This Week in Security News: New Bluetooth Vulnerability Exposes Billions of Devices to Hackers and Backdoor, Devil Shadow Botnet Hidden in Fake Zoom Installers

Welcome to our weekly roundup, where we share what you need to know about the cybersecurity news and events that happened over the past few days. This week, read about a new security vulnerability in Bluetooth that could potentially allow an attacker to spoof a remotely paired device. Also, learn about two malware files that pose as Zoom installers but when decoded, contain malware code.

Read on:

Forward-Looking Security Analysis of Smart Factories <Part 1> Overlooked Attack Vectors

Trend Micro recently released a paper showing the results of proof-of-concept research on new security risks associated with smart factories. In this series of five columns, Trend Micro will explore the security risks to be aware of when promoting smart factories by examining overlooked attack vectors, feasible attack scenarios, and recommended defense strategies. This first column introduces the concept of “smart manufacturing,” and explains the research methods and attack vectors that are unique to smart factories.

Backdoor, Devil Shadow Botnet Hidden in Fake Zoom Installers

Trend Micro found two malware files that pose as Zoom installers but when decoded, contain malware code. These malicious fake installers do not come from Zoom’s official installation distribution channels. One of the samples installs a backdoor that allows threat actors to run malicious routines remotely, while the other sample involves the installation of the Devil Shadow botnet in devices.

Adobe Releases Critical Out-of-Band Security Update

This week, Adobe released four security updates, one of them being an out-of-band security update for Adobe Character Animator that fixes a critical remote code execution vulnerability. All these vulnerabilities were discovered by Mat Powell of Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative and were not found in the wild.

QNodeService: Node.js Trojan Spread via Covid-19 Lure

Trend Micro recently noticed a Twitter post by MalwareHunterTeam that showed a Java downloader with a low detection rate. Its name, “Company PLP_Tax relief due to Covid-19 outbreak CI+PL.jar”, suggests it may have been used in a Covid-19-themed phishing campaign. Running this file led to the download of a new, undetected malware sample written in Node.js; this trojan is dubbed as “QNodeService”.

ShinyHunters Is a Hacking Group on a Data Breach Spree

In the first two weeks of May, a hacking group called ShinyHunters went on a rampage, hawking what it claims is close to 200 million stolen records from at least 13 companies. Such binges aren’t unprecedented in the dark web stolen data economy, but they’re a crucial driver of identity theft and fraud.

Netwalker Fileless Ransomware Injected via Reflective Loading

Trend Micro has observed Netwalker ransomware attacks involving malware that is not compiled but written in PowerShell and executed directly in memory and without storing the actual ransomware binary into the disk. This makes this ransomware variant a fileless threat, enabling it to maintain persistence and evade detection by abusing tools that are already in the system to initiate attacks.

Beware of Phishing Emails Urging for a LogMeIn Security Update

LogMeIn users are being targeted with fake security update requests, which lead to a spoofed phishing page. The phishing email has been made to look like it’s coming from LogMeIn. Not only does the company logo feature prominently in the email body, but the sender’s identity has been spoofed and the phishing link looks, at first glance, like it might be legitimate.

Phishing Site Uses Netflix as Lure, Employs Geolocation

A phishing site was found using a spoofed Netflix page to harvest account information, credit card credentials, and other personally identifiable information (PII), according to a Twitter post by PartnerRe Information Security Analyst Andrea Palmieri. Trend Micro looked into the malicious site, hxxp://secure-up-log.com/netflix/, to learn more about the operation and found that the sites have geolocation features.

New Bluetooth Vulnerability Exposes Billions of Devices to Hackers

Academics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) disclosed a security vulnerability in Bluetooth that could potentially allow an attacker to spoof a remotely paired device, exposing over a billion modern devices to hackers. The attacks, dubbed Bluetooth Impersonation Attacks or BIAS, concern Bluetooth Classic, which supports Basic Rate (BR) and Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) for wireless data transfer between devices.

#LetsTalkSecurity: Fighting Back  

This Week, Rik Ferguson, vice president of Security Research at Trend Micro, hosted the third episode of #LetsTalkSecurity featuring guest Katelyn Bowden, CEO & founder of The BADASS Army. In this week’s episode, Rik and Katelyn discuss fighting back and more. Check out this week’s episode and follow the link to find information about upcoming episodes and guests.

Fraudulent Unemployment, COVID-19 Relief Claims Earn BEC Gang Millions

An infamous business email compromise (BEC) gang has submitted hundreds of fraudulent claims with state-level U.S. unemployment websites and coronavirus relief funds. Behind the attacks is Scattered Canary, a highly organized Nigerian cybergang that employs dozens of threat actors to target U.S. enterprise organizations and government institutions. Researchers who tracked the fraudulent activity said the gang may have made millions from the fraudulent activity.

Factory Security Problems from an IT Perspective (Part 1): Gap Between the Objectives of IT and OT

The manufacturing industry is undergoing drastic changes and entering a new transition period. Today, it may be difficult to find companies that don’t include Digital Transformation (DX) or the Internet of Things (IoT) in their strategies. Manufacturing companies need to include cybersecurity in both the information technology (IT) domain and the operational technology (OT) one as well. This three-part blog series discusses the challenges that IT departments face when assigned the task of overseeing cybersecurity in factories and implementing measures to overcome these challenges.

What did you think about this week’s #LetsTalkSecuirty episode? Share your thoughts in the comments below or follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation: @JonLClay.