Attackers typically try to pass off malware as legitimate applications or as potentially unwanted programs that users deliberately search for and download, such as cheats or cracks. They often rely on ad and affiliate networks to deliver their creations to victims’ devices. This post examines a less conventional case: a well-known backdoor distributed under the guise of adware. The attackers may have chosen this distribution method because the adware was signed by the developer. On top of that, users often manually add these apps to exclusions, so their useful features don’t get blocked.
Some time ago, a client asked us to analyze a file with the MD5 hash c24e99f9437feacaa63766a3cde3fe3d and add it to our detection database. We initially classified it as adware, but a cursory analysis turned up suspicious network activity, which prompted us to dig deeper. It turned out the sample did far more than serve ads. In fact, its advertising functionality doesn’t even work; instead, it triggers an infection chain that delivers the ValleyRAT backdoor.
Read more…
Source: Kaspersky
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Anubis: A Closer Look at an Emerging Ransomware with Built-in Wiper
June 13, 2025
A new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group has emerged and has been making a name for itself in 2025. Anubis is a recently identified group that sets itself apart by partnering encryption with more destructive capabilities—wiping directories which severely impact chances of file recovery. Given its brief history and use of a multi-layered extortion model, Anubis has all ...
- Mitel Releases Security Advisory for MiCollab
June 13, 2025
Mitel has released a security advisory to address a critical severity vulnerability in Mitel MiCollab. MiCollab is a cloud-based platform that integrates chat, voice, video, and SMS messaging for teams. The vulnerability, which has no CVE identifier at time of publish, is a “path traversal” vulnerability with a CVSSv3 score of 9.8. Successful exploitation could allow ...
- Apple fixes new iPhone zero-day bug used in Paragon spyware hacks
June 12, 2025
Researchers revealed on Thursday that two European journalists had their iPhones hacked with spyware made by Paragon. Apple says it has fixed the bug that was used to hack their phones. The Citizen Lab wrote in its report, shared with TechCrunch ahead of its publication, that Apple had told its researchers that the flaw exploited in ...
- MyCert: Malaysia data breaches up 29% in Q1 2025
June 11, 2025
The Malaysia Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCert) reported an increase in data breach incidents in Malaysia in the first quarter of the year. “Data breach incidents are growing in Malaysia with a nearly 29% increase this quarter, underscoring the need for better security measures to ensure national security and public trust,” said MyCert. According to its ...
- US government’s vaccine website defaced with AI-generated content
June 11, 2025
A U.S. government website designed to inform the public about vaccines has been defaced and now hosts apparently AI-generated spam. The domain, which belongs to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), appears to have been hosting the same kind of content — mostly gay-themed and LGBTQ+ posts — since at least May 12, ...
- Toxic trend: Another malware threat targets DeepSeek
June 11, 2025
DeepSeek-R1 is one of the most popular LLMs right now. Users of all experience levels look for chatbot websites on search engines, and threat actors have started abusing the popularity of LLMs. kaspersky previously reported attacks with malware being spread under the guise of DeepSeek to attract victims. The malicious domains spread through X posts and ...