Attackers are increasingly exploiting Windows shortcut (LNK) files for malware delivery. Palo Alto Unit 42 telemetry revealed 21,098 malicious LNK samples in 2023, which surged to 68,392 in 2024.
In this article, Unit 42 researchers present an in-depth investigation of LNK malware, based on analysis of 30,000 recent samples. Windows shortcut files use the .lnk file extension and function as a virtual link that allows people to easily access other files without having to navigate through multiple folders on a Windows host. The flexibility of LNK files makes them a powerful tool for attackers, as they can both execute malicious content and masquerade as legitimate files to deceive victims into unintentionally launching malware.
Read more…
Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- European Banking Authority discloses Exchange server hack
March 8, 2021
The European Banking Authority (EBA) took down all email systems after their Microsoft Exchange Servers were hacked as part of the ongoing attacks targeting organizations worldwide. EBA is part of the European System of Financial Supervision and it oversees the integrity orderly functioning of the EU banking sector. “The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in ...
- Supernova malware clues link Chinese threat group Spiral to SolarWinds server hacks
March 8, 2021
A possible link to China has been noted by researchers examining the exploit of SolarWinds servers to deploy malware. On Monday, Secureworks’ counter threat unit (CTU) said that during late 2020, a compromised Internet-facing SolarWinds server was used as a springboard to deploy Supernova, a .NET web shell. Similar intrusions on the same network suggest that the ...
- Unpatched QNAP devices are being hacked to mine cryptocurrency
March 8, 2021
Unpatched network-attached storage (NAS) devices are targeted in ongoing attacks where the attackers try to take them over and install cryptominer malware to mine for cryptocurrency. The threat actors exploit two pre-auth remote command execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in the Helpdesk app patched by QNAP in October 2020. Cryptomining malware discovered on NAS devices compromised during this campaign ...
- D-Link, IoT Devices Under Attack By Tor-Based Gafgyt Variant
March 5, 2021
Researchers have discovered what they say is the first variant of the Gafgyt botnet family to cloak its activity using the Tor network. Gafgyt, a botnet that was uncovered in 2014, has become infamous for launching large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Researchers first discovered activity from the newest variant, which they call Gafgyt_tor, on Feb. 15. In ...
- Accellion zero-day claims a new victim in cybersecurity company Qualys
March 4, 2021
Qualys has revealed that a “limited” number of customers may have been impacted by a data breach connected to an Accellion zero-day vulnerability. The cloud security and compliance firm said on Wednesday that the security incident did not have any “operational impact,” but “unauthorized access” had been obtained to an Accellion FTA server used by the ...
- New in Ransomware: AlumniLocker, Humble Feature Different Extortion Techniques
March 4, 2021
Trend Micro researchers recently discovered two new ransomware variants, AlumniLocker and Humble, which exhibit different sophisticated behaviors and extortion techniques post-encryption. One of these techniques includes an unusually high ransom payment and a threat to publicize victims’ critical data. These new variants prove that ransomware’s targeted and extortion-focused era is alive and well in 2021. Technical analyses AlumniLocker ...