In this post, Unt 42 researchers look at the types of embedded payloads that attackers leverage to abuse Microsoft OneNote files. Our analysis of roughly 6,000 malicious OneNote samples from WildFire reveals that these samples have a phishing-like theme where attackers use one or more images to lure people into clicking or interacting with OneNote files.
The interaction then executes an embedded malicious payload. Since macros have been disabled by default in Office, attackers have turned to leveraging other Microsoft products for embedding malicious payloads. As a result, malicious OneNote files have grown in popularity.
Read more…
Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
Related:
- Fake BianLian Ransomware Letters in Circulation
March 19, 2025
On March 5, the FBI issued an alert regarding a mail scam targeting U.S. business executives with extortion. The letters claim to be from noted ransomware group BianLian, demanding a payment in Bitcoin ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 within ten days of receipt. The FBI alert reads as follows: “Stamped “Time Sensitive Read Immediately”, the letter ...
- AMOS and Lumma stealers actively spread to Reddit users
March 18, 2025
Malwarebytes Labs were alerted to Mac and Windows stealers currently distributed via Reddit posts targeting users engaging in cryptocurrency trading. One of the common lures is a cracked software version of the popular trading platform TradingView. The crooks are posting links to both Windows and Mac installers which have been laced with Lumma Stealer and Atomic ...
- Squid Werewolf cyber spies masquerade as recruiters
March 12, 2025
Espionage activity clusters may pose as recruiters to distribute phishing emails, targeting key employees in organizations of interest. In December 2024, the BI.ZONE Threat Intelligence team uncovered a peculiar phishing campaign aimed at luring victims with fake job opportunities at an industrial organization. A detailed analysis revealed that the attack had been carried out by Squid Werewolf ...
- DCRat backdoor returns
March 11, 2025
Since the beginning of the year, Kaspersky researchers have been tracking in their telemetry a new wave of DCRat distribution, with paid access to the backdoor provided under the Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) model. The cybercriminal group behind it also offers support for the malware and infrastructure setup for hosting the C2 servers. Distribution The DCRat backdoor is ...
- Trojans disguised as AI: cybercriminals exploit DeepSeek’s popularity
March 6, 2025
Among the most significant events in the AI world in early 2025 was the release of DeepSeek-R1 – a powerful reasoning large language model (LLM) with open weights. It’s available both for local use and as a free service. Since DeepSeek was the first service to offer access to a reasoning LLM to a wide ...
- YouTube cracks down on gambling videos trying to lure viewers to unapproved sites
March 4, 2025
YouTube is cracking down on content related to gambling as sports betting and other online prediction markets have taken off in the United States. The platform announced Tuesday it will no longer allow content that directs users to “unapproved” gambling websites through links, images, text, logos or verbal references. YouTube defines unapproved gambling sites as those ...