Sieren Botnet

Sieren is a botnet that can perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks by sending floods of HTTP, HTTPS and UDP packets to specified web servers.

Threat ID:: CC-2857
Category:: botnet
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:
Published:: 27 December 2018 12:00 AM

Report a cyber attack: call 0300 303 5222 or email [email protected]

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Summary

Sieren is a botnet that can perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks by sending floods of HTTP, HTTPS and UDP packets to specified web servers.

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows - All versions

Threat details

At the time of publication it is not known how Sieren initially infects new host devices. When Sieren is executed it sends the following system information to its command and control (C2) server:

Username
Machine name
Operating system version
Processor architecture

The C2 server responds with a target URL for the DDoS attack. Once the target URL is received, Sieren chooses the most relevant attack method and carries out the attack. Sieren stops the attack when the C2 server stops sending additional commands.

Sieren can also instruct infected hosts to install additional malware, update Sieren or uninstall Sieren.

Remediation steps

Type	Step
	To prevent and detect an infection, ensure that: A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails. All operating systems, anti-virus and other security products are kept up-to-date. Regular anti-virus and security scans are performed on your organisation’s estate. All day-to-day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts. Strong password policies are in place. Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity. User accounts accessed from affected devices should be reset on a clean computer. Your organisation adopts a holistic all-round approach to Cyber Security as advocated by the 10 Steps to Cyber Security.

Type

Step

To prevent and detect an infection, ensure that:

A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails.
All operating systems, anti-virus and other security products are kept up-to-date.
Regular anti-virus and security scans are performed on your organisation’s estate.
All day-to-day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts.
Strong password policies are in place.
Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity.
User accounts accessed from affected devices should be reset on a clean computer.
Your organisation adopts a holistic all-round approach to Cyber Security as advocated by the 10 Steps to Cyber Security.

Last edited: 17 February 2020 1:00 pm