Classification:

attack

Tactic:

TA0005-defense-evasion

Technique:

T1535-unused-or-unsupported-cloud-regions

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Goal

Detect when there is an attempt to create Xlarge EC2 instances in multiple AWS regions.

Strategy

Monitor CloudTrail and detect when an attempt to create Xlarge EC2 instances in multiple AWS regions occurs. An attacker may use Xlarge EC2 instances as a means of creating easily scalable resources to mine cryptocurrency. To avoid detection and resource service quotas, the attacker may try to create these resources in multiple regions.

Triage and response

1. Determine if {{@userIdentity.arn}} should have carried out this operation.
2. If the API calls were not made by the user:

• Rotate user credentials.
• Remove the newly created instances {{@@responseElements.instancesSet.items.instanceId}} if the API call was successful.
• Remove any associated EC2 security groups or key pairs.
• Determine what other API calls were made by the user.
• Begin your organization’s incident response process and investigate.