Threat actors misusing Quick Assist in social engineering attacks leading to ransomware


Since mid-April 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed the threat actor Storm-1811 misusing the client management tool Quick Assist to target users in social engineering attacks.

Storm-1811 is a financially motivated cybercriminal group known to deploy Black Basta ransomware. The observed activity begins with impersonation through voice phishing (vishing), followed by delivery of malicious tools, including remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools like ScreenConnect and NetSupport Manager, malware like Qakbot, Cobalt Strike, and ultimately Black Basta ransomware.

Read more…
Source: Microsoft


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Spear-phishing campaign compromises executives at 150+ companies

    April 30, 2020

    A cybercrime group operating since mid-2019 has breached the email accounts of high-ranking executives at more than 150 companies, cyber-security firm Group-IB reported today. The group, codenamed PerSwaysion, appears to have targeted the financial sector primarily, which accounted for more than half of its victims; although, victims have been recorded at companies active across other verticals ...

  • Security 101: How Fileless Attacks Work and Persist in Systems

    April 30, 2020

    As security measures get better at identifying and blocking malware and other threats, modern adversaries are constantly crafting sophisticated techniques to evade detection. One of the most persistent evasion techniques involves fileless attacks, which do not require malicious software to break into a system. Instead of relying on executables, these threats misuse tools that are ...

  • WebMonitor RAT Bundled with Zoom Installer

    April 29, 2020

    The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the usefulness of communication apps for work-from-home (WFH) setups. However, like they always do, cybercriminals are expected to exploit popular trends and user behavior. We have witnessed threats against several messaging apps including Zoom. In early April, we spotted an attack leveraging Zoom installers to spread a cryptocurrency miner. We recently encountered a similar attack ...

  • Anatomy of Formjacking Attacks

    April 27, 2020

    The rise of the Internet has contributed positively in many ways to people’s lives and you can find almost any service on the internet now. However, the convenience of the internet also opens a gate to use malware to steal people’s confidential information, and unfortunately, more and more malware authors are taking advantage of this. Formjacking, ...

  • A look at the ATM/PoS malware landscape from 2017-2019

    April 23, 2020

    From remote administration and jackpotting, to malware sold on the Darknet, attacks against ATMs have a long and storied history.  And, much like other areas of cybercrime, attackers only refine and grow their skillset for infecting ATM systems from year-to-year. So what does the ATM landscape look like as of 2020? Let’s take a look. ATM attacks aren’t ...

  • Studying How Cybercriminals Prey on the COVID-19 Pandemic

    April 22, 2020

    With the spread of the coronavirus worldwide, interest is high in related topics. Accordingly, Unit 42 researchers found an immense increase in coronavirus-related Google searches and URLs viewed since the beginning of February. Cybercriminals are looking to profit from such trending topics, disregarding ethical concerns, and in this particular case preying on the misfortunes of ...