America
Cybercrime is evolving rapidly, especially in Latin America, where attackers are using more creative and stealthy techniques to infiltrate organizations. One such example is the newly discovered campaign dubbed “Shadow Vector” — a sophisticated cyberattack operation uncovered by the Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU). This campaign primarily targets Colombian institutions and individuals using malicious SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files. These attacks are designed to bypass conventional defenses and deliver remote access tools like AsyncRAT and RemcosRAT. What’s alarming is the level of technical finesse involved — from social engineering to kernel-level privilege escalation — marking a dangerous shift in the region’s cyber threat landscape.
SVG Smuggling and Remote Admin Tools: A New Cybercrime Playbook
Shadow Vector operates through an elaborate multi-stage infection chain. The campaign begins with targeted spear-phishing emails, disguised as official court notifications, originating from what appears to be Colombian judicial institutions. These emails include attached SVG files which appear harmless at first glance but are crafted to contain malicious embedded scripts — a technique known as “SVG smuggling.” This method, now recognized in the MITRE ATT\&CK framework, enables attackers to bypass email security filters by hiding threats within what seems like standard graphics content.
Once a victim opens the SVG file, they are redirected to payloads hosted on cloud platforms such as Dropbox, Discord CDN, or Bitbucket. Some payloads are embedded in password-protected ZIP archives that require the victim to manually extract them, reducing the chances of automated detection. These archives include a mix of legitimate executables and malicious DLLs. When run, the DLLs exploit DLL side-loading techniques to execute malicious code in-memory, deploying AsyncRAT or RemcosRAT.
The malware utilizes anti-sandbox, anti-VM, and process enumeration techniques to avoid detection. The more advanced variant, RemcosRAT, goes a step further by exploiting known vulnerabilities (CVE-2022-42045, CVE-2023-1486) in legitimate drivers like Zemana and WiseCleaner, gaining kernel-level privileges through driver abuse. These signed drivers are dropped into the system’s temp folder, registered as services, and then used to execute malicious operations with high privileges.
The campaign’s modular loader, reminiscent of the Katz Loader, supports dynamic loading of encrypted payloads directly into memory. Sometimes these are embedded within Base64-encoded images or texts hosted on public archives like the Internet Archive. This keeps forensic traces minimal. Interestingly, some malware components contain Portuguese-language strings, indicating possible collaboration or code reuse with Brazilian financial cybercrime groups.
The capabilities of AsyncRAT and RemcosRAT are extensive — from keylogging and credential theft to clipboard monitoring, cryptocurrency wallet stealing, and even remote execution of plugins. The malware infrastructure includes C2 redundancy mechanisms, ensuring persistent communication with command servers. Analysts warn that this operation has the flexibility to evolve into ransomware deployment in future waves.
What Undercode Say:
Rise of SVG Smuggling as a Serious Threat Vector
The use of SVG files in cyberattacks reflects a shift toward stealth-based tactics that bypass traditional defenses. By embedding malicious scripts in image formats, attackers leverage visual deception to exploit human behavior — a dangerous combination when paired with targeted spear-phishing. Shadow Vector is a perfect example of this — mixing social engineering with technical obfuscation to devastating effect.
Latin American Threat Actors Show Increasing Sophistication
Shadow Vector’s techniques highlight a notable evolution in Latin American threat actor capabilities. They are now leveraging multi-stage loaders, encrypted payload delivery, and public cloud infrastructure in ways previously attributed to more advanced APTs in Europe or Asia. The abuse of vulnerable but signed drivers for privilege escalation shows a deliberate effort to reach kernel-level compromise, an uncommon but extremely powerful technique.
Abuse of Cloud Services Undermines Detection
By hosting payloads on well-known and trusted platforms like Bitbucket, Dropbox, and Discord CDN, attackers effectively cloak their operations under the radar of most network defenders. These platforms are not inherently malicious, so their traffic is usually considered safe, making detection and prevention a lot more difficult for security teams.
Use of Obfuscated Loaders and Dynamic Payloads
Shadow Vector utilizes modular loaders capable of downloading and executing payloads directly into memory, ensuring minimal disk footprint. Techniques like UAC bypass, process hollowing, and encrypted configuration blobs mirror those seen in more complex malware families. These features point to a reuse of malware development kits or shared tools in underground forums, especially those popular in Brazilian cybercrime networks.
Cross-Border Threat Actor Collaboration
The presence of Portuguese language strings in the malware strongly suggests collaboration or tool-sharing across borders, particularly between Colombian and Brazilian cybercriminals. This blurs the geographic attribution lines and complicates defensive strategies, as TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) evolve beyond national boundaries.
Threat Actors Aim for Longevity and Stealth
The heavy use of anti-VM, anti-debugging, and process hiding techniques indicates a focus on persistence and stealth, not just immediate gain. This long-term infiltration approach could serve multiple objectives, including data exfiltration, financial theft, or future ransomware operations.
Legal Implications and Target Profile
The impersonation of judicial institutions in phishing emails adds a dangerous social engineering layer. This tactic leverages authority bias, making victims more likely to click and engage. It also raises legal concerns, as government impersonation can lead to heightened political and legal consequences.
Proactive Measures Are Critical
Security teams in Latin America — particularly in Colombia — need to reevaluate their email filtering systems, cloud access monitoring, and driver-level protection mechanisms. Traditional antivirus solutions are insufficient against in-memory execution and DLL side-loading attacks. Companies must invest in behavioral analysis, EDR solutions, and employee awareness training to stay ahead of such threats.
🔍 Fact Checker Results:
✅ SVG smuggling is now part of the MITRE ATT\&CK framework
✅ CVEs exploited (Zemana and WiseCleaner) are publicly documented and verified
✅ Portuguese-language strings found in the loader suggest cross-border development
📊 Prediction:
With the increasing use of public infrastructure, modular loaders, and signed driver abuse, campaigns like Shadow Vector are likely to expand beyond Colombia. We anticipate future versions incorporating ransomware modules, targeting broader regions such as Peru, Brazil, and Chile. If left unchecked, Shadow Vector may evolve into one of Latin America’s most disruptive cybercrime frameworks 🚨.
References:
Reported By: cyberpress.org
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