Threat Actors Start Hiding Malware within Website Images

archive.org, generative AI, malicious code, Obj3tivityStealer, Ophtek, Phishing, VIP Keylogger, website images, , , , , , ,
11
Feb 2025

Cybercriminals are increasingly embedding malware within website images to evade detection and compromise IT systems.

Recent investigations have revealed a growing trend among threat actors: hiding malicious code within image files hosted on trusted websites. This approach allows the attackers to bypass traditional security measures, which tend to trust well-known and widely used websites. As ever, the attack begins with a phishing email designed to trick the victim into unleashing the malware. The phishing email in question has taken numerous forms such as invoices or purchase orders. Once opened, the file exploits a Microsoft Office vulnerability.

Emails are an essential part of business, so it’s crucial that you understand how this attack works to keep your IT infrastructure safe.

Unpacking the Image Attack

The vulnerability at the heart of the attack can be found in Microsoft Office’s Equation Editor (CVE-2017-11882). This vulnerability enables a malicious script to run, downloading an image file from a trusted website (such as archive.org). The image may, to the average PC user, look harmless, but hidden within its metadata is a malicious code. This is used to automatically install spyware and keyloggers such as VIP Keylogger and Obj3tivityStealer. These slices of malware allow the threat actors to monitor your systems, harvest sensitive data, and gain access to financial information.

What’s interesting – or disturbing, depending on your perspective – about the attack is that it appears to harness the power of AI. Cybercriminals are increasingly turning to generative AI to create convincing phishing emails, malicious scripts, and even HTML web pages which can host malicious payloads. This is making attacks much easier to launch while also lowering the barriers to entry around your IT networks.

Keeping Your IT Systems Secure

No business wants keyloggers and spyware downloaded onto their IT infrastructure, so it’s vital that you keep it secure and protected. It’s impossible to keep it 100% safe, but you can optimize its strength by following these three tips:

  1. Regularly Update Your Software: make sure all your software, especially Microsoft Office applications, is up to date. Software developers release regular updates to patch vulnerabilities – like CVE-2017-11882 – which attackers seek to exploit. As well as enabling automatic updates, schedule regular checks for patches to ensure that critical updates are not missed. And remember, this applies to all software on your networks.
  2. Use Advanced Email Security: always utilize email filtering tools to automatically block phishing emails before they reach your staff. These highly effective solutions can scan all incoming messages for suspicious links, attachments, or blacklisted senders to prevent them from reaching your employee inboxes. Also, make sure your team are educated on the danger signs of a phishing email. Regular training and refresher sessions can help maximize the security of your first-line defenses.
  3. Monitor Network Activity: Use network monitoring tools to detect unusual activities, such as unexpected downloads or unauthorized connections. These tools can indicate potential threats early, allowing you to respond quickly before threat actors secure a foothold within your systems. Make sure that you establish a program of regular reviews for your activity logs, this approach will enable you to spot anomalies and take action.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Malicious Chrome Extensions Threaten Millions

Bard AI Chat, ChatGPT, Cyber Attack, Facebook Ads, Google Chrome, Google Meet, malware, Ophtek, Phishing, , , , , , ,
04
Feb 2025

A recent cyberattack has compromised several popular Google Chrome extensions, infecting millions of users with data-stealing malware.

In early January 2025, cybersecurity researchers at Extension Total discovered a malicious campaign targeting Chrome extensions which offer AI services. The threat actors hijacked at least 36 extensions – including Bard AI Chat, ChatGPT for Google Meet, and ChatGPT App – with approximately 2.6 million users affected. This widespread attack has raised the alarm among users and software developers as, previously, these extensions were highly trusted.

With 3.45 billion people using Chrome as their browser, it’s no surprise that threat actors would target it. This attack is especially ingenious, so we’re going to take a deep dive into it.

How Were the Chrome Extensions Compromised?

The affected extensions may be named after popular AI tools like Bard and ChatGPT, but they are third-party applications with no development from Google or OpenAI. Third-party extensions can, of course, be legitimate, but these compromised extensions were far from helpful. Instead, they were used to deliver fake updates containing malware.

The malware was designed to steal sensitive user information, specifically targeting data related to Facebook Ads accounts. Therefore, this posed a significant threat to businesses which rely on Facebook for marketing and sales. With this stolen data, the threat actors could use it for unauthorized access, financial and identity theft, or to fuel phishing attacks.

In response to the attack, many of the affected extensions have been removed from the Chrome Store to limit further infections. However, others remain available, exposing users to the malware. Chrome, as we’ve already mentioned, is hugely popular with around 130,000 extensions are available to install. The risk of a security incident, as you would imagine, is high; this recent attack underscores the importance of practicing vigilance when installing extensions.

Staying Safe from Rogue Chrome Extensions

Browser extensions are designed to help users by enhancing functionality and making everyday browsing easier. However, this recent attack has also demonstrated that they’re a security risk. Ophtek wants to keep you safe from similar attacks, so we’ve put together our top tips for protecting your PC from rogue extensions:

  • Install Extensions from Trusted Sources: you should only ever download extensions from reputable developers and official web stores. Before hitting that install button, always carry out some research on the developer, read user reviews, and check ratings to assess how legitimate it is.
  • Limit Extension Permissions: extensions often require permissions to function correctly on your PC but be very careful of any extension which requests a long list of permissions e.g. access to browsing data, microphone control, and cookies. You should only ever grant permissions to what is necessary for the extension to operate. If in doubt of a permission request, seek help from an IT professional.
  • Update Extensions: always ensure your extensions are kept up to date, as developers often release patches to fix security vulnerabilities. Regularly check for updates and keep an eye out for any unusual browser behavior such as strange pop-ups, redirects to other sites, or performance issues. Additionally, if you have extensions you no longer use, remove these to reduce your exposure to risk

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Fake Job Scam Used to Serve Up Malware

fake recruiters, Linkedin, malicious websites, Ophtek, phishing_email, update security software, verify identities, webcams, , , , ,
28
Jan 2025

Threat actors are highly innovative – one recent attack tricked victims into addressing fake webcam and microphone issues to gain system access.

We’re constantly advised to be aware of phishing emails, infected documents, and malicious websites, but what happens when threat actors take a different approach? Well, they increase their chances of breaching your defenses. This is why it’s crucial to keep up to date with developments in the world of cybersecurity. This latest attack targeted professionals on LinkedIn, but it could easily be used in other environments.

Ophtek wants to keep you secure from these types of threats, so we’re going to summarize this attack and show you how to stay safe.

The Interview from Hell

Job interviews are always stressful affairs, but at least they don’t hit you financially. However, there is an exception – the LinkedIn attack. With 1 billion members, LinkedIn is hugely popular and this makes it the perfect target for a threat actor.

Victims are approached on LinkedIn by fake recruiters who claim to be working for crypto firms such as Kraken and Gemini. On offer is the opportunity of a number of high-ranking roles at these firms, and the victims has been specially chosen to apply. Victims who take the bait and then posed a series of long-form questions relating to the crypto industry e.g. which crypto trends will have the most impact in the next 12 months.

It may, at first, seem like any other job interview, but the final question posed requires an answer filmed on video. This is where the breach begins. The threat actor will issue an error message stating that there’s an access issue for the victim’s camera and microphone. The problem is apparently caused by a cache issue but, luckily, the ‘interviewer’ has a set of instructions to fix the error. Unfortunately, following these instructions simply hands the threat actor access to the victim’s PC, where their crypto wallet is likely to be targeted.

How to Stay Safe on LinkedIn

You may have a LinkedIn account, and even if you don’t, it’s important that you know how to defend against a similar attack. The three main ways you can protect your PC are:

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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The 5 Best IT Security Practices to Adopt for 2025

AI, cybercrime, Employee Training, Ophtek, secure IoT, security practices, supply chain security, zero trust architecture, , , , , ,
21
Jan 2025

2025 promises to be an exciting year for businesses, but cybercrime will remain a major threat. That’s why strengthening your cybersecurity is essential.

With the costs of cybercrime expected to hit $10.5 trillion in 2025, it’s evident that tackling cybercrime is a major priority for all businesses. However, it’s easy to become complacent with the quality of your defenses. You may feel that 2024 was a quiet year for you in terms of malware, so why change anything? Well, it’s this complacency that threat actors prey upon. Therefore, you need to constantly evolve your defenses to remain safe.

Start Enhancing Your Cybersecurity Today:

You may be wondering where to start, but this is where Ophtek has your back. We’ve pooled our resources and knowledge to bring you the 5 best IT security practices to adopt in 2025:

  1. Train Your Employees to Stay Safe: Your first line of defense against threat actors remains your employees. If your employees understand the threat of malware then you increase your chances of staying safe. However, if they don’t understand the telltale signs of ransomware and trojans, this manifests itself as a major chink in your armor. You can remedy this by conducting regular training sessions to educate and update your team on all the latest threats. This makes your staff less likely to fall victim to scams and protect your systems. 
  2. Use Zero Trust Architecture: Trust is crucial in business, but it can be dangerous when it comes to IT systems. Therefore, adopting a zero trust architecture (ZTA) model can enhance your security practices. ZTA involves enforcing strict identity verification – such as Microsoft Authenticator – and segmenting your networks to restrict access to only those who need it. These practices will minimize the risk of both external and internal threats, optimizing the security of your IT infrastructure.
  3. Secure Your IoT Devices: The number of connected IoT devices is set to grow significantly in the next five years, up to 32.1 billion devices by 2030. Start securing them by checking if any of them are still using default passwords – if they are, change these to strong passwords immediately. It’s also a good idea to segment IoT devices onto separate networks, this limits how far malware can spread through your IT infrastructure in the case of an infection. Finally, make sure that software patches and firmware updates are installed promptly.
  4. Implement AI Cybersecurity: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to detect and neutralize threats in real time. Capable of analyzing huge amounts of data and identifying unusual activity, AI excels at spotting sophisticated threats before they create a foothold in your networks. This automation allows you to stay ahead of the threat actors and safeguard your systems more effectively than ever. Consequently, exploring options such as IBM’s range of AI tools could make a vast difference to your defenses in 2025.
  5. Maximize Your Supply Chain Security: Threat actors are as innovative as they are dangerous, this is best evidenced by their attempts to target your vendors to gain access to your systems. To keep your business safe, audit the vendors you work with to verify their cybersecurity protocols and compliance. Working closely with your vendors will enable you to limit threat actors exploiting any gaps in security.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Remcos RAT Malware Attacks Increase in Q3 2024

malicious downloads, Ophtek, phishing_email, PowerShell script, RAT, Remcos RAT, Remote Access Trojan, , , , , ,
07
Jan 2025

Malware has a habit of going through periods of intense activity, and this is exactly what the Remcos RAT malware has been up to in Q3 2024.

First detected in 2016, Remcos is somewhat of a veteran of the malware scene, but its activity has ramped up significantly throughout 2024. Reaching a peak during Q3 2024, Remcos has the potential to take control of infected machines remotely, hence the Remote Access Trojan (RAT) attachment to its name. This remote access allows the threat actors behind this latest campaign to both harvest data and monitor PC activities in real time. RATs are nothing new in the world of cybersecurity, but any notable surges in activity are always cause for concern.

To help protect your PCs from falling into the clutches of Remcos, we’re going to dive into the story behind it – and RATs in general – to uncover how they work.

Understanding RATs

The concept of a RAT is simple: they give a threat actor unauthorized remote access to a PC. First detected way back in the 1970s, a RAT is a strain of malware which threat actors use to take control, silently and discreetly, of your PCs.

With a RAT installed, the attackers can quickly gain access to all of your data and applications e.g. passwords, webcams, and microphones. This puts your organization at risk of falling victim to espionage and having your secure data compromised. Typically, RATs are spread via phishing emails or malicious downloads.

Behind the Scenes of Remcos’ Latest Attacks

The current Remcos campaign is interesting as, following investigation by McAfee researchers, it’s been discovered that two Remcos variants are currently active. The first Remcos variant uses a PowerShell script to download malicious files from a remote server and then inject it into a genuine Microsoft tool (RegASM.exe) to help conceal it. The second variant of Remcos is transmitted through phishing emails and exploits a known vulnerability (CVE-2017-11882) to give threat actors remote access.

Both variants are particularly virulent and persistent, with a number of innovative design features ensuring that they remain evasive and can operate under the radar. Remcos encodes its data in Base64 to avoid suspicion and also makes a point of not leaving any additional files on infected hard drives. Furthermore, Remcos edits the registry and startup folders in a way which enables it to load back up on every reboot.

Outsmarting Remote Access Trojans

Luckily, you don’t have to fall victim to Remcos or any other RAT attacks as Ophtek has your back. To help you get your defenses optimized, we’re going to share the three best ways to RAT-proof your IT infrastructure:

  • Use Antivirus and Keep Software Updated: Make sure all your PCs are protected by strong antivirus software – such as Kaspersky or AVG – which checks for malicious files in real-time. Alongside this measure, regularly update all your PC software to prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities.
  • Be Cautious of Suspicious Emails: It’s critical that all your staff are mindful of the most identifiable signs of phishing emails. Dedicate part of your IT inductions to highlighting the danger of clicking on unexpected email links or attachments, and carry out refreshers on a regular basis. Ultimately, if an employee receives an email which looks slightly strange, they should always check this with an IT professional before taking action.
  • Practice Strong Password Security: One of the simplest ways to protect your IT systems is by using unique and strong passwords for your PCs and servers. Also, use multifactor authentication where possible, this means that even if an attacker obtains your passwords, there’s a further layer of security standing in their way.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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