- Analysis: Abuse of .NET features for compiling malicious programs
March 12, 2020
The .NET framework, a software development framework created by Microsoft and is now a built-in component of Windows, includes components that enable developers to compile and execute C# source code during runtime. This allows programs to update or load modules without having to restart. While the .NET framework is originally intended to help software engineers, cybercriminals ...
- New TrickBot Variant Updates Anti-Analysis Tricks
March 11, 2020
Researchers uncovered a new variant of the TrickBot malware that relies on new anti-analysis techniques, an updated method for downloading its payload as well as adopting minor changes to the integration of its components. TrickBot is a module-based malware that, while first identified as a banking trojan, has gradually extended its functions to include collecting credentials from a victim’s emails, ...
- Next-Gen Ransomware Packs a ‘Human’ Punch, Microsoft Warns
March 6, 2020
Researchers are warning that “human operated” ransomware campaigns are growing more sophisticated, adopting new infection tactics and lateral movement techniques that traditional defense teams aren’t equipped to handle. Researchers said that “auto-spreading” ransomware – like WannaCry and NotPetya – are making headlines due to the crippling downtimes that these attacks cause. However, “human operated” ransomware – like REvil, Bitpaymer, and Ryuk – ...
- Ryuk ransomware hits Fortune 500 company EMCOR
March 5, 2020
EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME), a US-based Fortune 500 company specialized in engineering and industrial construction services, disclosed last month a ransomware incident that took down some of its IT systems. The incident took place on February 15 and was identified as an infection with the Ryuk ransomware strain. Details of the attack and the aftermath are not public, ...
- Chinese hackers use decade-old Bisonal Trojan in cyberespionage campaigns
March 5, 2020
Chinese cyberattackers continue to improve and deploy a decade-old Remote Access Trojan (RAT) in ongoing campaigns against Russian, Japanese, and South Korean targets. On Thursday, researchers from Cisco Talos said that the Bisonal RAT is an unusual sample of malware that has been improved, rolled back, and refined over a period of 10 years, an uncommon practice by ...
- DoppelPaymer Ransomware Used to Steal Data from Supplier to SpaceX, Tesla
March 3, 2020
A company that provides custom parts to aerospace giants Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and Boeing, has been the target of an attack by an emerging type of ransomware that can both encrypt files and exfiltrate data. Colorado-based Visser Precision said it was targeted by a “cyber incident” that involved the attacker accessing and stealing company data after a security ...
- Cobalt Ulster Strikes Again With New ForeLord Malware
March 3, 2020
A new credential-stealing malware, dubbed ForeLord, has been uncovered in a recent spear phishing campaign. Researchers tie the attack to a known advanced persistence threat (APT) group known as Cobalt Ulster. The emails distributing ForeLord were uncovered as part of a campaign, running between mid-2019 and mid-January 2020. The emails were targeting organizations in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, as ...
- GuLoader: Malspam Campaign Installing NetWire RAT
March 3, 2020
NetWire is a publicly-available RAT that has been used by criminal organizations and other malicious groups since 2012. NetWire is distributed through various campaigns, and we usually see it sent through malicious spam (malspam). GuLoader is a file downloader that was first discovered in December 2019, and it has been used to distribute a wide variety of remote ...
- Molerats Delivers Spark Backdoor to Government and Telecommunications Organizations
March 3, 2020
Between October 2019 through the beginning of December 2019, Unit 42 observed multiple instances of phishing attacks likely related to a threat group known as Molerats (AKA Gaza Hackers Team and Gaza Cybergang) targeting eight organizations in six different countries in the government, telecommunications, insurance and retail industries, of which the latter two were quite ...
- TrickBot Adds ActiveX Control, Hides Dropper in Images
March 2, 2020
The TrickBot banking trojan has gotten trickier, with the addition of a Windows 10 ActiveX control to execute malicious macros in boobytrapped documents. Michael Gorelik, researcher at Morphisec Labs, said that at least two dozen documents have come to light in the last few weeks that use ActiveX—a feature in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) – to ...