The Return of the Trickbot Malware

anti malware, malware, Ophtek, trickbot, two-factor authentication, , , , ,
09
Feb 2021

Some malware is incredibly difficult to remove, but it is removable. However, that very same malware could come back stronger than ever before.

We first reported on the Trickbot malware back in 2017 when it was being used to target banks in the US. Back then it was using web-injection techniques to infect users and steal login credentials. But much can change in three and a half years. Trickbot has steadily evolved to become a much stronger strain of malware. And this, naturally, means that its more dangerous. Therefore, even if you managed to beat Trickbot before, it’s going to require an even stronger battle this time around.

The good news is that we’re going to give you a lowdown on the latest variant of Trickbot and, more importantly, how to beat it.

What is Trickbot?

Trickbot has changed significantly since we last encountered it, so it’s crucial that we take a comprehensive look at it. Since its early days as a banking trojan, Trickbot has evolved several times. Enhancements to its design has allowed it to spread through networks rapidly and with stealth on its side. Trickbot has also been re-engineered to become a malware loader meaning that it can download even more malware to an infected system. It had appeared, last year, that a collection of tech companies had managed to take the Trickbot network down. But it appears that Trickbot is still active.

The latest Trickbot attack uses a social engineering approach to unleash its payload and is targeting legal and insurance companies in the US. Phishing emails are being distributed which inform the recipient that they are responsible for a traffic violation. A link contained within the email promises to deliver proof of this violation. But the true destination of this link is a website which will download an infected ZIP file. This infected file will then connect the user’s PC to a remote server and completes the infection by downloading further malware.

How to Beat Trickbot

Good security practices are essential when it comes to beating malware such as Trickbot. Protect yourself by carrying out the following:

  • Install Your Updates: Vulnerabilities in your hardware and software allow malware such as Trickbot easy access into your system. Plug this gap by installing all updates when prompted to and, where possible, set these to automatic installs.
  • Teach Email Safety: The busy pressures of the working day mean that we can sometimes switch to automatic when checking our emails. However, by taking a few moments to carry out some basic checks you can make sure you don’t fall victim to malicious emails.
  • Two-Factor Authentication: Trickbot is well known for being able to spread through networks like wildfire, but you can limit this spread. By installing a method of two-factor authentication on your network you can make this spread much harder.
  • Use Anti-Malware Software: A wide range of anti-malware software is available – much of it at no cost – that can protect your PCs from malware. Windows itself has Windows Defender built into it as standard, so make sure you have something in place. And, don’t forget, make sure the software is turned on.

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

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US Banks Targeted by Trickbot Malware

Cyber Attack, Hacking, malware, Security, trickbot, ,
03
Oct 2017

Necurs

Personal financial information is always highly private, so if this is compromised it’s a real invasion of privacy. Sadly, US banks are now under attack from malware.

Driven by the infamous Necurs hacking botnet, Trickbot is a form of malware that is currently carrying out sustained spam campaigns against US banks. It’s a cyber-attack which has been targeting financial organizations for around a year now, but it’s only recently that these attacks have been focusing on US banks.

Now, the majority of adults in the US use online banking services, so this is the kind of attack which needs to be brought to the attention of the masses. And, not only is there a security lesson for consumers to be found within this attack, but there’s also plenty for organizations to learn about good security practices.

TRICKBOT-BSS-IMAGE-

Tricky Trickbot

Trickbot utilizes, as its name suggests, trickery to achieve its nefarious needs and, in particular, it embraces a redirection scheme. Usually, when you’re transferred from one webpage to another then you can clearly see that the URL changes in your browser to demonstrate where you’re heading to. However, when being redirected by malware, the victim is first sent to an alternate website on a completely different server. As a live connection is kept with the intended website – in this instance an online banking service – this remains displayed with the user’s browser.

And lurking on these alternate websites is the malware’s malicious payload. In the case of Trickbot, these websites use webinjection to infect the victims with JavaScript and HTML coding which go on to steal login details and financial coding from affected users. Naturally, with this sort of sensitive data, hackers can go on to cause widespread damage to individuals finances, but how do people fall foul of these malware scams?

According to the security experts at Flashpoint, Trickbot is spreading its reach through the use of huge spam email campaigns. An example of this was seen in a spam email which claimed to be a bill from an Australian telecommunications organization, but actually contained JavaScript code which activated the Trickbot loader and compromised browsers in what is known as a man-in-the-browser attack.

Trickbot, however, is not a new, unique threat and Flashpoint believes that Trickbot is related to the Dyre banking Trojan which was last active in 2015. The build of both Trickbot and Dyre, so it would appear that either source code is being recycled or members of the same team are involved.

2302145_orig

How to Beat Trickbot

The key to beating Trickbot and not falling victim to its trickery is by simply verifying the emails in your inbox. And the most important checks to make are:

  • Do you recognize the sender of the email? If it’s an unusual or unknown sender name then just ignore it and, if it comes complete with an attachment, definitely ignore it.
  • What is the email asking for? Financial organizations, for example, will never email you to request sensitive data or to head online and enter this data into websites.
  • Are there any links in the email? If they have an unusual address you don’t recognize then don’t click on them as they could be sending you anywhere. And, even if the link reads as a genuine URL, this could still be disguising an alternate URL – hover over the link with your mouse to reveal the true direction of the link.

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

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