Last August, we wrote about POWELIKS’s malware routines that are known for hiding its malicious codes in the registry entry as part of its evasion tactics. In the newer samples we spotted, malware detected as TROJ_POWELIKS.B employed a new autostart mechanism and removes users’ privileges in viewing the registry’s content. As a result, users won’t be able to suspect that…
Read MoreWe spotted a malware that hides all its malicious codes in the Windows Registry. The said tactic provides evasion and stealth mechanisms to the malware, which Trend Micro detects as TROJ_POWELIKS.A. When executed, TROJ_POWELIKS.A downloads files, which can cause further system infection. Systems affected by this malware risk being infected by other malware, thus causing further…
Read MoreFileless infections are exactly what their namesake says: they’re infections that don’t involve malicious files being downloaded or written to the system’s disk. While fileless infections are not necessarily new or rare, it presents a serious threat to enterprises and end users given its capability to gain privileges and persist in the system of interest to an attacker—all while staying under the radar. For instance, fileless infections have been incorporated in a targeted bot delivery, leveraged to deliver ransomware, infect point-of-sale (PoS) systems, and perpetrate click fraud. The key point of the fileless infection for the attacker is to be able to evaluate each compromised system and make a decision whether the infection process should continue or vanish without a trace.
The cybercriminal group Lurk was one of the first to effectively employ fileless infection techniques in large-scale attacks—techniques that arguably became staples for other malefactors.
Read MoreThe resurgence and continued prevalence of macro malware could be linked to several factors, one of which is their ability to bypass traditional antimalware solutions and sandboxing technologies. Another factor is the continuous enhancements in their routines: just recently, we observe that the macro malware related to DRIDEX and the latest crypto-ransomware variant, Locky Ransomware used Form object in macros to obfuscate the malicious code. With this improvement, it could further aid cybercriminals or attackers to hide any malicious activity they perform in their target network or system.
Read MoreWith additional analysis from David Agni Improvements in security file scanners are causing malware authors to deviate from the traditional malware installation routine. It’s no longer enough for malware to rely on dropping copies of themselves to a location specified in the malware code and using persistence tactics like setting up an autostart feature to…
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