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Bumblebee Malware Returns With a Large-Scale Phishing Campaign

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 18, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A large-scale phishing campaign has been identified that has already targeted many thousands of organizations in the United States and could be expanded geographically. The purpose of the campaign is to distribute Bumblebee malware, a malware loader that was first identified in 2022 and is thought to be a replacement for the widely used BazarLoader malware loader. Bumblebee malware is used for gaining initial access to networks and has been used in many successful cyberattacks. The malware is rented out to cybercriminals or access to compromised networks is sold to cybercriminal groups such as ransomware gangs. The malware has been linked to several high-profile threat actors and notorious ransomware gangs, including the now-defunct Conti ransomware group.

Over the past four months, Bumblebee malware has not been detected but it has now returned with a massive campaign. A variety of lures are used in phishing emails, which incorporate social engineering techniques to trick the recipients into downloading and executing the malware. For instance, the latest campaign included thousands of emails using the subject Voicemail February, with messages indicating the user had missed a voice call. The emails instructed the recipient to download the recording, the opening of which triggered the infection process. Other emails used in the campaign have used Word documents with malicious macros with the emails spoofing trusted companies, such as the electronics firm Humane. Rather than include the document attached to the email, a OneDrive link was provided in the email from which the document could be downloaded. This was an effort to prevent detection by email security solutions, as OneDrive is a legitimate and trusted service. Previous campaigns have used DocuSign branded emails that trick users into downloading a zipped ISO file from OneDrive.The group is known to hijack email threads to make it appear that the emails are responses to previous conversations with contacts.

Multiple threat actors are believed to rent out the malware, including the initial access brokers who work with ransomware gangs. Bumblebee malware infections are often accompanied by other payloads, including Cobalt Strike, Meterpreter, Sliver, and shellcode, and often lead to ransomware attacks. To combat Bumblebee malware infections, businesses should implement robust defenses against phishing. An advanced email security solution is required with AI and machine learning capabilities that can detect novel phishing attempts. SpamTitan Plus uses a machine learning algorithm that can identify emails that deviate from those typically received by a business, links are rewritten and followed and the destination URL is assessed. All emails are subjected to antivirus scans and suspicious attachments are sent to a Bitdefender-powered sandbox for behavioral analysis.

Security awareness training should be provided to the workforce to improve resilience to phishing attempts by teaching security best practices and how to identify phishing attempts. SafeTitan is a comprehensive security awareness training platform and phishing simulator that is updated with new content regularly in response to changing phishing tactics, including those used in Bumblebee campaigns. It is also recommended to implement multi-factor authentication on accounts, perform daily backups and store them offline, implement next-generation antivirus technology on endpoints, and implement network hierarchy protocols and network segmentation to prevent lateral movement.

Business Microsoft 365 Accounts Attacks Using Greatness Phishing Kit

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 31, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing has long been the most common way that cybercriminals gain initial access to business networks. A successful attack allows a threat actor to steal credentials and gain a foothold in the network, providing access to sensitive data and giving them the access they need to conduct a range of nefarious actions. Phishers must develop campaigns that are capable of bypassing email security solutions and use lures that are likely to fool end users into disclosing their credentials or opening malicious email attachments. In recent years, the entry barrier for conducting phishing campaigns has been significantly lowered through phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS), which has proven popular with would-be cybercriminals.

Phishing kits are offered that provide everything needed to launch successful phishing campaigns, without having to spend hours setting up the infrastructure, creating convincing emails, and incorporating anti-detection measures to ensure emails land in inboxes. A relatively new phishing kit is proving to be particularly popular. The Greatness phishing kit has been available since mid-2022 and lowers the bar for starting phishing campaigns, requiring a payment of just $120 a month to use the kit. The Greatness phishing kit allows emails to be customized to suit the hacker’s needs and add attachments, links, or QR codes to the emails. The kit makes it easy to generate and send emails and create obfuscated messages that can bypass many cybersecurity solutions and land in inboxes. The kit also supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) bypass by performing a man-in-the-middle attack to steal authentication codes and can be integrated with Telegram bots.

The kit has an attachment and link builder that creates convincing login pages for harvesting Microsoft 365 credentials and even pre-fills the victim’s email address into the login box, only requiring them to enter their password. The kit also adds the targeted company’s logo to the phishing page along with a background image that is extracted from the targeted organization’s M365 login page. As such, the Greatness phishing kit is aimed at individuals looking to target businesses and can be easily purchased through the developer’s Telegram channel. There were several spikes in Greatness phishing kit activity in 2023, with the latest detected in December 2023 and the increased activity has continued into 2024. Phishing kits such as Greatness significantly lower the barrier for entry to cybercrime and make it as easy as possible to start phishing, and the low cost of the kit has made it an attractive option for would-be cybercriminals. This phishing kit is used to target Microsoft 365 users, and the emails can be convincing and are likely to fool many end users.

The key to defending against phishing attacks is to implement layered defenses to ensure that a failure of one defensive measure does not leave the business unprotected. TitanHQ has developed a suite of cybersecurity solutions for businesses and the MSPs that serve them to improve their defenses against phishing, including AI-generated phishing emails and sophisticated phishing kits capable of stealing passwords and MFA codes.

TitanHQ’s PhishTitan provides advanced phishing protection and remediation for Microsoft 365. TitanHQ’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm integrates directly with Microsoft 365 and catches and remediates sophisticated phishing including AI-generated phishing emails, business email compromise, spear phishing, and phishing attacks that bypass MFA. The solution augments rather than replaces EOP and Defender and catches the phishing attempts that those defensive measures often miss.

PhishTitan uses AI and a large language model (LLM) with proprietary threat intelligence currently not found in any other anti-phishing solution on the market, and will scan attachments for malicious links and malware, rewrite URLs, apply banner notifications, and block malicious links. PhishTitna also provides time-of-click protection to combat the weaponization of links after delivery. The solution uses machine learning algorithms to scan the message body to assess email content and identify words, phrasing, and formatting of emails indicating a phishing attempt, and will learn over time and become even more effective.

PhishTitan is suitable for businesses of all types and sizes and has been developed from the ground up to meet the needs of MSPs. The solution can be set up in less than 10 minutes, and MSPs can add new clients in less than 6 minutes and start protecting them from highly sophisticated phishing attacks. For maximum protection, TitanHQ also offers WebTitan DNS filter to protect against web-based attacks, ArcTitan email archiving for security and compliance, EncryptTitan for email encryption, SafeTitan for security awareness training and phishing simulations, and the SpamTitan Suite of email security solutions. All products are available on a no-obligation, 100% free trial and product demonstrations are available on request. For more information on PhishTitan and other TitanHQ solutions, give the TitanHQ team a call today.

Microsoft Teams Used to Push DarkGate Malware

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 30, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing is most commonly associated with email; however, there are a variety of ways that cybercriminals can make contact with end users and other forms of phishing are becoming much more common. Smishing is the use of SMS messages for phishing which targets users via their smartphones, which tend to have far weaker security controls than laptops and PCs. Voice phishing is also common, where malicious actors trick people into disclosing sensitive information or installing malware over the phone. Phishing can also take place via social media networks and video conferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams.

A campaign has recently been identified that uses Microsoft Teams group chat requests for phishing. A threat actor appears to be using a compromised account to send Teams group chat invites to thousands of individuals. The compromised User’s Teams account is likely to have been compromised in a phishing, credential stuffing, or brute force attack. This campaign aims to install malware on users’ systems – a malware variant called DarkGate. DarkGate malware was first identified in 2018 and is a remote access Trojan that can install a hidden virtual network computing (hVNC) module to provide remote access to a victim’s device. The malware has keylogging and information-stealing capabilities and can steal cookies and information stored in browsers, Discord tokens, and cryptocurrency wallets. The malware can also download other payloads such as ransomware.

In this campaign, if a user accepts the group chat request, the threat actor uses social engineering techniques to trick them into downloading a file to their device. The user is tricked into thinking that they are downloading a PDF file, but they download an executable file. The file – Navigating Future Changes October 2023.pdf.msi – has a double extension. On Windows systems, which are typically configured to hide known file extensions, the file will be displayed as Navigating Future Changes October 2023.pdf. If the user double-clicks on the file, the malware will be installed and will connect to its command-and-control server, giving the treat actor control over the user’s device.

Microsoft Teams has become a popular target for threat actors for malware distribution. There are around 280 million monthly users, and the default settings allow Microsoft Teams users to receive chat requests from external Microsoft Teams users. While most users will have antivirus software on their devices for detecting malware, DarkGate malware is stealthy and often evades antivirus software. There are several steps that businesses can take to combat these attacks. The most important of which is to disable External Access in Microsoft Teams unless it is absolutely necessary for day-to-day business use. This will ensure that users can only receive chat requests internally, which will greatly reduce risk.

Another important measure is to provide regular security awareness training to the workforce. Employees should be taught cybersecurity basics such as how to recognize a phishing attempt and should be made aware of the latest tactics used by cybercriminals in attacks on employees. Training should be provided continuously, with short training sessions conducted every month. When new phishing techniques are identified, short training modules can be pushed out to employees to make them aware of the threat. With the SafeTitan security awareness training platform this is easy. The platform has a wide range of CBT content, with training modules lasting no more than 10 minutes so they are easy to fit in to workflows.

If you do not currently provide regular security awareness training to your workforce, contact TitanHQ about SafeTitan. Product demonstrations can be arranged on request, and you can test the product for yourself in a free trial.

Advanced Phishing Protection for Managed Service Providers

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 29, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Alarmingly, 71% of Microsoft business users report that they suffer at least one compromised account each month. The biggest cause of account compromises is phishing. Phishing is the fraudulent practice of making contact with an individual and tricking them into taking an action that the attacker wants, which is usually to disclose their credentials to allow an attacker to remotely access their account. Phishing attacks usually involve impersonation, where the attacker claims they are an authority figure, such as the CEO of the company, a friend or colleague, or a representative of a reputable company.

The capturing of credentials usually occurs on a website with initial contact with the individual usually occurring via email, although phishing attacks are also conducted via SMS messages (smishing), telephone (vishing), social media networks, and instant messaging services.

Phishing targets members of the workforce, including employees and board members, and it is the responsibility of security teams and managed service providers to block as many phishing attempts as possible and ensure that if phishing attempts do bypass defenses, end users have been trained to recognize phishing attempts and report them. Security teams naturally concentrate on the former, as phishing will only succeed if an attacker can make contact. The problem is that cybercriminals are developing highly sophisticated phishing campaigns that are difficult for traditional email security solutions to identify and block.

Cybercriminals target Microsoft 365 credentials as they provide access to a wealth of sensitive data and to email accounts which can be used to conduct further phishing attacks internally and on the company’s customers and vendors. Once credentials have been obtained, they can be used for a much more extensive attack on a company. TitanHQ has received feedback from its managed service provider (MSP) customers that Microsoft 365 phishing is the number one problem to solve in the email security community.

TitanHQ already has products that can protect against phishing. There is the SpamTitan suite of products for email security, WebTitan for protecting against web-based attacks, including blocking access to the websites where credentials are obtained, and the SafeTitan security awareness and phishing simulation platform for educating the workforce on cybersecurity threats and testing resilience through simulated phishing emails.

What was needed, however, was a new solution that is specifically focused on phishing. “We therefore allocated resources and investment to develop a solution with new, cutting-edge, robust, fast phishing threat intelligence driven by a team of security specialists,” said TitanHQ CEO, Ronan Kavanagh. “We are pleased to be able to meet the market’s needs with a product that delivers.”

PhishTitan has been developed to help MSPs and businesses improve their phishing defenses for Microsoft 365, as Microsoft’s defensive measures – EOP and Defender – are failing to identify and block many phishing attempts. PhishTitan is a next-generation phishing protection and remediation solution for Microsoft 365, which integrates TitanHQ’s proprietary machine-learning algorithm directly with Microsoft 365 to augment EOP and Defender and catch and remediate the sophisticated phishing attacks that EOP and Defender miss.

PhishTitan has been developed from the ground up to meet the needs of MSPs and allow them to block more phishing attempts on their clients and remediate phishing attempts rapidly, without having to commit extensive resources to managing email security for each client.

PhishTitan is functionally rich, offering multiple integration options, and has granular policy controls, a full reporting suite, and provides comprehensive protection. Businesses can set up the solution themselves in around 10 minutes, and MSPs can add new clients in just 6 minutes.

PhishTitan Features

• AI-driven solution that is capable of identifying and blocking zero-day threats
• Scans and blocks malicious links
• Scans and neutralizes malware
• Detects unique and sophisticated phishing and BEC attacks over and above those detected by EOP and Defender
• Rewrites URLs and applies banner notifications
• Time of click protection to combat links that are weaponized after delivery
• Protection against data leakage of sensitive company information
• Instant remediation across an entire tenant
• Real-time visibility and reporting suite on emerging threats
• Phishing intelligence data that is unmatched in visibility, coverage, and accuracy.

If you are struggling to block phishing attacks on your M365 accounts or are a managed service provider who wants to improve phishing protection for your customers, give the TitanHQ team a call to find out more about how PhishTitan works and how it can improve your defenses against phishing. Product demonstrations can be arranged on request and PhishTitan is available on a free trial.

PikaBot Malware Now Distributed via Fake Ads for AnyDesk

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

There has been a change in the distribution method of PikaBot malware, which is now being pushed in a malvertising campaign. Previously PikaBot was only distributed via phishing emails. PikaBot malware was first identified in early 2023 and is a modular malware Trojan that consists of two components: a loader and a core module. The malware allows the operator to gain remote access to compromised systems and execute a range of commands, including shell commands and fetching and running EXE or DLL files. The malware also allows downloads of additional malware payloads and post-compromise tools. The malware is known to be used by a prolific threat actor tracked as TA577, with infection leading to the deployment of Cobalt Strike.

The malvertising campaign uses Google Ads for AnyDesk, a remote desktop application popular with businesses. Google has security checks in place to prevent malicious adverts from being displayed and these are being bypassed by using a tracking URL with a legitimate marketing platform, with the custom domain for the redirect protected by Cloudflare. The malicious adverts are displayed when users search for popular software such as Zoom, Advanced IP Scanner, and WinSCP.

If the Ad is clicked by a user, they are directed to a spoofed AnyDesk download site that will deliver an MSI installer hosted on Dropbox. Checks are also performed before redirection to the malicious site, with redirection not occurring if fingerprinting checks determine the request is originating from a virtual machine. Before the MSI download is initiated, another check is performed to test whether the request is coming from a virtual environment. On download, Pikabot uses an injector to run anti-analysis tests and will only decrypt and inject the core module payload if these checks are passed, otherwise, execution is aborted.

The use of malvertising in malware campaigns is increasing and this initial access vector is often successful as most security awareness training programs concentrate on phishing. It is important to ensure that malvertising is covered in security awareness training sessions and that employees are told about the risks of downloading software and are made aware of the checks they should perform to make sure the source of the software is legitimate.

Businesses can further protect themselves against malware distribution via the internet with a DNS filter. The WebTitan DNS filter can be used to control the web pages that can be accessed by employees. Access can be restricted to whitelisted sites, and websites can be easily blocked by category. WebTitan is constantly updated by multiple threat intelligence feeds and will block access to all URLs known to be used for malware distribution. While this malvertising campaign involves many checks to determine if a web filter is accessing the content, which may result in the content being accessible, WebTitan can be configured to block the downloading of certain files from the Internet, including executable files such as MSI files. Not only will this help to prevent malware downloads, it will also allow IT teams to curb shadow IT – unauthorized software downloads by employees – which are a security risk.

The WebTitan DNS Filter and the SafeTitan Security Awareness Training Platform are both available on a free trial and product demonstrations can be arranged on request. For further information give the TitanHQ team a call.

AI will Fuel Rise in Ransomware and Phishing Attacks

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 26, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Ransomware attacks hit record levels in 2023 and are set to increase further along with the phishing attacks that provide ransomware groups with initial access to business networks.

The ransomware remediation firm Coveware reports that ransomware groups are now much less likely to receive ransom payments, with only 29% of victims choosing to pay up to obtain the keys to decrypt their data and prevent their data from being added to data leak sites. At the start of 2019, 85% of victims of ransomware attacks paid the ransom.

There are several reasons for the fall in payments. First, businesses are better prepared and have incident response plans for attacks that minimize disruption and more effective backup strategies that allow them to restore data themselves. While they are unable to prevent the leaking of sensitive data if they choose not to pay the ransom, there is widespread mistrust that paying the ransom will actually prevent data from being leaked or sold.

Falling revenues from attacks mean ransomware actors need to increase the number of attacks they conduct in order to maintain their incomes. NCC Group reports an 84% increase in attacks between 2022 and 2023, and 2024 is likely to continue to see high numbers of attacks and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that ransomware attacks are likely to increase.

The NCSC predicts that by 2025, and perhaps sooner, generative AI and large language models will be extensively used by cybercriminals and will allow them to craft phishing and spear phishing emails and develop new social engineering tactics to conduct more effective phishing campaigns. Since phishing is one of the most common initial access vectors in ransomware attacks, the NCSC predicts that AI will contribute to the global ransomware threat in the near term and other types of cybercrime that rely on phishing and social engineering.

The use of AI will make it more difficult for security professionals to identify and block phishing emails and social engineering attempts and it will be much harder for end users to differentiate between genuine emails and AI-generated phishing attempts. Generative AI tools also lower the barrier for would-be cybercriminals looking to conduct phishing and ransomware attacks, allowing novice and less skilled threat actors to conduct attacks successfully. This has already been the case with ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), and generative AI-as-a-service may also start to be offered. Generative AI tools are also allowing threat actors to process and analyze the data stolen in these attacks more efficiently.

“Threat actors, including ransomware actors, are already using AI to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of aspects of cyber operations, such as reconnaissance, phishing, and coding,” explained NCSC. “Enhanced access will likely contribute to the global ransomware threat over the next two years.”

The NCSC paints a bleak picture but while AI tools can be used for offensive purposes, they can also be used by network defenders. TitanHQ’s cybersecurity solutions already use AI and machine learning tools for identifying phishing and other email threats. These tools are able to identify novel phishing threats, including those that are created using generative AI tools.

If you want to improve your defenses against malicious use of AI, speak with TitanHQ about how you can add advanced AI-driven detection capabilities to your cybersecurity arsenal and better defend your networks and data from increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

Important Information About Quishing – Phishing Attacks Using QR Codes

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 25, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

QR codes are a convenient way of transmitting information, especially URLs. They can be scanned with a smartphone and direct the user to a website. They are on flyers, posters, and other marketing material to quickly direct users to a website to find out more information, greatly improving the response to marketing campaigns. Use of these codes has grown and they are now found everywhere, even in restaurants to direct diners to menus. Unfortunately, QR codes are also perfect for scammers for stealing sensitive information and distributing malware, and QR codes are now being extensively used in phishing campaigns (quishing) in place of embedded URLs. The advantage of this is that they make it hard for users to check the destination of the URL before clicking and email security solutions are now designed to follow QR codes. According to Check Point, there was a 587% increase in QR code phishing attacks between August and September 2023 and recently detected 20,000 instances of QR code-based attacks over a 2-week period.

Campaigns have recently been detected that incorporate conditional redirection based on the user’s device, browser, screen size, and many other parameters, tailoring each attack to the individual via the same QR code. In one of these campaigns, users were directed to a credential harvesting page, with the redirection chain adjusted based on the fingerprinting of the user’s device. Similar campaigns are conducted to direct users to malware distribution sites. QR codes have also been used to direct users to deep fake YouTube videos, where celebrities appear to be endorsing investment schemes, usually related to cryptocurrency, where people are tricked into investing with a promise that they can rapidly double their money or get even better returns.

Email security solutions are designed to assess messages for phishing content, check embedded URLs to determine if they link to malicious websites, and scan email attachments to check for malware, but they are not suited to checking QR codes to determine where the user will be directed. Further, QR codes move the threat to a different device. QR code phishing emails are likely to be received on a company-owned laptop or PC, but the user is then required to switch to their mobile phone to scan the QR code, and mobile devices typically lack the same level of protection making it more likely that the attack will go undetected.

The best defense against these attacks is user education. Security awareness training should cover quishing to make employees aware of this increasingly popular tactic and the threat that QR codes pose. With SafeTitan it is easy to add new training content to your security awareness training programs and push out these training modules to all users. When any new threat is detected, you can add educational content to your training program and push that content out to all users, user groups, or individuals. All training modules last a maximum of 10 minutes, so they are easy to fit into busy workflows.  SafeTitan also includes a phishing simulator that allows you to send out fake quishing emails to the workforce to see who opens the emails and responds.

For further information on security awareness training with SafeTitan and how you can improve your defenses against all types of cyberattacks, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Callback Phishing Campaign Warns of Imminent Charge for Antivirus Subscription

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 16, 2024 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending messages, typically emails, that trick the recipient into doing something that they normally would not do, such as disclosing sensitive information or installing malware on their device. Phishers often include a link to a website that spoofs a well-known brand and victims are tricked into disclosing sensitive data or malicious files are attached to emails. Email security solutions are now much better at detecting malicious hyperlinks, and advanced email security solutions such as SpamTitan Plus can detect all known malware and have email sandboxing for behavioral analysis of suspicious emails to identify and block zero-day malware threats.

Cybercriminals Turn to Callback Phishing to Evade Cybersecurity Solutions

The first goal of a phishing attack is to get a message, be that an email, SMS, or instant message to an end user, and one of the ways that this is achieved is by sending emails with no malicious content – no hyperlinks or email attachments. Instead, the messages have a realistic call to action that requires immediate attention, and a phone number is provided in the email that the recipient must call to address the pressing problem that is outlined in the email. The phone line is manned by the threat actor who then talks the user through performing certain actions that provide remote access to their device.

Callback phishing typically involves an email warning the recipient about a charge for a product that is about to be taken, such as the expiry of a free trial or the end of a subscription term. The charge is excessive and the number provided in the email must be called to stop the charge. One such campaign that has recently been uncovered involves a fictitious charge for an antivirus subscription. In one of these attacks, the threat actor spoofs the antivirus software provider Norton. The email advises the recipient that the subscription period has come to an end and a charge for the next subscription period will be applied – $349.95. Naturally, such a high charge for a product would prompt many people to call the number to block it.

As with other callback phishing campaigns, the attacker tricks the recipient into downloading a program to their device that they are told is necessary to prevent the renewal of the subscription. The program gives the attacker remote access to the user’s device. Once access has been gained, the attacker can conduct a variety of nefarious activities.

Victim Transferred $34,000 to Attacker’s Account

In one of these scams, after access was gained to a victim’s device, the attacker transferred $34,000 from the user’s account. After providing the attacker with remote access to their laptop, the victim was instructed to perform other actions, one of which was entering their credentials into a phishing page. The victim was told that the payment for the antivirus software had already been taken, so a refund needed to be processed. The attacker then told the victim that an error had been made and a refund of $34,000 had been deposited in his account and immediate action was required to correct the error to avoid legal trouble.

The attacker remained on the phone while the victim called his bank, and while the victim was on the phone, the attacker transferred $34,000 from the victim’s Money Market account to his checking account. When the victim saw the $34,000 deposit, he assumed it to be the refund from Norton, and arranged the transfer to the bank account provided by the attacker. The attacker told the victim that in order not to arouse suspicion at the bank, he should inform the bank that the payment was for a vehicle. The victim was unable to see the malicious activity as the attacker had overlayed a blue screen on his laptop.

In this case, suspicions were raised and the funds were put into a suspense account at the recipient bank. U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Iris Joliff was able to obtain a seizure warrant from a judge allowing the money to be recovered; however, scams such as these are often only detected when the transferred funds have been withdrawn from the attacker-controlled account.

Improve Resilience to Callback Phishing with SafeTitan

Email security solutions may be effective at blocking malicious attachments and hyperlinks in emails, but they can rarely identify callback phishing scams as it is difficult to determine if a phone number is malicious. The most effective way that businesses can combat callback phishing is through security awareness training. Callback phishing should be covered in security awareness training sessions and also added to phishing simulation campaigns, to test whether the training has been understood and is being applied. SafeTitan from TitanHQ makes this easy, as callback phishing modules can easily be added to training courses and SafeTitan also includes a phishing simulator with phishing templates to test resilience to callback phishing and identify individuals who require further training in this area.

For further information on the SafeTitan platform and advice on how to further improve your defenses against phishing, give the TitanHQ team a call.

New Callback Phishing Campaign uses Google Forms for Initial Contact

by Jennifer Marsh | Dec 23, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A new callback phishing campaign has been detected that uses Google Forms to add credibility to the campaign. Callback phishing involves sending an email and tricking the recipient into calling a customer service helpline, where they are convinced to download software that provides the attacker with remote access to their device. Since the emails contain no malicious content, only a phone number, these emails are usually delivered to inboxes.

A typical campaign involves an email about an impending charge for a subscription for software or a service, payment for which is about to be taken shortly. The user is told that they must respond within 24 hours if they have any dispute and that the subscription will auto-renew if no action is taken. Companies typically impersonated in these attacks include Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Masterclass, McAfee, Norton, and GeekSquad.

The impending charge is excessive, typically $50 to $500, and the only way to prevent the payment is to call the customer service number included in the email. Subscriptions for software, streaming platforms, and other services are often set to auto-renew by default, and many people end up paying for another term even if they have discontinued using that service. The lure is therefore plausible, and since the charge is excessive, the recipient is likely to make the call.

The phone number is manned by the threat actor who pretends to be customer support and helps the user block the charge; however, in order to do so, software must be downloaded onto the user’s device. The user is convinced to install the software, the threat actor appears to remove the offending software, and the payment issue is resolved; however, the threat actor has installed malware that provides access to the user’s device.

In late 2020/ early 2021, this method was used in BazarCall attacks, so named because they were conducted to deliver BazarLoader malware. The malware is used to download additional malware payloads to the user’s device, such as ransomware. A new version of this campaign has recently been detected that employs Google Forms to add legitimacy to the campaign. Google Forms is free to use and allows forms to be easily created for surveys and quizzes, which can be integrated with websites or shared. In the latest BazarCall campaign, Google Forms is used to create details of a fake transaction, complete with invoice number, payment method, payment date, and information about the product or service.

Google Forms includes the option for a response receipt in the settings, so when a form is completed, it is submitted to the entered email address – that of the target. Google sends the completed form from its own servers, which adds legitimacy to the campaign and increases the probability of the form reaching an inbox. Email security solutions trust the sender (noreply@google.com) and the messages contain no malware or phishing links, the email is guaranteed to be delivered. The form instructs the recipient to call the number within 24 hours if they have any dispute about the charge.

Google is aware of the campaign and is taking steps to improve detection and said that the campaign has so far been used for a small number of users; however, it is worthwhile updating your security awareness training to include this new method of attack. That is quick and easy to do and roll out with the SafeTitan security awareness training platform. SafeTitan also allows you to easily add this method of phishing to the phishing simulator, to see if your employees are likely to fall for callback phishing scams.

QakBot Malware Returns with Phishing Campaign Targeting Hospitality Sector

by Jennifer Marsh | Dec 18, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

In the summer of 2023, a multinational law enforcement operation caused major disruption to the botnet and malware known as QakBot, aka Qbot & pinkslipbot. Now the malware is back and being used in a campaign targeting the hospitality industry.

QakBot was first detected in 2008 and was primarily a banking Trojan which was used to steal financial information from infected devices; however, the malware has evolved over the years and its capabilities have been significantly enhanced. Check Point researchers have described the malware as “a Swiss army knife” due to its extensive capabilities. QakBot can steal financial information, browser data, and has keylogging capabilities, allowing it to steal credentials and other sensitive information. Infected devices are added to a botnet that can be used for a range of nefarious activities, and the malware also serves as a downloader and can deliver other malicious payloads, including ransomware. QakBot has previously partnered with major ransomware groups including Egregor, REvil, Conti, and ALPHV/BlackCat.

At the time of the takedown, QakBot had been installed on more than 700,000 computers worldwide. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the August takedown was “the largest U.S.-led financial and technical disruption of a botnet infrastructure leveraged by cybercriminals to commit ransomware, financial fraud, and other cyber-enabled criminal activity.” The law enforcement operation resulted in access being gained to the botnet’s encryption keys that were used for malware communication The botnet was hijacked and a custom Windows DLL was pushed out to all infected devices, which terminated the malware and disabled the botnet. These takedowns are, unfortunately, only temporary. As was the case with the takedown of the Emotet botnet, the threat actors simply rebuild their infrastructure.

QakBot malware is primarily distributed via phishing emails and the first QakBot malware campaign since the takedown was detected on Monday. The latest campaign uses an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) themed lure, where an IRS employee is impersonated. As is common in these campaigns, there is little body text in the emails, apart from the IRS logo and contact information. The emails contain a PDF attachment called GuestListVegas.pdf, and the subject line is “clients information”.

The recipient is told that they cannot preview the PDF file and must download it; however, the file they download is an MSI installer that will launch QakBot in the memory. Microsoft confirmed that this version of QakBot has not been seen before. While this appears to only be a relatively small campaign, distribution is expected to be significantly ramped up. In addition to this method of distribution, the QakBot operators have previously used OneNote files, Office files with malicious macros, Windows shortcut files, ISO attachments, and other executables, some of which have been known to exploit unpatched vulnerabilities.

Defending against attacks requires a combination of measures to block the initial access vector, the most important of which are an advanced spam filter – such as SpamTitan – security awareness training, and phishing simulations. A spam filter will block the majority of malicious emails to reduce the number of threats that are delivered to inboxes. By providing ongoing security awareness training to the workforce, employees will learn how to recognize, avoid, and report potential threats. Phishing simulations are an important part of the training process and allow employees to be tested to determine whether they are applying their training. When a phishing simulation is failed it can be turned into a training opportunity. With the SafeTitan platform, training is automated and delivered in real-time in response to failed phishing simulations.

For more information on advanced spam filtering and workforce cybersecurity training, give the TitanHQ team a call.

Watch Out for Black Friday Phishing and Cyber Monday Scams!

by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 24, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

You may be able to grab a bargain on Black Friday and Cyber Monday but you need to be extra vigilant for Black Friday phishing attacks and Cyber Monday scams. Cybercriminals are waiting to take advantage of unwary online shoppers on Black Friday and scams are rife throughout the holiday season.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the busiest shopping days of the year. Many people take advantage of the deals on offer and delay major purchases to try to get a Black Friday or Cyber Monday bargain, and savvy shoppers get started on their Christmas shopping early and try to grab the best gifts while they are available, often at a sizeable discount. On Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and throughout the holiday season, cybercriminals are hard at work. It is the perfect time for them to fill their pockets before the Christmas break. There are huge numbers of people looking to make purchases online, and cybercriminals are more than happy to offer the bargains and special deals that they seek.

During this shopping frenzy, people who delay making a purchase often miss out due to limited product availability. That means it is the perfect time to conduct a phishing attack offering a high-value product at a rock-bottom price, as it is exactly what consumers are expecting and hoping to find. The whole retail event plays into cybercriminals’ hands. People are made to think that they need to act fast and make a quick purchase when what they need to do is stop and think about whether the offer being presented is really what it seems.

Last year, UK residents lost more than £10 million to cybercriminals over the festive shopping period, according to the UK National Cyber Security Centre, with each victim losing an average of £639 to scams between November 2022 and January 2023. This year, the outlook looks even bleaker due to the ease at which artificial intelligence can be used to create convincing scams. While phishing attempts, scam emails, and malicious websites often contain red flags that indicate all is not what it seems, those red flaws are often missing from AI-generated content. Cybercriminals are leveraging large language models, such as ChatGPT, to create convincing emails, scams, fake adverts, and fraudulent websites. The aim of these attacks is to get unsuspecting consumers to disclose their usernames and passwords, provide their credit card and bank details, make purchases for non-existent products, or download malware. AI allows cybercriminals to conduct these scams on an increasingly large scale.

Tips for Avoiding Black Friday Phishing Scams and Online Fraud

AI tools allow cybercriminals to generate phishing emails with perfect grammar and no spelling mistakes and even generate convincing lures targeted at specific groups of people, but the same social engineering techniques are used in these phishing attempts as human-generated phishing emails. With phishing attempts, there is a sense of urgency. Phishing emails have a call to action and only a limited time to respond and there will usually be a threat of negative consequences if prompt action is not taken. With Black Friday phishing scams, product scarcity or a special offer expiring are often how cybercriminals get urgent action to be taken, or there may be a threat of pending costs, charges, or account closures if the email is ignored. Another common ploy is to generate a security alert about unauthorized account access or a potentially fraudulent purchase that has been made, with immediate action required to block the charge or protect the account. Everyone needs to be extra vigilant during the holiday season and should carefully check the sender of the email and stop and think before taking any action suggested in an email.

With so many purchases being made at this time of year, it is the perfect time for phishing lures warning about unsuccessful deliveries. Most people will be expecting packages to be delivered over the next few days and weeks. If you are notified about a failed delivery attempt, make sure that the message has been sent from the domain of the company that claims not to be able to deliver the package. If the email claims to have been sent by FedEx, UPS, DPD, Yodel, or Evri, check it has been sent from the official domain used by that company and watch out for hyphenated domain names, spelling mistakes, and transposed letters.

While email scams are common, so are scams on social media platforms. Malicious advertisements are posted offering products that are never dispatched. According to the Federal Trade Commission, $2.7 billion has been lost in the United States to social media scams over the past 2 years. While there may be genuine offers on social media sites, any vendor should be carefully vetted before making a purchase through an advert and checked to make sure they are who they claim to be and that they are a reputable retailer. It is also far better to use a credit card for any purchases, as credit card companies offer much greater protection against fraud than banks do for debit cards.

While non-delivery scams are common, and credit card theft is rife, many Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams try to obtain access to accounts. In addition to being extra vigilant, it is important to ensure that accounts are properly protected, which means setting a strong, unique password for each account and ensuring multifactor authentication is enabled. If passwords are reused across multiple sites, if that password is obtained, all accounts that use the same password will be put at risk. Multifactor authentication will provide greater protection for accounts should passwords be guessed or otherwise obtained. A password alone is not sufficient to gain access to an account, as an additional form of authentication must be provided.

DarkGate Malware Infections Increase via Microsoft Teams Phishing and Malvertising Campaigns

by Jennifer Marsh | Sep 15, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Infections with DarkGate malware have been increasing in recent weeks. DarkGate malware was first identified in 2017 but was only used in limited attacks as the developer chose to use the malware privately against highly specific targets; however, over the summer the malware started being advertised on Russian-language cybercriminal forums and the developer has recruited a limited number of affiliates under the malware-as-a-service model. Reportedly, the developer offered the malware for sale to 10 people for an annual cost of $100,000.

DarkGate malware is written in Delphi and primarily serves as a malware loader, capable of downloading and executing other malware payloads. Typically, the malware payloads are executed in the memory which makes them hard to detect, since no files are written to the disk. The malware can also steal browser histories and Discord tokens and has a Windows Defender exclusion, reverse shell, hidden VNC, and keylogging capabilities.

The malware uses a variety of mechanisms to evade detection, including conducting checks for identifiers used by virtual machines, sandboxes, and anti-virus solutions and will alter its behavior based on the results of the checks, and has persistence mechanisms to ensure it is reloaded on reboot.

The advertising campaign appears to have been successful as distribution of the malware has increased significantly through spamming and phishing campaigns. One of those phishing campaigns uses compromised Office 365 accounts to send phishing messages that deliver DarkGate malware via Microsoft Teams messages.

Researchers at TrueSec identified messages that tricked recipients into clicking a link in the message that directs the or a SharePoint-hosted file called “Changes to the vacation schedule.zip” with the message advising employees that due to circumstances out of the company’s control, vacation time for certain employees has been canceled. The Zip file contains a malicious LNK file which masquerades as a PDF file with the same name as the zip file. Clicking the file will launch a VBScript file that will ultimately lead to the downloading and execution of DarkGate malware. Microsoft has security features to block attacks such as this – Safe Attachments and Safe Links – but neither of these features identified the file or link as malicious.

Other distribution campaigns have been detected in recent months, including a malvertising campaign that uses Google Ads to direct web users to a malicious site where the malware is hosted. The web page used in this campaign offered a legitimate network scanning tool, and while that tool was provided, extra files were bundled with the installation file that executed DarkGate malware.

Businesses are encouraged to defend against attacks through a defense-in-depth approach, involving multiple layers of protection such as an advanced AI-driven spam filtering solution, web filter, and endpoint protection software. Web filters will protect against malvertising campaigns, redirects to malicious websites, and malicious file downloads from the web. The increases in the use of SMS, Teams, and instant messaging services for distributing malicious links means these methods of link distribution should be incorporated into your security awareness training programs.

If you are interested in improving email security, web security, and security awareness training, contact TitanHQ today for more information on SpamTitan, WebTitan, and SafeTitan.

Phishing-as-a-Service Platforms Used to Bypass Multi-Factor Authentication Controls

by Jennifer Marsh | Aug 31, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing attacks are often conducted to obtain credentials in order to gain initial access to business networks; however, many businesses have implemented multi-factor authentication which prevents stolen credentials from being used to access accounts. With multi-factor authentication implemented, credentials alone are not sufficient as access will only be granted if one or more additional authentication mechanisms are navigated. Multifactor authentication can significantly improve protection against phishing attacks, but it does not guarantee protection against unauthorized account access, and multi-factor authentication bypass attacks are increasing.

To bypass multifactor authentication, threat actors typically use adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) techniques using a phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform. PhaaS platforms such as EvilGinx, Muraena, and Modlishka use reverse proxy servers to steal session cookies that allow multi-factor authentication to be bypassed. In these attacks, the user is directed to the phishing site hosting the phishing kit and when they enter their credentials the site proxies them to the actual website that is targeted in real time. The website returns the MFA screen, which is proxied to the user, and when the user enters the additional authentication, it is proxied to the actual website. The MFA is successfully completed and a session cookie is returned, which is used by the attacker to access the targeted account as the genuine user. The phishing site redirects the user to another page, unaware that their account has been compromised. The attacker will be able to access the account for as long as the session cookie is active.

An alternative method of bypassing MFA is to use synchronous relay servers. This method is used by the Storm-1295 threat group, which provides the Greatness PhaaS platform. This PhaaS platform presents the user with a copy of the sign-in page for the website, similar to standard phishing attacks that only steal credentials. This method uses a phishing kit server that dynamically loads the phishing page and MFA request page and communicates with the PhaaS platform relay server through an API. The PhaaS platform provides a synchronous relay server to relay captured credentials and MFA codes to the sign-in service but does not proxy network traffic.

According to Microsoft, there has been a marked increase in AitM attacks this year which are being conducted through already established MFA-bypassing PhaaS platforms and there has also been an increase in phishing services incorporating AitM capabilities. Businesses need to ensure that they are properly protected against these phishing attacks. The first line of defense is still a spam filter, which will block the majority of phishing emails to ensure they do not land in inboxes where they can be clicked. SpamTitan Plus provides the best protection against phishing attacks. SpamTitan Plus has 100% coverage of ALL current market-leading anti-phishing feeds, which ensures 1.6x faster detection of phishing than all current market leaders.

End-user training is also important for improving resilience against phishing attacks. By providing ongoing training and phishing simulations, employees will learn how to recognize and avoid phishing attempts that are able to circumvent spam filters. SafeTitan is a comprehensive security awareness training and phishing simulation platform that user data shows can improve resilience to phishing by up to 80%.

The increase in the use of MFA-bypassing PhaaS platforms means businesses can no longer rely on standard MFA controls to protect their accounts. While any form of MFA is better than none, businesses should transition to the most secure MFA methods that are resistant to these phishing attacks, such as FIDO2 security keys and certificate-based authentication.

Simple, Yet Effective Phishing Campaign Targets Zimbra Collaboration Credentials

by Jennifer Marsh | Aug 23, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing campaigns do not need to be especially sophisticated to be effective, as a recently identified campaign that targets Zimbra Collaboration credentials clearly demonstrates. Zimbra Collaboration, previously known as Zimbra Collaboration Suite, is a software suite that includes an email server and web client. Zimbra Collaboration email servers are targeted by a range of different threat actors, including state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals for espionage, conducting phishing attacks, and gaining a foothold that can be used for a more extensive compromise of an organization.

This global campaign targets users’ credentials and does not appear to be targeted on any specific sector and the threat actor behind the campaign and their motives are not known. The highest number of attacks have occurred in Poland, Ecuador, and Italy. Like many phishing campaigns, the emails warn users about a security update, security issue, or pending account deactivation, and the emails appear to have been sent from an email server administrator.

The emails include an HTML attachment, which is opened as a locally hosted page in the user’s browser. The HTML file displays a Zimbra login prompt that is tailored for each organization and includes their logo and name, and the targeted user’s username is prefilled. If the user enters their password, the credentials are transmitted to the attacker’s server via an HTTPS POST request.

The campaign was identified by security researchers at ESET, who observed waves of phishing emails being sent from companies that had previously been targeted, which suggests that some of the attacks have allowed the threat actor to compromise administrator credentials and set up new mailboxes to target other organizations.

Despite the simplicity of the campaign, it has proven to be very effective, even though the login prompt in the HTTP file differs considerably from the genuine Zimbra login prompt, and the page is opened locally, which suggests a lack of security awareness training due to the failure to identify the red flags in the emails. The emails are also likely to have a low detection rate by email security solutions, as the only malicious element is a single link to a malicious host, which is within the HTML file rather than the email body,

Phishing remains one of the most effective ways for hackers to gain initial access to networks. Combatting phishing attacks requires a combination of measures. A spam filter such as SpamTitan should be used to block the emails and prevent them from reaching their intended targets. SpamTitan incorporates signature-based and behavioral detection mechanisms for identifying malware, link scanning, and reputational checks to ensure a high catch rate and low false positive rate.

No spam filtering solution will be able to block all malicious emails without also having an unacceptably high false positive rate, so it is important to also provide regular security awareness training to employees to teach them how to recognize and avoid malicious emails. Security awareness training should also incorporate phishing simulations to give employees practice at identifying threats. If a threat is not detected, it can be turned into a training opportunity. TitanHQ’s security awareness training platform – SafeTitan – delivers instant training in response to a failed phishing simulation, and also delivers training in response to other security mistakes, ensuring training is provided when it has the greatest impact. Training data shows that SafeTitan reduces employee susceptibility to phishing attacks by up to 80%, and combined with SpamTitan email security, ensures that businesses are well protected from phishing attacks and other cyber threats.

SpamTitan and SafeTitan, like all TitanHQ solutions are available on a free trial and product demonstrations can be arranged on request.

LokiBot Malware Distributed Email Campaign Exploiting Known Vulnerabilities

by Jennifer Marsh | Jul 26, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Cybercriminals are exploiting unpatched remote code execution vulnerabilities to distribute an information-stealing malware called LokiBot. LokiBot, also known as LokiPWS, primarily targets Windows systems and collects sensitive information from infected devices including usernames and passwords. The malware can also log keystrokes, capture screenshots, steal information from web browsers, and empty cryptocurrency wallets. LokiBot was discovered in 2016 and has been active since at least 2015, and is primarily spread via email, most commonly through malicious email attachments.

One of the latest campaigns exploits the Microsoft Office vulnerability, CVE-2021-40444, and the Microsoft Windows Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) vulnerability, CVE-2022-30190, to embed malicious macros in Office documents that deliver LokiBot. The campaign was detected by security researchers at FortiGuard Labs in May 2023, and the campaign is still active.

The infection process is different depending on which vulnerability is exploited. The Word document that exploits the CVE-2021-40444 vulnerability includes a GoFile link embedded in an XML file, which will download an HTML file that exploits the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability, which will deliver a Visual Basic payload that delivers LokiBot. Alternatively, a Word file is used that contains a VBA macro that drops an INF file, through which a connection will be made to the command-and-control server and LokiBot will be loaded.

LokiBot may be an old malware variant, but it is regularly updated, and the methods used to distribute the malware regularly change. This campaign takes advantage of businesses that are slow to implement patches. Ensuring patches for known vulnerabilities or workarounds are implemented quickly is vital. Email anti-spam services will also protect against attacks such as these. It is important to use an email security solution that does not rely on signature-based detection methods. Malware variants are constantly updated and changed to evade signature-based detection methods, so AI-based solutions should be used that can detect novel malware variants by their behavior.

SpamTitan includes both detection methods and will scan for known malware variants and subject attachments to in-depth analysis in a sandbox to identify malicious actions, such as command-and-control center callbacks. SpamTitan also performs a barrage of front-end and advanced checks on all emails, including machine-based detection methods that can identify emails that deviate from those typically received by a business, ensuring security teams are rapidly alerted about potential threats. Security awareness training is also strongly recommended to educate end users about email-based threats and teach security best practices, such as always exercising caution with emails, email attachments, and messages containing external links.

If you want to improve your defenses against malware and other cyber threats, give the TitanHQ team a call. SpamTitan, along with other TitanHQ cybersecurity solutions, is available on a free trial to allow you to test the product in your own environment before deciding if it is right for your business.

Free OnlyFans Content Used as a Lure in DcRAT Malware Campaign

by Jennifer Marsh | Jun 21, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Malicious actors are distributing malware under the guise of free access to paywall-protected OnlyFans content. OnlyFans is a popular Internet content subscription platform, where visitors can pay to receive premium content from a range of different content creators such as social media personalities, musicians, and celebrities, although the 18+ subscription platform is most commonly associated with X-rated content. The malware campaign targets individuals looking to access the latter for free.

The campaign uses fake OnlyFans content and X-rated lures promising access to private photos, videos, and posts without having to pay for the content. Users are tricked into downloading an executable file, that installs a remote access Trojan. A VBScript loader is contained in a ZIP file, and if executed, will deliver a variant of the AsynchRAT called DCRAT (aka DarkCrystal) -– a remote access Trojan that provides access to the user’s device. DcRAT allows remote access, but can also access the webcam, log keystrokes, manipulate files, steal credentials, cookies, and Discord tokens, and encrypt files for extortion.

Researchers at eSentire identified the campaign after a user attempted to execute the VBscript loader, although it is currently unclear how the ZIP file containing the VBScript loader is being distributed. As such, a defense-in-depth approach is recommended to block the most likely attack vectors. Phishing emails are commonly used for distributing malware. Any email that claims to offer free access to OnlyFans is a major red flag since the site requires paid subscriptions to access content. SEO poisoning may be used to get malicious websites to appear high in the search engine results for key search terms, and malvertising – malicious adverts – may be displayed on legitimate websites through third-party ad networks that direct users to URLs where free content is offered. Compromised social media accounts may be used to post offers of free access to OnlyFans content, and SMS and instant messaging service messages may advertise the offers and include links to malicious websites.

All of these ways of making contact with users can be combatted through phishing and security awareness training using the SafeTitan platform. SafeTitan includes an extensive library of training content for creating security awareness training programs to improve awareness of threats, teach security best practices, and train users how to identify phishing attempts. The platform also includes a phishing simulator for testing responses to phishing attacks, including phishing attempts with OnlyFans-related lures.

Email security solutions should be implemented to block any phishing attempts. SpamTitan incorporates signature and behavior-based detection mechanisms for identifying malicious attachments, link scanning, and machine learning capabilities to identify zero-day phishing attacks. WebTitan Cloud can be used to improve protection against web-based attacks, such as malicious file downloads from malicious and compromised websites and to prevent access to risky categories of websites and websites that serve no work purpose. IT admins should also consider implementing restrictions for script files, such as blocking VBScript and JavaScript from launching downloaded executable content or using Group Policy Management Console to create open with parameters for script files to ensure they are opened with notepad.exe. These measures will not only be effective at blocking this OnlyFans campaign but also for blocking attempts by other malicious actors to install malware and ransomware.

PDF File Attachments Used for Distributing QBot Malware

by Jennifer Marsh | Apr 30, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

When Microsoft started blocking macros in Internet-delivered Office files, threat actors had to come up with new ways of distributing malware via email. Since then, there has been a rise in the use of OneNote files in phishing attacks. OneNote files allow scripts to be embedded and serve as an ideal replacement for Office files and macros; however, Microsoft has responded with security updates for OneNote to prevent this technique from being used for malware distribution. There has also been an increase in the use of container files to bypass protections, which include compressed files such as .rar and .zip, and .iso files.

Another method of bypassing these protections has been adopted to distribute QBot malware. QBot is used to gain initial access to business networks and is often used to drop malware payloads for other threat actors. QBot used to be delivered via phishing emails using malicious macros in Office file attachments, but that technique is no longer viable due to Microsoft’s updates. Instead, the threat actor is now using a combination of .pdf files and Windows Script Files. The phishing emails have a .pdf attachment, which downloads a .wsf file, which is used to deliver QBot.

The emails used in this campaign are reply chain emails, which makes it appear that the emails have been sent as a reply to a previous conversation. That increases the chances of the email being opened as employees are usually trained to be suspicious of unsolicited emails from unknown senders. If the attachment is opened, the PDF file states that the document is protected, and the user is required to click an ‘open’ link, which will trigger a download of a .zip file that includes a Windows Script file.

If the user double clicks that file, the script will be executed, which will run a PowerShell script that will deliver QBot from a hardcoded URL and execute the malware. QBot will be injected into the Windows Error Manager program and will run silently in the background. QBot will steal sensitive data and can move laterally and compromise other devices on the network. Once data has been stolen, access to QBot-infected devices is sold to ransomware gangs. A single device infected with QBot can easily end with large-scale data theft and a network-wide ransomware attack.

The latest campaign involves PDF file attachments, but the methods used for distributing malware such as QBot often change and will continue to do so. The key to improving security is to adopt a defense-in-depth approach, where there are multiple overlapping layers of security in place. If any one measure fails, others will be in place to continue to provide protection.

An email security solution such as SpamTitan is a good place to start. SpamTitan Email Security adds multiple layers of security to your defenses by performing extensive checks on all inbound and outbound emails. Message headers are checked, as is the reputation of the sender, and machine learning techniques are used to identify messages that deviate from the normal messages a user receives. Multiple scans are conducted on email attachments looking for malware and malicious scripts, including signature-based and behavior-based detection through dual antivirus engines and a Bitdefender-powered sandbox. Links are checked and followed to block phishing and malware downloads.

A web filtering solution is an important security measure for blocking the web-based component of these attacks. All attempts to connect with a URL – including automated attempts and clicks by users – will be assessed in real time and blocked if an attempt is made to connect to a known malicious URL. WebTitan can be configured to block downloads of executable files, such as .wsf files, and controls can be implemented to restrict access to websites to confirmed benign URLs.

Email-based attacks attempt to exploit human weaknesses so it is also important to improve your human defenses through security awareness training. The SafeTitan security awareness training platform can be used to automate workforce training and teach security best practices and eliminate risky behaviors, and make employees aware of the threats they are likely to encounter. The platform also includes a phishing simulator with hundreds of phishing templates to test employees to see how they respond to real-world threats, and automatically assigns further training modules if they fail a phishing simulation. These three solutions can be adopted by businesses to greatly improve their security posture against current and evolving threats. Speak with TitanHQ today to find out more.

Top Malware Threats and How to Prevent Infections

by Jennifer Marsh | Apr 25, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

QBot, Emotet, and Formbook are currently the most prevalent malware threats according to new data from Check Point, all of which are mostly distributed using spam emails. Email is still one of the most common methods of malware distribution, and even Microsoft’s efforts to prevent the malicious use of macros have not changed that.

Last year, Microsoft disabled macros by default in Internet-delivered documents, and while this was a blow to cybercriminals who have relied on macros for their infection process, they simply changed tactics and used other methods for malware delivery. Macros were easy to abuse, as victims just needed to be tricked into enabling macros in documents and ignoring security warnings. Now that macros are disabled, cybercriminals have had to adopt new tactics for distributing malware via email, such as sending malicious links or using alternative attachments, such as OneNote files. The latter has been used to distribute Emotet, which has helped the malware return to the top of Check Point’s most wanted malware list.

OneNote files have proven popular for malware distribution as they allow scripts to be embedded and masked with overlays. The user is instructed to double-click a button in the OneNote file as they are told that the document is protected, when what they are actually doing is double-clicking an executable file embedded under the overlay, thus executing the script and triggering the downloading of a malicious payload. Microsoft has announced that this security issue will be tackled by May, but until then OneNote will continue to be used for malware delivery.

The top three malware variants share some of the same functionality but offer specialized features. QBot, also known as QakBot, was primarily a banking Trojan used to steal banking credentials but is now capable of stealing other credentials due to its keylogging capabilities. It has been in use since 2008 and is one of the oldest malware families currently in use.

Emotet has long been at the top of the most common malware variants and has survived a recent law enforcement takedown. Emotet started life as a banking Trojan but has evolved over the years and is now primarily used as a distributor of other malicious payloads under the malware-as-a-service model. Like QBot, Emotet is also extensively distributed via email, helped by its self-propagating capabilities, which allow it to hijack message threads and send copies of itself to the victims’ contacts.

FormBook has been used since at least 2016 and is an information stealer that is also marketed under the malware-as-a-service model. FormBook primarily harvests credentials from web browsers, but also logs keystrokes, collects screenshots, and can deliver additional files to infected devices. It is one of the most widely distributed malware due to its capabilities, relatively low cost, and strong evasion techniques.

These three malware variants have had a huge impact globally, with QBot infections detected at 10% of organizations worldwide and Emotet and FormBook each affecting 4% of organizations worldwide. Preventing infections requires a defense-in-depth approach involving multiple layers of protection, with one of the most important layers provided by a spam filter.

All three of these malware families are extensively spread via spam email, so blocking the initial attack vector is by far the best defense. SpamTitan incorporates several layers of protection against malicious emails, including emails with malicious attachments such as OneNote files and malicious links. SpamTitan performs a multitude of front-line checks including message headers and reputation checks and has dual anti-virus engines for detecting malware and sandboxing for behavioral analysis of email attachments. SpamTitan also scans links and uses machine learning algorithms to identify emails that deviate from the genuine emails typically received by businesses.

While a spam filter and endpoint protection solutions such as antivirus software were once sufficient, the speed at which new malware variants are being released and the evasion methods they use mean additional layers of protection are now required. TitanHQ recommends also deploying a web filter to block Internet-based threats. A web filter such as WebTitan augments the spam filter by blocking malware delivery via the Internet and improves protection against non-email-based threats, such as malicious links in text messages and instant messaging platforms.

Threats will occasionally bypass these protections, so it is important to provide security awareness training to the workforce. By educating the workforce on cyber threats, if one is encountered it can be recognized and avoided. Security awareness training allows businesses to train employees on security best practices and eradicate the risky behaviors that are often exploited by cybercriminals. SafeTitan is a comprehensive training platform covering all aspects of security and includes a phishing simulation platform for testing how employees respond to phishing threats and providing targeted training where it is needed.

For more information on these solutions and improving your security posture in the most cost-effective way, give the TitanHQ team a call today.

Smishing Campaign Targets Coinbase Users

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 23, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

SMS-based phishing attacks are becoming more common, and these attacks can be particularly effective. SMS phishing – commonly referred to as smishing – is the use of SMS messages for delivering malicious URLs. There are several advantages of smishing over phishing. Most companies have email security solutions in place such as spam filters that can easily detect malicious emails, so many phishing emails will not reach end users. Smartphones tend to have fewer cybersecurity controls than computers, so malicious SMS messages are more likely to be delivered. Another reason why smishing attacks have a high success rate is employees tend to be aware of the risk of email attacks but are more trusting about SMS messages as security awareness training tends to focus on email phishing. Further, since smartphones are often accessed on the go, people can be distracted and click links without stopping to think.

Businesses are often targeted with smishing attacks as it is an easy way of getting phishing URLs in front of employees. One recent attack targeted Coinbase employees. Coinbase is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges with more than 1,200 employees and more than 103 million users, which makes the company a big target for cybercriminals (although smishing attacks are conducted on companies of all sizes!).

In this attack, SMS messages were sent to employees using a common ruse – They were told they needed to log in urgently about a security issue. Virtually all Coinbase employees ignored the message, but one employee responded and entered their username and password on the phishing page. Smishing campaigns do not need to fool a lot of employees. They only need to fool one person. Coinbase was protected against smishing attacks to a certain degree, as the company had implemented 2-factor authentication, so while the attackers obtained a username and password, those credentials alone would not allow access to be gained to the user’s account.

However, smishing can be combined with voice phishing to get around 2FA and MFA protections. The attackers then called the employee and pretended to be from the Coinbase IT department, and provided the employee with instructions, which were followed, allowing the attackers to bypass the 2FA protection and log in to the employee’s workstation. In this attack, unauthorized access was rapidly detected by the IT team, as the remote access generated a security alert. Fortunately, the attack was thwarted before the threat actor was able to achieve very much, although, in the short time that access was possible, the attacker was able to steal some employee data, including names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Similar attacks have been conducted on companies that did not have 2FA protection, and many attacks have not been detected rapidly by security teams, allowing much more damage to be caused.

With smishing attacks increasing, businesses need to prepare and ensure they have appropriate defenses in place, which should include 2FA or MFA protection on all accounts. As the Coinbase attack demonstrated, 2FA/MFA alone is not sufficient. Whitelisting IP addresses is recommended, and security alerts should be set up and immediately followed up on by security teams.

Web filtering can provide some protection by restricting access to the websites that employees can access, thus preventing them from accessing the phishing URLs where credentials are harvested. Another important measure is to provide security awareness training to the workforce to ensure that employees are aware of smishing and voice phishing attacks. By raising awareness, employers can greatly improve protection against these attacks.

Give TitanHQ a call today to find out how web filter and security awareness training can improve your defenses against smishing, vishing, and other types of cyberattacks targeting employees.

Namecheap Customers Targeted in Sophisticated Phishing Scam

by Jennifer Marsh | Feb 22, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishing emails often spoof a company and include its logos and branding, but one of the red flags that allow these emails to be identified by users is the email address used in the campaign is set up on a domain unrelated to the brand being spoofed. For instance, a phishing email spoofing FedEx is sent from a Gmail account. Oftentimes, a display name is created that makes the email appear to come from a genuine account used by the spoofed company – FedEx customer service for instance – but a quick check will reveal the actual email address used, allowing users to identify the phishing attack.

However, these checks sometimes fail, as highlighted by a recent phishing campaign that impersonated the logistics company DHL and the software cryptocurrency wallet provider, MetaMask that targeted customers of the domain registrar Namecheap. The emails originated from the legitimate customer communication platform SendGrid, which Namecheap uses for sending marketing communications and renewal notices to customers. Namecheap responded quickly when the attack was identified and disabled the accounts, but not in time to prevent many phishing emails from being sent.

The emails spoofing DHL included the DHL Express logo and warned recipients that their parcel was not able to be delivered because the sender did not pay the necessary delivery fees, as such, the parcel has been retained at the delivery depot and will not be released until the delivery fees are paid.

The MetaMask emails purported to be a Know Your Customer verification request, which required the recipient to verify their identity to prevent their account from being suspended. If the verification is not completed, the emails claimed, users would be unable to withdraw or transfer funds without interruption.

In both cases, the emails included a link that the users were required to click to complete the request – a Namecheap.com marketing link that redirected users to a phishing page on an unrelated domain. This was not a data breach at Namecheap, but at the third-party system the company uses for sending emails – SendGrid. It is currently unclear how SendGrid was hijacked to send the phishing emails.

Phishing emails may be sent from legitimate company email accounts, either an account at the actual company being spoofed or other well-known services such as SendGrid. In the summer of 2022, a phishing campaign was conducted targeting customers of the hardware cryptocurrency wallet Trezor, following a hack at the email marketing platform MailChimp.

Phishing attacks such as these can sneak past email defenses and are harder for employees to identify, which is why businesses need to adopt a defense-in-depth approach. Email security solutions will block the majority of spam and phishing emails, but no email security solution will block all malicious messages. In addition to an advanced email security solution such as SpamTitan – which incorporates multiple layers of protection and machine learning mechanisms to block novel phishing attacks – businesses should invest in security awareness training for employees and should provide the training continually throughout the year. Through comprehensive training, employees can be taught more than just the basics and can learn how to recognize and avoid sophisticated phishing attacks.

A web filter is also recommended for blocking access to the malicious URLs that are used to harvest sensitive information. A web filter augments the spam filter by providing time-of-click protection against malicious links in emails and also protects against non-email methods used to drive traffic to phishing sites, such as malvertising, smishing, and vishing attacks.

If you want to improve protection against phishing, call TitanHQ to find out more about improving the depth of your security protections through spam filtering, security awareness training, and web filtering.

OneNote Attachments and Blank Images Used in Phishing Attacks

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 31, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Phishers are constantly coming up with new ways to evade security solutions, steal credentials, and distribute malware. In January, two new tactics were observed in separate phishing campaigns, one hides malicious URLs from security solutions in a credential-stealing campaign, and the other uses OneNote attachments for distributing malware.

Blank Image Phishing Attacks

The blank image phishing attack involves hiding a Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) image file within an HTML document sent via email. In this campaign, the email claims to include a DocuSign document, which office workers are likely to be familiar with. The email claims the document includes remittance advice. The user is required to click to view the document and will be directed to the legitimate DocuSign webpage if they do.

However, the attack starts when the user clicks to view the HTML document. The document contains a Base64 blank image file, which has embedded JavaScript that will redirect the victim to a malicious URL. The image itself contains no graphics, so does not render anything on the screen. It is just used as a placeholder for the malicious script. The URL that the user is directed to will prompt them to enter sensitive information. A similar technique using SVG files has previously been used to distribute QBot malware. Many email security solutions ignore HTML files, which increases the chance of the malicious email landing in inboxes. Security teams should consider blocking or quarantining HTML emails to protect against these types of attacks.

OneNote Attachments Used to Distribute Malware

Another campaign has been detected that uses OneNote attachments in phishing emails for distributing remote access malware, which can provide initial access to a victim’s system allowing further malicious payloads to be delivered, such as information stealers and ransomware. For many years, Office documents were the preferred attachment for distributing malware. These files can include macros that download a malicious payload, but Microsoft now blocks macros by default in Office files delivered via the internet, which has forced hackers to look for new ways to distribute their malware.

One new tactic is the use of OneNote attachments. OneNote is installed by default with Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, which means OneNote files can be opened on most devices even if the user does not use the OneNote application. The lures used in these emails vary, although some of the intercepted emails claimed to be shipping notifications, with the details of the shipment included in the OneNote file.

OneNote files cannot contain macros, but it is possible to insert VBS attachments into a NoteBook. When opening the file, the user is told they must double-click to view the file. Doing so will launch the VBS script, which will download and install malware from a remote site. If the user does click, they will be warned that opening attachments can harm their computer. If that warning is ignored and the user chooses to open the attachment, the script will download a decoy OneNote file – a genuine file – so the user is unlikely to realize that anything untoward has happened, but the script will execute a batch file in the background and will install the second downloaded file, which is malware.

How to Defend Against Phishing Attacks

Cybercriminals are constantly developing new methods for distributing malware and stealing credentials, and phishing is the most common way to do this. Defending against these attacks requires a defense-in-depth approach, involving multiple overlapping layers of protection. If anyone measure fails to detect a threat, others are in place to detect and block the threat.

In addition to a secure email gateway or spam filter, businesses should consider a web filter for blocking the web-based component of the attack, multifactor authentication for all accounts, antivirus software/endpoint security solutions, and security awareness training for employees to help them identify and avoid phishing threats. For assistance improving your defenses against phishing, contact TitanHQ.

ChatGPT Used to Create Convincing Phishing Lures and New Malware

by Jennifer Marsh | Jan 30, 2023 | Phishing & Email Spam |

Toward the end of 2022, a new AI-based chatbot was made available to the public which has proven popular for creating written content. Concern is now growing about the potential for the tool to be used by cybercriminals for creating new phishing lures and for rapidly coding new malware.

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and was released on 30 November 2022 to the public as part of the testing process. Just a few days after its release, the chatbot had reached a million users, who were using the tool to write emails, articles, essays, wedding speeches, poems, songs, and all manner of written content. The chatbot is based on the GPT-3 natural language model and can create human-like written content. The language model was trained using a massive dataset of written content from the Internet and can generate content in response to questions or prompts that users enter into the web-based interface.

While articles written using the chatbot would be unlikely to win any awards, the content is grammatically correct, contains no spelling mistakes, and in many cases is far better than you could expect from an average high school student. One of the problems is that while the content may superficially appear to be correct, it is biased by the data it was trained on and may include errors. That said, the generated content is reasonable and sufficiently accurate to pass the Bar exam for U.S. lawyers and the US Medical Licensing exam, although only just. It is no surprise that many school districts have already implemented bans on students using ChatGPT.

To get ChatGPT to generate content, you just need to tell it what you want to create. It is no surprise that it has proven to be so popular, considering it is capable of writing content better than many humans could. While there are many benefits from using AI for chatbots that can create human-like text, there is growing concern that these natural language AI tools could be used for malicious purposes, such as creating social engineering scams and phishing and business email compromise attacks.

The potential for misuse has prompted many security researchers to put ChatGPT to the test, to see whether it is capable of generating malicious emails. The developer has put certain controls in place to prevent misuse, but those controls can be bypassed. For instance, asking ChatGPT to write a phishing email will generate a message saying the request violates the terms and conditions, but by experimenting with the queries it is possible to get the chatbot to generate the required content.

Further, it is possible to write a phishing email and spin up many different combinations that are all unique, grammatically correct, and free from spelling errors. The text is human-like, and far better than many of the phishing emails that are used in real phishing campaigns. The rapid generation of content has allowed security researchers to spin up an entire email chain for a convincing spear phishing attack. It has also been demonstrated that the technology can be rapidly trained to mimic a specific style of writing, highlighting the potential for use in convincing BEC attacks. These tests were conducted by WithSecure prior to public release and before additional controls were implemented to prevent misuse, but they continued their research after restrictions were added to the tool, clearly demonstrating the potential for misuse.

The potential for misuse does not stop there. The technology underlying the chatbot can also be used to generate code and researchers have demonstrated ChatGPT and its underlying codex technology are capable of generating functional malware. Researchers at CyberArk were able to bypass the restrictions and generate a new strand of polymorphic malware, then were able to rapidly generate many different unique variations of the code. Researchers at Check Point similarly generated malicious code, in fact, they generated the full infection process from spear phishing email to malicious Excel document for downloading a payload, and the malicious payload itself – a reverse shell.

At present, it is only possible to generate working malicious code with good textual prompts, which requires a certain level of knowledge, but even in its current form, the technology could help to rapidly accelerate malware coding and improve the quality of phishing emails. There are already signs that the tool is already being misused, with posts on hacking forums including samples of malware allegedly written using the technology, such as a new information stealer and an encryptor for ransomware.

With malicious emails likely to be generated using these tools, and the potential for new malware to be rapidly coded and released, it has never been more important to ensure that email security defenses are up to scratch. Email security solutions should be put in place that are capable of detecting computer-generated malware. SpamTitan includes signature-based detection mechanisms for identifying known malware along with email sandboxing. The sandbox is an isolated and secure testing environment where suspicious email attachments are subjected to behavioral analysis. The next-gen sandbox means SpamTitan can detect zero-day malware variants that would otherwise not be detected since their signatures have yet to be added to the blocklists. SpamTitan also uses machine learning mechanisms for detecting zero-day phishing threats, based on deviations from the standard messages received by companies.

TitanHQ also recommends implementing multifactor authentication, web filtering for blocking access to malicious websites, and security awareness training for employees. The quality of phishing emails may get better, but there will still be red flags that employees can be trained to recognize.

The Emotet Botnet is Back with a Large-Scale Phishing Campaign

by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 23, 2022 | Phishing & Email Spam |

This month has seen a return of the Emotet botnet after a 4-month period of inactivity, with a high-volume email campaign identified that is increasing the size of the botnet. Emotet started life as a banking Trojan but has been updated over the years to add new functionality. Devices infected with Emotet are added to the botnet and can be used for a variety of purposes, but one of the main functions of Emotet is as a malware dropper, delivering additional malicious payloads on devices once the botnet operator has achieved their own goals. Currently, Emotet is being used to drop a new variant of the IcedID loader. IcedID is a banking Trojan that is similarly used to drop other malware variants.

Emotet is primarily spread via phishing emails, with the campaigns typically consisting of hundreds of thousands of emails a day. The lures used in these messages are often changed, but the threat actor behind Emotet tends to opt for traditional lures such as IRS notifications and business-themed emails. The Emotet Trojan is able to hijack message threats from infected devices and reply, including a copy of itself in the emails. Since the emails come from a genuine email account and appear to be a response to a past conversation, the probability of the recipient opening the email and attachment is all the greater.

The emails in the latest campaign still use XLS attachments with Auto_Open macros to deliver the malicious payload, despite Microsoft disabling macros in files delivered via the Internet. In some of the emails, the .xls file is directly attached to the email, although it is commonly included in a .zip file. The zip files are often password-protected to prevent them from being scanned by email security solutions, with the password – and often little else other than the file name and a signature – included in the message body.

To get around Microsoft’s macro protections, the user is advised when they open to the .xls file to copy the file to a whitelisted directory and reopen it. The user is told this is a necessary requirement of their security policy to be able to view the contents of the file, with instructions provided for different Microsoft Office versions. By copying the file to the suggested location and then reopening it, Microsoft’s protections will not be applied, and the macro will be able to run. The latest campaign is predominantly targeting the United States, although it is likely that the campaign will be expanded to target other geographical regions.

Defending against Emotet requires a combination of measures. While email security solutions such as SpamTitan can detect and block Emotet phishing emails, a defense-in-depth approach is recommended that includes comprehensive security awareness training for the workforce and more advanced endpoint detection solutions than standard antivirus software.

TitanHQ offers security awareness training and phishing simulations through the SafeTitan platform which trains employees how to recognize the phishing emails that are being used to deliver Emotet. The phishing simulator includes real-world examples of the types of emails that the gang uses to trick employees into installing Emotet.

For further information on improving your defenses against Emotet and other email threats, give the TitanHQ team a call. All TitanHQ cybersecurity solutions are available on a free trial to allow you to test them for effectiveness and usability before making a decision about a purchase.

StrelaStealer Malware Distributed via Email and Targets Outlook and Thunderbird Credentials

by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 18, 2022 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A new malware variant called StrelaStealer has been identified that is being distributed via email that targets credentials for two of the most popular email clients: Outlook and Thunderbird. This previously unknown malware was first identified earlier this month, and so far, has been used to target Spanish speakers.

The campaign was identified by security researchers at DCSO CyTec. The intercepted emails have an ISO (optical disc image) file attachment. These files contain all the data that would normally be written to an optical such as a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc, sector by sector, with the content bundled into a single file.

One of the files analyzed by the researchers contained an executable file that sideloads the malware contained in the ISO file via DLL order hijacking. The ISO file also contains a .lnk file and polyglot file. A polyglot file can be treated as several different file formats depending on the application that opens it. In this case, the polyglot file is an x.html file, which is both an x.html file and a DLL program that loads StrelaStealer malware. Execution sees the malware loaded in the memory and simultaneously a decoy document is displayed in the web browser while the malware is executed.

Interestingly the malware does not target browser data, cryptocurrency wallets, and other data commonly obtained by information-stealing malware. Instead, it searches for the %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles directory looking for login.json and key4.db. The former contains the account and password, and the latter is the password database. Both are then exfiltrated to the attacker’s command and control server.

The malware also searches the Windows Registry and retrieves the Outlook software key, and locates the IMAP User, IMAP Server, and IMAP password values. The passwords for Outlook are encrypted, but the malware uses the CryptUnprotectData function of Windows to decrypt the data before exfiltrating the decrypted data to the C2 server

Cybercriminals are constantly developing new techniques for distributing malware. Security awareness training typically focuses on raising awareness of the most common methods of malware delivery, such as Office files containing malicious macros. Since employees are likely to be much less familiar with ISO files, they may not identify these emails as malicious, or may not report them to their security teams due to the decoy document that is displayed, in the belief that nothing untoward has happened.

To improve protection against campaigns such as this, businesses should consider configuring their email security solution to quarantine emails containing risky file attachments such as executable files, and also configure their web filter to block downloads of these file types from the Internet. That is a simple process with SpamTitan cloud-based anti-spam service and the WebTitan web filter.

IceXLoader Malware Phishing Campaign Targets Corporate Devices

by Jennifer Marsh | Nov 15, 2022 | Phishing & Email Spam |

A new phishing campaign has been detected that is being used to distribute a relatively new malware threat called IceXLoader. The malware was first identified in the summer and is being actively developed, with version 3.3 of the malware being distributed in the latest campaign. The malware appears to be a work in progress, with the latest version of the malware having enhanced functionality and a new method of installation is now being used. While it has only been distributed for a few months, it already represents a significant threat.

As the name suggests, IceXLoader is a malware dropper that is designed to deploy additional malicious payloads on infected devices. This could include additional tools to help the operators of the malware achieve their aims or it could be offered to a range of threat actors under the malware-as-a-service model for delivering information stealers, ransomware, and other malicious payloads. The malware was first identified by researchers at Fortinet, who named the malware IceXLoader due to the presence of ICE_X strings in samples of the malware code.

The malware is delivered via phishing emails with a .zip compressed file attachment, which contains the first stage extractor. If allowed to run, this will create a new hidden folder in C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp, and will then drop and execute the second stage executable file, which creates a new registry key and deletes the temporary folder. The second stage executable downloads a PNG file from a hardcoded URL, and converts it into an obfuscated DLL file, which is IceXLoader. The dropper will perform checks to see if it is running in a virtual environment and will wait 35 seconds before executing IceXLoader to avoid sandbox detection. IceXLoader will collect a variety of information about its host, will connect to its command-and-control server and exfiltrate that information, and will then drop additional malicious payloads.

The malware is capable of evading Windows Defender and other anti-malware programs to prevent scanning of the folder where IceXLoader resides. Researchers at Minerva Labs note that the exfiltrated data is freely accessible on the C2 server, so the threat actors are currently not interested in securing the stolen data.

Due to the ability of the malware to evade traditional antivirus software solutions, the key to blocking this threat is implement next-generation endpoint detection solutions that are able to identify malware by their behavior, and ensure that strong, multi-layered anti phishing defenses are implemented to block the initial phishing emails, including an advanced spam filter for blocking the email and web filtering technology to prevent downloads of malicious files from the Internet.

It is also important not to neglect the human element of defenses. Security awareness training for the workforce will go a long way toward preventing these and other email-based attacks from succeeding, by teaching employees email security best practices.