A peek inside a commercially available Android-based botnet for hire
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.
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Sample screenshots of the commercially available Android-based botnet for hire:
Spamvertised ‘Customer Daily Statement’ themed emails lead to malware
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”.
Successful Launch of Webroot for Gamer at E3
Webroot, the market leader in cloud-based, real-time Internet threat detection, recently returned from the 18th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short, hosted by the Entertainment Software Association. Used by many of the video game manufacturers across the various platforms, as well as hardware and software developers, the trade show is used to show off the next generation of games-related products. Hosted at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the 2014 conference had over 50,000 reported attendees between June 9th and 12th, 2014.
With this being Webroot’s first appearance at E3, the company was on site to show off Webroot’s new gaming specific antivirus, SecureAnywhere™ AntiVirus for PC Gamers. Designed to keep users protected with maximum performance and protection, the newest protection offering for consumers garnered a large amount of interest from those in attendance, with a busy booth all day. From the gamers themselves to the industry experts, many were impressed with the performance, speed, and direct gaming focus that Webroot was providing with the gamer protection product.
Along with the booth presence, Webroot’s team hosted an online campaign to drive awareness of the products with the #CyborgSelfie giveaway, a contest where entrants had to submit a selfie of themselves with the specific Twitter hashtag in hopes of winning a custom built Origin PC protected by Webroot. With over 40,000 entries, the winner, Johnny Interiano, was drawn at random, and will soon have one of the most powerful Origin PC machines at their disposal for their next gaming conquests. And to not pass an opportunity to work with Webroot’s newest partner Plantronics, twelve runner-up winners from the same contest won Plantronics RIG gaming headsets.
Through a strong awareness campaign and booth presence, all backed by an innovative security product designed specifically for gamers, Webroot’s presence at E3 was a major success for all that were involved.
Spamvertised ‘June invoice” themed emails lead to malware
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.
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Malicious Web-based Java applet generating tool spotted in the wild
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 returns from Automation Nation 2014
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.
Long run compromised accounting data based type of managed iframe-ing service spotted in the wild
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.
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A peek inside a newly launched all-in-one E-shop for cybercrime-friendly services
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.
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Malicious JJ Black Consultancy ‘Computer Support Services’ themed emails lead to malware
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.
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Spamvertised ‘Notification of payment received’ themed emails lead to malware
PayPal users, watch what you click on!
We’ve recently intercepted a currently circulating malicious spamvertised campaign which is impersonating PayPal in an attempt to trick socially engineered end users into clicking on the malware-serving links found in the emails.
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Sample screenshot of the spamvertised email:
A peek inside a subscription-based DIY keylogging based type of botnet/malware generating tool
Cybercriminals continue to systematically release DIY (do-it-yourself)type of cybercrime-friendly offerings, in an effort to achieve a ‘malicious economies of scale’ type of fraudulent model, which is a concept that directly intersects with our ‘Cybercrime Trends – 2013‘ observations.
We’ve recently spotted yet another subscription-based, DIY keylogging based botnet/malware generating tool. Let’s take a peek inside its Web based interface, and expose the cybercrime-friendly infrastructure behind it.
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AV Isn’t Dead. It’s Evolving.
Since the WSJ report was released, endpoint security solutions have received a lot of media attention. As many have started to ask “Is AV really dead?”, I felt it was a good idea to talk about it from my perspective.
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: no, AV is not dead. However, what is dead, and has been for many years now, is the traditional, reactive AV protection approach that uses signature-based detection. Within the security industry, it is common knowledge that this approach to threat prevention doesn’t scale to address the tactics used by today’s cybercriminals.
In the realm of providing defenses from an increasingly sophisticated adversary, endpoint protection has never been more important. The endpoint is the primary point of entry in most corporate compromises. To keep up with modern malware, the methods for discovering and addressing new endpoint threats needs to change. AV isn’t dead; it’s evolving.
From our perspective at Webroot, we recognized the inadequacies of traditional AV many years ago, which is why our current endpoint security products are vastly different from traditional technology. When we released our SecureAnywhere™ product family in 2011, we also discontinued our legacy technology offerings as they represented the traditional signature-based security model, which we could see was nearing obsolescence.
Providing defense against today’s cybercriminal tactics required a complete rethink of how to approach the problem. When it comes to defending against an attack, it is crucial to be able to realize when an attack has occurred. The traditional model was not well equipped to handle massive scale distribution of new malware variants at very low volume. The result is very low detection rates due to a lack of awareness. To successfully defend against this tactic, you need visibility into every application on every endpoint. This is a core component to the success of SecureAnywhere solutions: granularity and actionable insight into applications encountered by every Webroot user worldwide.
Beyond rapidly identifying new incidents, our threat intelligence engine resides in the cloud so there is no need for definition updates. All endpoints are always up to date, and as new threats are identified, all users are protected in real time.
There are many other topics I could discuss – remediation, compromise prevention in the face of an active infection, and the impact on system performance – which have undergone complete rethinks for Webroot SecureAnywhere® solutions. The end result speaks for itself. In the third fiscal quarter in 2014 Webroot added 1.4 million new endpoint customers, increasing the contextual awareness of our intelligence network even further and, thereby, improving our capacity to identify never-before-seen attacks as they emerge. Our bookings from new business grew by nearly 200%, and 5,000 businesses trust Webroot technology to secure their networks and endpoints.
Clearly, AV is not dead. In fact, endpoint security has never been more important! The issue at hand is that we can’t let our technology get stagnant. Organizations need a layered protection approach, as well as cloud-based security technology that is designed to grow, learn and continue to evolve to combat the tactics used by today’s cybercriminals. After all, the malware writers don’t rest. Neither should we.