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:
- Knock, Knock – Who’s There?
February 11, 2020
Following our research from Evil Twins and Windows Linux Subsystem, interoperability between different WSL versions was something that caught our attention. The protocol and mechanism to do file management from/to WSL is a must for Blue and Red Teams whose research will provide new ways to execute known techniques to achieve tactics such as Persistence, Defense ...
- Apple Mac malware detections overtake Windows for the first time
February 11, 2020
Cyber threats aimed at Macs have outpaced those targeted at Windows PCs for the first time, signalling that Apple’s computers are not as secure as they once might have been. For some time, it was a commonly held belief that Apple Mac computers, such as the iMac, were pretty much immune to malware. This was largely due to the ...
- How Chinese Cybercriminals Use Business Playbook to Revamp Underground
February 10, 2020
Because of its longevity and technical sophistication, the Russian cybercriminal underground has long been the benchmark for threat researchers focused on studying cybercrime tactics and techniques; there is a plethora of publications dedicated to analyzing its economy and hacking forums. However, only a handful of studies have centered on the emerging threats and trends from ...
- KBOT: sometimes they come back
February 10, 2020
Although by force of habit many still refer to any malware as a virus, this once extremely common class of threats is gradually becoming a thing of the past. However, there are some interesting exceptions to this trend: we recently discovered malware that spread through injecting malicious code into Windows executable files; in other words, ...
- Introducing Loda Malware
February 10, 2020
Loda is a previously undocumented AutoIT malware with a variety of capabilities for spying on victims. Proofpoint first observed Loda in September of 2016 and it has since grown in popularity. The name ‘Loda’ is derived from a directory to which the malware author chose to write keylogger logs (Figure 14). It should be noted that some ...
- Leaked Code from Docker Registries
February 7, 2020
The Unit 42 Cloud Threat Report: Spring 2020 focused on the practices of DevOps to determine where misconfigurations are happening in the cloud. Our research found a large number of DevOps services (e.g., SSH, Database, Code Repository) inadvertently exposed to the internet due to misconfigured infrastructure. This blog offers a detailed analysis of leaked code from Docker ...