TrendAI™ Research tracked a sustained malvertising campaign that abused Google Ads to deliver ClickFix social engineering attacks disguised as popular AI developer tools. The campaign impersonated at least six legitimate brand names, including ChatGPT Codex, Perplexity, Cursor IDE, JetBrains, Claude AI, and claude.ai, and simultaneously ran Mac utility scam lures.
By leveraging paid search ads targeting users actively seeking AI development tools, the attackers were able to target technically proficient users who are more likely to interact with command-line instructions without suspicion. This marks a sophisticated evolution of the ClickFix social engineering technique, where victims are tricked into manually executing malicious commands, typically by copying and pasting PowerShell or terminal commands under the guise of “fixing” a problem or completing a software installation.
Read more…
Source: Trend Micro
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Threat Spotlight: Nuke Ransomware
February 19, 2020
Nuke ransomware, first identified in 2016, encrypts files with an AES 256-bit encryption key that is protected by asymmetrically encrypting it using 2048-bit RSA. Once a file is encrypted, Nuke changes the file name to a combination of random characters followed by a .nuclear55 extension. For example, an infected file name might be “ab0a+afbamcdEcmf.nuclear55”. Once Nuke executes it ...
- SMS Attack Spreads Emotet, Steals Bank Credentials
February 19, 2020
Attackers are sending SMS messages purporting to be from victims’ banks – but once they click on the links in the text messages, they are asked to hand over their banking credentials and download a file that infects their systems with the Emotet malware. Emotet has continued to evolve since its return in September, including a new, ...
- LokiBot Impersonates Popular Game Launcher and Drops Compiled C# Code File
February 14, 2020
LokiBot, which has the ability to harvest sensitive data such as passwords as well as cryptocurrency information, proves that the actors behind it is invested in evolving the threat. In the past, we have seen a campaign that exploits a remote code execution vulnerability to deliver LokiBot using the Windows Installer service, a Lokibot variant that uses ISO ...
- Wireshark Tutorial: Examining Qakbot Infections
February 13, 2020
Qakbot is an information stealer also known as Qbot. This family of malware has been active for years, and Qakbot generates distinct traffic patterns. This Wireshark tutorial reviews a recent packet capture (pcap) from a Qakbot infection. Understanding these traffic patterns can be critical for security professionals when detecting and investigating Qakbot infections. Note: This tutorial assumes you have ...
- Emotet Now Spreads via Wi-Fi
February 13, 2020
A new strain of Emotet was found spreading through wireless internet connections, deviating from the email spam campaigns that the malware commonly utilizes as a means of propagation. According to researchers from Binary Defense, this new loader type takes advantage of the wlanAPI interface to spread from an infected device to an unsecure Wi-Fi network. Emotet was discovered by Trend ...
- Puerto Rico Government Hit By $2.6M Phishing Scam
February 13, 2020
A phishing scam has swindled a Puerto Rico government agency out of more than $2.6 million, according to reports. According to reports, the email-based phishing scam hit Puerto Rico’s Industrial Development Company, which is a government-owned corporation aimed at driving economic development to the island along with local and foreign investors. The agency reportedly received an email alleging ...