SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS

Storm-2657  (Back to overview)


Storm-2657 is a financially motivated threat actor targeting US-based organizations, particularly in higher education, to compromise employee accounts and redirect salary payments to attacker-controlled accounts. They employ tactics such as creating inbox rules to delete warning notifications from HR platforms like Workday and using phishing emails that impersonate legitimate university communications to gain access. The actor modifies employee salary payment configurations to facilitate financial theft. Mitigation efforts include implementing phishing-resistant MFA methods to secure user identities against such attacks.


Associated Families

There are currently no families associated with this actor.


References
2025-10-09MicrosoftMicrosoft Threat Intelligence
Investigating targeted “payroll pirate” attacks affecting US universities
Storm-2657

Credits: MISP Project