Industry Intel

Over the last couple of years, the industry’s and the media’s attention has been shifting from mass widespread malware campaigns to targeted attacks most commonly targeting human rights organizations, governments and the military, also known as advanced persistent threats (APTs).

In this post, I’ll profile a recently spotted underground market advertisement, which basically offers a Microsoft Access file of data belonging to executives within major companies such as Audi, Ralph Lauren, Bentley, Breitling, Porsche, Avito, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Live Nation, Societe Generale, Bloomberg, Technip, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, etc., obtained primarily through valid business cards.

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Over the past few days, we intercepted a malware campaign that spreads through Skype messages, exclusively coming from malware-infected friends or colleagues. Once users click on the shortened link, they’ll be exposed to a simple file download box, with the cybercriminals behind the campaign directly linking to the malicious executable.

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By Dancho Danchev

Among the first things a cybercriminal will (automatically) do, once they gain access to a compromised host, is to retrieve account/credential data.

From compromised FTP credentials, CPanel accounts, portfolios of domains, to hacked PayPal and Steam accounts, cybercriminals are actively utilizing compromised infrastructure as a foundation for the success of their fraudulent or malicious campaigns, as well as for anonymization ‘stepping stones’ tactics in an attempt to forward the risk of getting tracked down through a series of network connections between malware infected hosts located across the globe.

In this post, I’ll highlight the existence of a cybercrime-friendly service that has been supplying virtually anyone who pays for access, with tens of thousands of compromised accounts.

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We have recently intercepted a malicious spam campaign, that’s attempting to trick users into thinking that they’ve received a non-existent “changelog.” Once gullible and socially engineered users execute the malicious attachment, their PCs automatically become part of the botnet operated by the cybercriminal/gang of cybercriminals.

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While the authors/support teams of some of the market leading Web malware exploitation kits are competing on their way to be the first kit to introduce a new exploit on a mass scale, others, largely influenced by the re-emergence of the DIY (do-it-yourself) trend across the cybercrime ecosystem, continue relying on good old fashioned social engineering attacks.

In this post, I’ll profile a beneath-the-radar type of DIY Java-based botnet building tool, which is served through the usual unsigned, yet malicious Java applet.

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By Dancho Danchev

On a daily basis we process multiple malicious campaigns that, in 95%+ of cases, rely on the market leading Black Hole Exploit Kit. The fact that this Web malware exploitation kit is the kit of choice for the majority of cybercriminals, speaks for its key differentiation factors/infection rate success compared to the competing exploit kits, like, for instance, the Sweet Orange exploit kit or the Nuclear Exploit pack v2.0.

In this post I’ll profile the EgyPack, a Web malware exploitation kit that was originally advertised on invite-only/vetted cybercrime friendly communities between the period of 2009-2011. List its core features, provide exclusive screenshots of its administration panel, and discuss why its business model failed to scale, leading to its virtually non-existent market share.

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In times when we’re witnessing the most prolific and systematic abuse of the Internet for fraudulent and purely malicious activities, there are still people who cannot fully grasp the essence of the cybercrime ecosystem in the context of the big picture — economic terrosm — and in fact often deny its existence, describing it as anything else but an underdeveloped sellers/buyers market.

That’s totally wrong.

In this post, I’ll discuss the cybercrime ecosystem events that eventually led to the leakage of a private DIY botnet building and managing platform – with the idea to raise more awareness on the dynamics taking place within the vibrant ecosystem.

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A couple of days ago our sensors picked up two separate malicious email campaigns, both impersonating Data Processing Services, that upon successful client-side exploitation (courtesy of the Black Hole Exploit Kit), drops an identical piece of malicious software.

Let’s dissect the campaigns, expose the malicious domains portfolio, connect them to previously profiled malicious campaigns, and analyze the behavior of the dropped malware.

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Over the past week, we intercepted a massive ‘ADP Payroll Invoice” themed malicious spam campaign, enticing users into executing a malicious file attachment. Once users execute the sample, it downloads additional pieces of malware on the affected host, compromising the integrity, and violating the confidentiality of the affected PC.

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Cybercriminals are currently spamvertising tens of thousands of malicious emails impersonating BBC News, in an attempt to trick users into thinking that someone has shared a Cyprus bailout themed news item with them. Once users click on any of the links found in the fake emails, they’re automatically exposed to the client-side exploits served by the Black Hole Exploit Kit.

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Risk-forwarding is an inseparable part of the cybercrime ecosystem.

Whether it’s the use of malware-infected hosts as stepping-stones, the issuing of License Agreements for your latest rootkit release stating that it’s meant to be tested against the customer’s own systems — you wish — or the selling of cheap access to verified PayPal accounts, in an attempt to mitigate the “cash-out” risk by forwarding it to a more experienced cybercriminal, the process of risk-forwarding is visible across the entire ecosystem.

In this post I’ll discuss a recently spotted Wetern Union based money mule management script. While the cybercriminals are currently developing this script, it is evidence of a cybercrime ecosystem trend focusing on the efficiency-centered standardization mentality of sophisticated cybercriminals.

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By Dancho Danchev

Cybercriminals are currently mass mailing tens of thousands malicious ‘CNN Breaking News’ themed emails, in an attempt to trick users into clicking on the exploit-serving and malware-dropping links found within. Once users click on any of the links found in the bogus emails, they’re automatically exposed to the client-side exploits served by the Black Hole Exploit Kit.

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