- IAmTheKing and the SlothfulMedia malware family
October 15, 2020
On October 1, 2020, the DHS CISA agency released information about a malware family called SlothfulMedia, which they attribute to a sophisticated threat actor. We have been tracking this set of activity through our private reporting service, and we would like to provide the community with additional context. In June 2018, we published the first report ...
- Two New IoT Vulnerabilities Identified with Mirai Payloads
October 14, 2020
Palo Alto Networks is proactively trying to safeguard its customers from attacks however possible. By leveraging its Next-Generation Firewall as sensors on the perimeter to detect malicious payloads and attack patterns, Unit 42 researchers are able to hunt down the menaces out there on the network, be they known or not. Unit 42 researchers have taken ...
- Court orders seizure of ransomware botnet controls as U.S. election nears
October 12, 2020
Microsoft said Monday it had used a court order to take control of computers that were installing ransomware and other malicious software on local government networks and threatening to disrupt the November election. The maker of the Windows operating system said it seized a series of internet protocol addresses hosted by U.S. companies that had been ...
- The most common malicious email attachments infecting Windows
October 11, 2020
To stay safe online, everyone needs to recognize malicious attachments that are commonly used in phishing emails to distribute malware. When distributing malware, threat actors create spam campaigns that pretend to be invoices, invites, payment information, shipping information, eFaxes, voicemails, and more. Included in these emails are malicious Word and Excel attachments, or links to them, ...
- Fitbit Spyware Steals Personal Data via Watch Face
October 9, 2020
A wide-open app-building API would allow an attacker to build a malicious application that could access Fitbit user data, and send it to any server. Kev Breen, director of cyber threat research for Immersive Labs, created a proof-of-concept for just that scenario, after realizing that Fitbit devices are loaded with sensitive personal data. “Essentially, ...
- MontysThree: Industrial espionage with steganography and a Russian accent on both sides
October 8, 2020
In summer 2020 we uncovered a previously unknown multi-module C++ toolset used in highly targeted industrial espionage attacks dating back to 2018. Initially the reason for our interest in this malware was its rarity, the obviously targeted nature of the campaign and the fact that there are no obvious similarities with already known campaigns at ...
- HEH P2P Botnet Sports Dangerous Wiper Function
October 8, 2020
A freshly discovered botnet dubbed HEH by researchers is casting a wide net, looking to infect any and all devices that use Telnet on ports 23/2323. It’s particularly destructive: It contains code that wipes all data from infected systems. Perhaps ironically, its operators also have a penchant for civil advocacy – a loading of the Universal ...
- PoetRAT Resurfaces in Attacks in Azerbaijan Amid Escalating Conflict
October 8, 2020
A new iteration of the PoetRAT spyware, sporting improvements to operational security, code efficiency and obfuscation, is making the rounds in Azerbaijan, targeting the public sector and other key organizations as the country’s conflict with Armenia over disputed territory intensifies. Threat intelligence researchers have observed multiple new strikes using the malware that show a “change in ...
- MosaicRegressor: Lurking in the Shadows of UEFI
October 5, 2020
UEFI (or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) has become a prominent technology that is embedded within designated chips on modern day computer systems. Replacing the legacy BIOS, it is typically used to facilitate the machine’s boot sequence and load the operating system, while using a feature-rich environment to do so. At the same time, it has ...
- New ransomware vaccine kills programs wiping Windows shadow volumes
October 4, 2020
A new ransomware vaccine program has been created that terminates processes that try to delete volume shadow copies using Microsoft’s vssadmin.exe program, Every day, Windows will create backups of your system and data files and store them in Shadow Volume Copy snapshots. These snapshots can then be used to recover files if they are mistakenly changed or ...