Threat Lab

By Nathan Collier and Cameron Palan

Last week, Bluebox Security reported they’d found a new flaw with the Android OS, saying “The implications are huge!”. The bug, also known as the “Master Key” bug or “bug 8219321”, can be exploited as a way to modify Android application files, specifically the code within them, without breaking the cryptographic signature. We call these signatures the “digital certificate”, and they are used to verify the app’s integrity. Since the bug is able to modify an application and still have the certificate appear valid, it is a big deal. read more…

In a clear demonstration of low QA (Quality Assurance) applied to an ongoing malicious spam campaign, the cybercriminals behind the recently profiled ‘Cybercriminals spamvertise tens of thousands of fake ‘Your Booking Reservation at Westminster Hotel’ themed emails, serve malware‘ campaign, have launched yet another spam campaign.

Despite the newly introduced themed attempting to trick users into thinking that they’ve received a ‘iGO4 Private Car Insurance Policy Amendment Certificate‘, the cybercriminals behind it didn’t change the malicious binary from the previous campaign.

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For many years now, cybercriminals have been efficiency abusing both legitimate compromised and automatically registered FTP accounts (using CAPTCHA outsourcing) in an attempt to monetize the process by uploading cybercrime-friendly ‘doorways’ or plain simple malicious scripts to be used later on in their campaigns.

This practice led to the emergence of DIY (do-it-yourself) tools and managed service platforms that allow virtually anyone to start monetizing these fraudulently or automatically registered accounting data, signaling a trend towards an efficiency-driven cybercrime ecosystem – a concept that’s been materializing on a daily basis for a couple of years.

In this post, I’ll profile a desktop-based tool that allows cybercriminals to automatically syndicate lists of free/paid proxies — think malware-infected hosts — adding an additional layer of anonymity in the process of uploading their doorways/malicious scripts on any given FTP server whose accounting data they’ve managed to compromise or automatically register.

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By Dancho Danchev

Cybercriminals are currently mass mailing tens of thousands of fake emails impersonating the Westminster Hotel, in an attempt to trick users into thinking that they’ve received a legitimate booking confirmation. In reality through, once the socially engineered users execute the malicious attachments, their PCs automatically join the botnet operated by the cybercriminals behind the campaign.

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By Dancho Danchev

We’ve just intercepted a currently circulating malicious spam campaign consisting of tens of thousands of fake ‘Export License/Invoice Copy’ themed emails, enticing users into executing the malicious attachment. Once the socially engineered users do so, their PCs automatically become part of the botnet operated by the cybercriminals behind the campaign.

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By Dancho Danchev

From managed ransomware as a service ‘solutions‘ to DIY ransomware generating tools, this malicious market segment is as hot as ever with cybercriminals continuing to push new variants, and sometimes, literally introducing novel approaches to monetize locked PCs.

In this case, by forcing their users to complete a survey before they receive the unlock code.

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In May of 2012, we highlighted the increasing public availability of managed SMS spam services that can send hundreds of thousands of SMS messages across multiple verticals. These services are assisted through the use of proprietary or publicly obtainable phone number harvesting and verifying DIY applications.

In this post, I’ll profile one of the most recently advertised managed mobile phone number harvesting service which allows full customization of the harvesting criteria based on the specific requirements of the customer.

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We’ve just intercepted yet another campaign serving deceptive ads, this time targeting German-speaking users into downloading and installing the privacy-invading ‘FLV Player’ Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA), part of Somoto’s pay-per-install network.

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By Nathan Collier

There’s one variant of Android.Bankun that is particularly interesting to me.  When you look at the manifest it doesn’t have even one permission.  Even wallpaper apps have internet permissions.  Having no permissions isn’t a red flag for being malicious though.  In fact, it may even make you lean towards it being legitimate.

There is one thing that thing that gives Android.Bankun a red flag though.  The package name of com.google.bankun instantly makes me think something is fishy.  To the average user the word ‘Google’ is seen as a word to be trusted.  This is especially true when it comes to the Android operating system which is of course created by the search engine giant. read more…

By Dancho Danchev

Keeping in pace with the latest and most widely integrated technologies, with the idea to abuse them in a fraudulent/malicious way, is an everyday reality in today’s cybercrime ecosystem that continues to be over-supplied with modified and commoditized malicious software. This is achieved primarily through either leaked source code or a slightly different set of ‘common’ malware ‘features’ branded under a different name.

What are cybercriminals up to in terms of experimenting with command and control infrastructure? How are they responding to the introduction of new protocols such as, for instance, SPDY, embedded deep into the most popular Internet browsers? Let’s find out.

In this post, I’ll profile a recently advertised malware bot with ring-3-rootkit capabilities, DDoS features, Tor-based command and control servers, and ‘upcoming’ support for SPDY form grabbing – all with an emphasis on how what once use to be advanced antivirus evasion tactics applied only by sophisticated coders turned into today’s commoditized malware bot features, implemented, released and sold by virtually everyone within the underground marketplace.

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On their way to acquire the latest and coolest Android game or application, end users with outdated situational awareness on the latest threats facing them often not only undermine the confidentiality and integrity of their devices, but also, can unknowingly expose critical business data to the cybercriminals who managed to infect their devices.

How are cybercriminals achieving this in times when Google is automatically scanning all submissions to the Google Play store, and is also verifying the applications to prevent the abuse of potential installations from untrusted third-party stores/application download locations?

Easier than you to think, especially with the recent commercial availability of a DIY Android application decompiler/injector developed to work exclusively with a publicly obtainable Android-based trojan horse.

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Like every ecosystem, the cybercrime ecosystem has its own set of market disrupting forces whose applicability and relevance truly shape the big picture at the end of the day. For years, cybercriminals have been porting, localizing (MPack/IcePack, FirePack) and further contributing to the the development of malware/crimeware/Web malware exploitation kits, either through direct cooperation with the original author of a particular release, or on the basis of leaked or commercially available source code.

With more high profile malware source code leaks continuing to take place, more cybercrime-friendly coders now have access to sophisticated antivirus detection bypassing techniques. Access to these techniques will definitely spark the introduction of “new” features within the coders’ own set of underground market releases in an attempt to catch up with the market leading competition.

Two weeks ago, we began monitoring a cybercrime ecosystem advertisement offering access to self-propagating ZeuS-based source code. It sparked several important questions in the overall context of today’s underground market – is coding custom malware for hire still a relevant monetization tactic? Do low/high profile leaks of malware source code actually allow virtually anyone with less sophisticated coding capabilities to re-purpose, brand and start selling their own malware? Or is the underground system still largely dominated by vendors ‘pushing’ their product/service strategies to meet the demand for these kinds of assets?

Let’s find out.

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