Phishing attacks leveraging HTML code inside SVG files


With each passing year, phishing attacks feature more and more elaborate techniques designed to trick users and evade security measures. Attackers employ deceptive URL redirection tactics, such as appending malicious website addresses to seemingly safe links, embed links in PDFs, and send HTML attachments that either host the entire phishing site or use JavaScript to launch it.

Lately, Kaspersky researchers have noticed a new trend where attackers are distributing attachments in SVG format, the kind normally used for storing images. SVG format SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics using XML. Since SVG is based on XML, it supports JavaScript and HTML, unlike JPEG or PNG. This makes it easier for designers to work with non-graphical content like text, formulas, and interactive elements. However, attackers are exploiting this by embedding scripts with links to phishing pages within the image file.

Read more…
Source: Kaspersky


Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.


Related:

  • Thousands of servers infected with new Lilocked (Lilu) ransomware

    September 6, 2019

    Thousands of web servers have been infected and had their files encrypted by a new strain of ransomware named Lilocked (or Lilu). Infections have been happening since mid-July, and have intensified in the past two weeks, ZDNet has learned. Based on current evidence, the Lilocked ransomware appears to target Linux-based systems only. First reports date to mid-July, after ...

  • Malware Classification with ‘Graph Hash,’ Applied to the Orca Cyberespionage Campaign

    September 6, 2019

    In malware research, threat hunting and sharing of threat intelligence, such as exchanging indicators of compromise (IoCs) in the form of hashes (e.g., MD5s, SHA256s), are common industry practices and helpful for information security professionals. Researchers, for instance, would typically search for malware samples on VirusTotal using hashes. However, hashes have some characteristics that could ...

  • A Chinese APT is now going after Pulse Secure and Fortinet VPN servers

    September 5, 2019

    A group of Chinese state-sponsored hackers is targeting enterprise VPN servers from Fortinet and Pulse Secure after details about security flaws in both products became public knowledge last month. The attacks are being carried out by a group known as APT5 (also known as Manganese), ZDNet has learned from sources familiar with the attacks. According to a ...

  • Hackers exploiting popular social engineering ‘toolkits’ to refine cyber attacks

    September 4, 2019

    Hackers are regularly using highly customisable online resources to add social engineering components to render their attacks more effective, according to new research from Malwarebytes. One website identified by the team features an expansive toolkit that has drawn more than 100,000 visits in the past few weeks, offering design and framework support to attackers. The resource, dubbed Domen, is built ...

  • BRATA Android RAT Steals Banking Info in Real Time

    September 4, 2019

    The RAT targets users via fake WhatsApp updates in Google Play. A powerful Android remote access tool (RAT) family dubbed BRATA is proliferating, with at least 20 different variants cropping up since it was first spotted in January. The majority of the binaries have been found in the official Google Play store, masquerading as updates for ...

  • Android Zero-Day Bug Opens Door to Privilege Escalation Attack, Researchers Warn

    September 4, 2019

    Researchers are warning of a high-severity zero-day vulnerability in Google’s Android operating system, which if exploited could give a local attacker escalated privileges on a target’s device. The specific flaw exists within the v4l2 (Video4Linux 2) driver, which is the Android media driver. When exploited, a component within the v4l2 “does not validate the existence of ...