Threat Lab

Recently in the news we saw FireEye and Fox-IT provide the ability to decrypt files encrypted by older crpytolocker variants. They used the command and control servers seized by the FBI during operation Tovar. Since they have access to those RSA keys they essentially have the password required for every single file encrypted by a Cryptolocker variant that used Evgeniy Bogachev’s botnet. That is a major portion of the traditional​ red GUI cryptolocker that became famous. Any previous victims from these variants that still have encrypted files left on their machine should be able to decrypt them with ease. All they have to do is upload a single encrypted file ​to this webpage​ and their server will email you your RSA key. Then you can just download their tool (dubbed “DeCryptolocker”) and input the key and it will decrypt all files that are still encrypted. Sadly, anyone that was hit with different variants of encrypting ransomware are still out of luck.

However, since the emergence of their tool to decrypt files for free, there has been a new encrypting ransomware going around that aims at scamming you into thinking this is a similar helpful tool – except that it demands something all scams do….payment.

Presenting ZeroLocker

At least they have a 100% guarantee…

This newest edition to the ever popular business model that is encrypting ransomware doesn’t really have many improvements over the others we’ve already seen. Using Bitcoin for payment is standard now. This variant doesn’t show the GUI untill all encryption is completed and the computer is suddenly restarted. Upon restart this window is presented and threatens that you will lose all your files if you close or remove it. The payment structure is right where industry average is – PAINFUL. This specific variant we analyzed does not delete the VSS (Volume Shadow Service) and you can get all your files back by using programs like Shadow Explorer. Once again I expect issues like this to be fixed once this malware is adopted by more botnets for widespread distribution.

Webroot will catch this specific variant in real time before any encryption takes place. We’re always on the look out for more, but just in case of new zero day variants – remember that with encrypting ransomware the best protection is going to be a good backup solution. This can be either through the cloud or offline external storage.  Keeping it up to date is key so as not to lose productivity. Webroot has backup features built into our product that allow you to have directories constantly synced to the cloud. If you were to get infected by a zero day variant of encrypting ransomware you can just restore your files back as we save a snapshot history for each of your files up to ten previous copies.

In my last blog post about a week ago, I talked about how Cryptolocker and the like are not dead and we will continue to see more of them in action. It’s a successful “business model” and I don’t see it going away anytime soon. Not even a few days after my post a new encrypting ransomware emerged. This one even targets Russians!

Presenting Critroni (aka. Onion)

This newest edition of encrypting ransomware uses the same tactics of contemporary variants including: paying through anonymous tor, using Bitcoin as the currency, changing the background, dropping instructions in common directories on how to pay the scam. Some upgrades that are new to the encrypting ransomware scene are logging the entire directory list of files that were encrypted. They store this list in your documents folder for your convenience come decryption time (how nice of them).

The ransom amount scales with how many files are encrypted. My specific encryption only wanted “.2 Bitcoin (about 24USD)” Please note that the exchange rate displayed by the malware is extremely wrong and .2 Bitcoin is about $120.

This specific variant we analyzed does not delete the VSS (Volume Shadow Service) and you can get all your files back by using programs like Shadow Explorer. I expect that once this malware goes into widespread distribution for the US and UK that “issues” like this will get fixed and the price will rise to around .5 BTC (around $300) on average. Webroot will catch this specific variant in real time before any encryption takes place. We’re always on the look out for more, but just in case of new zero day variants – remember that with encrypting ransomware the best protection is going to be a good backup solution. This can be either through the cloud or offline external storage.  Keeping it up to date is key so as not to lose productivity. Webroot has backup features built into our product that allow you to have directories constantly synced to the cloud. If you were to get infected by a zero day variant of encrypting ransomware you can just restore your files back as we save a snapshot history for each of your files up to ten previous copies.

Please note there are variations in the naming of this file, including Onion and Critroni.A.

Recently in the news the FBI filed a status report updating on the court-authorized measures to neutralize GameOver Zeus and Cryptolocker. While the report states that “all or nearly all” of the active computers infected with GameOver Zeus have been liberated from the criminals’ control, they also stated that Cryptolocker is “effectively non-functional and unable to encrypt newly infected computers.” Their reasoning for this is that Cryptolocker has been neutralized by the disruption and cannot communicate with the command and control servers to receive instructions or send RSA keys after encryption. Read more here

While seizing the majority of the GameOver Zeus Botnets from the suspected “mastermind” Evgeniy Bogachev was a big impact to the number of computers infected with GameOver Zeus – about a 31 percent decrease, it’s a very bold claim to state that Cryptolocker has been “neutralized”. The reason why this claim should be scrutinized is because it is only the samples dropped on victims computers that communicated to those specific servers seized that are no longer a threat. All samples currently being deployed by different botnets that communicate to different command and control servers are unaffected by this siege – the majority of encrypting ransomware. Although Evgeniy Bogachev and his group had control of a major chunk of zeus botnets and command and control servers that deployed cryptolocker, it was certainly not all or even the majority of zeus botnets in existence. Most malware authors spread their samples through botnets that they either accumulated themselves (Evgeniy), or just rent time on a botnet from someone like Evgeniy (most common). So now that Evgeniy’s servers are seized, malware authors are just going to rent from some of the many other botnets out there that are still for lease.

Here are some pictures of samples that we’ve encountered that are still hard at work at infecting users.

All of these work in almost exactly the same way as the infamous traditional cryptolocker we’ve all seen, but they have some improvements. First is that there is no GUI and instead just background changes and texts instructions in every directory that was encrypted. Second is that you no longer pay using a moneypak key in the GUI, but instead you have to install tor or another layered encryption browser to pay them securely and directly. This allows malware authors to skip money mules and increase the percent of profits. The best way to stay protected by attacks like this is to utilize backups to either the cloud or offline external storage. Webroot has backup features built into our product that allow you to have directories constantly synced to the cloud. If you were to get infected by a zero day variant of encrypting ransomware you can just restore your files back as we save a snapshot history for each of your files up to ten previous copies.
So while this is a great win on behalf of the FBI, it’s very bold to claim that cryptolocker is now dead. A better way to put it would be that Evgeniy M. Bogachev’s brand of cryptolocker and anyone who purchased time on his botnet is now useless.

Webroot, the market leader in cloud-based, real-time Internet threat detection, recently returned from the 20^th annual Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in National Harbor, Maryland.  Attended by many of the world’s top business and IT professionals in industries ranging from finance to information technology to government, the focus of this year’s conference was enablement of an organization to move forward towards its objectives, while ensuring security and protection.  The show’s theme at this year’s conference, “Smart Risk: Balancing Security and Opportunity”, summarized the challenges that many large companies are experiencing today, as they work to ensure the safeguarding of their information without slowing down the company’s productivity.

As a ‘Premier Sponsor’, Webroot attended the Gartner Summit to introduce the next generation threat intelligence services for enterprises, BrightCloud Security Services for Enterprise, which collects and analyzes threat intelligence across multiple vectors – IP, URL, File and Application – from a massive network of nearly 35 million users protected by Webroot endpoint security solutions as well as Webroot technology partners. The team was also on-hand to demonstrate Webroot SecureAnywhere Business-Endpoint Protection, which recently was updated with enhanced management capabilities to help protect large, complex network environments.

With a busy booth during the three days of exhibit time, there was a great deal of interest in Webroot’s Threat Intelligence Server and BrightCloud Services as well as the SecureAnywhere Endpoint Protection solution.  The solutions that were introduced aligned well with two key areas that the security community is interested in – namely finding better protection for their endpoints and using external threat intelligence to make their current devices smarter and optimized for more rapid incident response – as well as fitting in with the conference’s overall theme.

While at the event, Webroot was also part of various security discussions and presentations, including two sessions where CISO’s talked endpoint protection and threat intelligence.  Webroot’s Dave Dufour and Chip Witt both presented on real-time intelligence gathering, and Webroot CTO Hal Lonas presented on the difference between threat data and threat intelligence.  Mike Malloy, VP of Products and Strategy, also gave a talk on ‘the death of traditional antivirus’, a theme that forms the foundation of the Webroot security product lineup.

Thanks largely to a combination of a strong security-focused presence as well as a seamless merging of security goals between attendees and Webroot’s product offerings, the company’s presence at this year’s 2014 Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit was a major success.  Webroot is already planning on similar attendance at the coming Japanese and APAC Gartner summits to continue to drive the momentum forward.

Relying on the systematic release of DIY (do-it-yourself) mobile malware generating tools, commercial availability of mobile malware releases intersecting with the efficient exploitation of legitimate Web sites through fraudulent underground traffic exchanges, as well as the utilization of cybercrime-friendly affiliate based revenue sharing schemes, cybercriminals continue capitalizing on the ever-growing Android mobile market segment for the purpose of achieving a positive ROI (return on investment) for their fraudulent activities.

We’ve recently spotted yet another underground market proposition offering access to Android-based infected devices. Let’s take a peek inside its Web-based command and control interface, discuss its features, as well as the proposition’s relevance within the cybercrime ecosystem.

More details:

Sample screenshots of the commercially available Android-based botnet for hire:

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Cybercriminals continue to efficiently populate their botnets, through the systematic and persistent spamvertising of tens of thousands of fake emails, for the purpose of socially engineering gullible end users into executing the malicious attachments found in the rogue emails.

We’ve recently intercepted a currently circulating malicious campaign, impersonating Barkeley Futures Limited, tricking users into thinking that they’ve received a legitimate “Customer Daily Statement”.

read more…

Cybercriminals continue spamvertising tens of thousands of malicious emails on their way to socially engineer gullible end users, ultimately increasing their botnet’s infected population through the systematic and persistent rotation of popular brands.

We’ve recently intercepted a currently circulating malicious campaign enticing users into executing the fake attachment.

More details:

read more…

Despite the prevalence of Web based client-side exploitation tools as the cybercrime ecosystem’s primary infection vector, in a series of blog posts, we’ve been emphasizing on the emergence of managed/hosted/DIY malicious Java applet generating tools/platforms, highlighting the existence of a growing market segment relying on ‘visual social engineering’ vectors for the purpose of tricking end users into executing malicious/rogue/fake Java applets, ultimately joining a cybercriminal’s botnet.

We’ve recently spotted yet another Web based Java drive-by generating tool, and decided to take a peek inside the malicious infrastructure supporting it. read more…

Webroot, the market leader in cloud-based, real-time Internet threat detection, recently returned from the fifth annual Automation Nation in Orlando, hosted by LabTech Software.  Labtech, a robust remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform design and built for managed service providers, hosted the event at the Hilton Bonnet Creek from June 2nd through the 4th.  Hosting over 425 MSP partners and 600 attendees, the event has grown significantly since the previous years.  This was Webroot’s first time attending the conference, coming in as a Diamond Sponsor.

Kicking off the event, Webroot CMO David Duncan helped present during the keynote with the support of Andrew Bagnato, a system engineer for Webroot. Speaking on how security doesn’t have to suck, and that with the integration into LabTech and the advances in the Webroot Intelligence Network (WIN), MSPs had the opportunity to not only manage their clients remotely, but ensure they are protected as well.

Talking about the Webroot Partner Program and the security solutions offered, the onsite team showed that the solutions provided just work, can drive profits, and ultimately don’t suck. With pigs flying left and right, over hear and over there, it was not long until the booth was filled to capacity with partners wanting to learn about the intelligent cloud-based security solutions.  Also shown were demos of LabTech Software integration, which was designed to bring the tools of the Webroot console direct to the MSP’s most used console, saving time in the monitoring of Webroot protected endpoints.

While at the conference, Andrew Bagnato also hosted a breakout session presenting on the next generation of anti-malware, packing the room beyond capacity.  Showing how legacy solutions were not keeping up with the new tricks of incoming threats, Andrew presented on the power of the Webroot Intelligence Network and just how it can help protect endpoints across all the networks from even the most advanced threats.

With the event going non-stop for 3 days, the team is glad to have some rest, but excited to have introduced the security offerings to the LabTech partners.

In a cybercrime ecosystem dominated by DIY(do-it-yourself) malware/botnet generating releases, populating multiple market segments on a systematic basis, cybercriminals continue seeking new ways to acquire and efficiently monetize fraudulently obtained accounting data, for the purpose of achieving a positive ROI (Return on Investment) on their fraudulent operations. In a series of blog posts, we’ve been detailing the existence of commercially available server-based malicious script/iframe injecting/embedding releases/platforms utilizing legitimate infrastructure for the purpose of hijacking legitimate traffic, ultimately infecting tens of thousands of legitimate users.

We’ve recently spotted a long-run Web-based managed malicious/iframe injecting/embedding service relying on compromised accounting data for legitimate traffic acquisition purposes. Let’s discuss the managed service, its features, and take a peek inside the (still running) malicious infrastructure behind it.

More details:

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Cybercriminals continue diversifying their portfolios of standardized fraudulent services, in an attempt to efficiently monetize their malicious ‘know-how’, further contributing to the growth of the cybercrime ecosystem. In a series of blog posts highlighting the emergence of the boutique cybercrime-friendly E-shops, we’ve been emphasizing on the over-supply of compromised/stolen accounting data, efficiently aggregated through the TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) described in our “Cybercrime Trends – 2013” observations.

We’ve recently spotted a newly launched all-in-one cybercrime-friendly E-shop, offering a diversified portfolio of managed/DIY services/products, exposing a malicious infrastructure worth keeping an eye on. Let’s take a peek inside the E-shop’s inventory and expose the fraudulent infrastructure behind it.

More details:

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Relying on the systematic and persistent spamvertising of tens of thousands of fake emails, as well as the impersonation of popular brands for the purpose of socially engineering gullible users into downloading and executing malicious attachments found in these emails, cybercriminals continue populating their botnets.

We’ve recently intercepted a currently circulating malicious campaign, impersonating JJ Black Consultancy.

More details:

read more…