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OT Atlas

Threats · Activity group

WASSONITE

activeIT access with OT relevanceDragosAttribution · Low
Last verified

Executive summary

WASSONITE is reported for targeting electric generation, nuclear energy, manufacturing and research organisations, using remote access tooling, credential theft and removable-media techniques. Public reporting describes overlap with activity other vendors associate with DPRK-linked operations.

At a glance

Tracked byDragos
NexusReported by vendors as DPRK-linked
First observed2018 (public reporting)
Last reportedContinued Dragos tracking
ICS kill chainStage 1 — Reconnaissance · Stage 1 — Intrusion

Rosetta Stone

Names across the industry

Every edge states the kind of relationship the public source supports — an alias is not the same as an overlap.

WASSONITE
  • Lazarus-associated reporting
    Technical overlapLow

    Tracked by Multiple vendors

Relevance

Why OT defenders care

Objectives

  • Access to energy and research organisations
  • Information collection

Reported impacts

  • No publicly confirmed OT process effects

Observed behaviours

  • Removable media use to cross boundaries
  • Remote access tool deployment
  • Credential theft

Targeting

Sectors, geography and assets

Target industries

Electric powerNuclearManufacturingResearch

Target geography

AsiaMiddle EastAfrica

Observed assets

Corporate IT supporting OTEngineering workstation

Protocols in scope

HTTPSSMB

Capability

Malware and tools

Malware, commercial tooling, open-source utilities and native operating-system tools are kept separate — they demand different detections.

Malware

  • DTrack-associated tooling reported by vendors
  • Removable-media propagation

Commercial tool

Not publicly established

Open-source utility

Not publicly established

Native OS tool

Not publicly established

ATT&CK

Technique mapping

ATT&CK Enterprise

ATT&CK for ICS

History

Known campaigns and incidents

Reported campaigns

Not publicly established

Atlas incident case studies

Not publicly established

Defence

Defensive hunting priorities

Start with the hunts below — each one is a complete procedure in the Field Playbook.

Priorities

  • Removable media policy and technical enforcement
  • Engineering laptop hygiene
  • Endpoint telemetry where safe

Hunt for this activity

Indicators

Indicator guidance

Indicators expire. Behaviour usually ages better.

This registry deliberately does not republish volatile IP and domain lists. Pull current indicators from the linked authoritative reporting, match them locally against your own telemetry, and invest your standing detections in the behaviours listed above.
Last verified