The Ovidiy Stealer is a password stealing malware that will record login credentials and transmit the information to the attacker’s C2 server. As with many other password stealers, information is recorded as it is entered into websites such as banking sites, web-based email accounts, social media accounts and other online accounts.
The good news is that even if infected, the Ovidiy Stealer will not record information entered via Internet Explorer or Safari. The malware is also not persistent. If the computer is rebooted, the malware will stop running.
The bad news is, if you use Chrome or Opera, your confidential information is likely to be compromised. Other browsers known to be supported include Orbitum, Torch, Amigo and Kometa. However, since the malware is being constantly updated it is likely other browsers will be supported soon.
Ovidiy Stealer is a new malware, first detected only a month ago. It is primarily being used in attacks in Russian-speaking regions, although it is possible that multi-language versions will be developed and attacks will spread to other regions.
Researchers at Proofpoint – who first detected the password stealing malware – believe email is the primary attack vector, with the malware packaged in an executable file sent as an attachment. Proofpoint also suggests that rather than email attachments, links to download pages are also being used. Samples have been detected bundled with LiteBitcoin installers and the malware is also being distributed through file-sharing websites, in particular via Keygen software cracking programs.
New password stealers are constantly being released, but what sets the Ovidiy Stealer aside and makes it particularly dangerous is it is being sold online at a particularly low price. Just $13 (450-750 Rubles) will get one build bundled into an executable ready for delivery via a spam email campaign. Due to the low price there are likely to be many malicious actors conducting campaigns to spread the malware, hence the variety of attack vectors.
Would be attackers willing to part with $13 are able to view the number of infections via a web control panel complete with login. Via the control panel they can manage their account, see the number of infections, build more stubs and view the logs generated by the malware.
Protecting against malware such as Ovidiy Stealer requires caution as it takes time before new malware are detected by AV solutions. Some AV solutions are already detecting the malware, but not all. As always, when receiving an email from an unknown sender, do not open attachments or click on hyperlinks.
Organizations can greatly reduce risk from this password-stealer and other malware spread via spam email by implementing an advanced spam filtering solution such as SpamTitan to prevent malicious emails from reaching end users’ inboxes. SpamTitan uses dual AV engines to maximize detections and blocks over 99.9% of spam email.