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:
- FBI: Hackers stole government source code via SonarQube instances
October 27, 2020
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a flash alert warning of hackers stealing data from U.S. government agencies and enterprise organizations via internet-exposed and insecure SonarQube instances. SonarQube is an open-source platform for automated code quality auditing and static analysis to discover bugs and security vulnerabilities in projects using 27 programming languages. Vulnerable SonarQube servers have ...
- Risks in IoT Supply Chain
October 26, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of IoT devices. As businesses slowly reopen during the pandemic, contactless IoT devices such as point of sale (POS) terminals and body temperature cameras have been widely adopted to keep business operations safe. Palo Alto Networks research shows 89% of IT decision-makers globally reported that the number of ...
- KashmirBlack botnet behind attacks on CMSs like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, others
October 26, 2020
A highly sophisticated botnet is believed to have infected hundreds of thousands of websites by attacking their underlying content management system (CMS) platforms. Named KashmirBlack, the botnet started operating in November 2019. Security researchers from Imperva —who analyzed the botnet last week in a two-part series— said the botnet’s primary purpose appears to be to infect websites ...
- Supply Chain Attacks in the Age of Cloud Computing: Risks, Mitigations, and the Importance of Securing Back Ends
October 26, 2020
Security is an aspect that every enterprise needs to consider as they use and migrate to cloud-based technologies. On top of the list of resources that enterprises need to secure are networks, endpoints, and applications. However, another critical asset that enterprises should give careful security consideration to is their back-end infrastructure which, if compromised, could ...
- Emotet malware now wants you to upgrade Microsoft Word
October 24, 2020
Emotet switched to a new template this week that pretends to be a Microsoft Office message stating that Microsoft Word needs to be updated to add a new feature. Emotet is a malware infection that spreads through emails containing Word documents with malicious macros. When opening these documents, their contents will try to trick the user ...
- WastedLocker ransomware hits Boyne Resorts ski resort operator
October 23, 2020
US-based ski and golf resort operator Boyne Resorts has suffered a cyberattack by the WastedLocker operation that has impacted company-wide reservation systems. Boyne Resorts owns and operates eleven properties located in the USA and Canada and has 11,000 employees. Many of these properties are situated on well-known ski mountains, including Big Sky, Montana, Sugarloaf, Maine, and ...