Linkedin Archives

Fake Job Scam Used to Serve Up Malware

fake recruiters, Linkedin, malicious websites, Ophtek, phishing_email, update security software, verify identities, webcamsLinkedin, malware, Ophtek, phishing, security, updatesOphtek, LLC

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.

O phtek 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:

Always Verify Identities: Unsolicited job offers aren’t unusual on LinkedIn or other social networking sites, but this doesn’t mean they’re always legitimate. Therefore, it’s vital that you carry out research on the recruiter’s identity. Start by contacting the company directly – ideally by telephone – through official channels and confirm that the vacancy offer is genuine. This can help prevent you falling victim to fake recruiters.
Check IT Issues with Professionals: Taking technical IT instructions from strangers online is a sure-fire way to open up your PC to an attack. Anything which involves adjusting system settings or installing software should be scrutinized closely. Even if someone asks you to install a new font on your PC, treat it as suspicious. Rather than following through on the advice of an internet stranger, go straight to one of your verified IT professionals for advice.
Keep Security Software Updated: Ensure that your operating system and associated antivirus software is always kept up to date. Installing the latest security patches will always maximize your security in the event of a breach, so automating these updates is your best form of defense.

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

LinkedIn Used to Spread DarkGate Malware

authenticator app, Corsair, DarkGate, Linkedin, malware, malware-as-a-service, Ophtekauthenticator app, Corsair, DarkGate, Linkedin, malware, malware-as-a-service, OphtekOphtek, LLC

Dec 2023

The threat of malware strikes the business world again, and this time it’s using LinkedIn to trick users into downloading the DarkGate malware.

LinkedIn is designed to help professionals connect with each other and build professional relationships. It’s proven to be wildly popular, with 950 million members currently registered on the platform.

But where there are huge numbers of users, there will also be large amounts of data. And this data is like catnip to threat actors. This is why fake LinkedIn posts have started appearing on the platform. These posts, as well as a campaign of direct messages, are far from informative for the users of LinkedIn. Instead, they are being used to trick LinkedIn users, primarily those who hold positions within the social media niche, to download malware.

Unveiling the Essentials of DarkGate on LinkedIn

Security experts have been aware of DarkGate since 2017, but it was considered a low-level threat due to its limited activity in the digital wild. However, this changed in June 2023, when its creator began selling it as Malware-as-a-Service package. Since then, a campaign using DarkGate has been launched by threat actors, believed to be working in Vietnam, which targets LinkedIn users.

Mostly, these users have consisted of social media managers operating in the US, the UK, and India. Using LinkedIn posts, or sending direct messages to targets, the threat actors propose that a job offer at Corsair is on the table. LinkedIn is a highly popular recruitment tool, so there’s nothing out of the ordinary with these initial contacts. However, the targets are encouraged into downloading malicious documents, such as a Word document containing a job description and a text file discussing salary details.

Within these documents are malicious links. Once clicked, these links lead to a series of scripts being launched which are used to build DarkGate. The malware’s first move is to start uninstalling security tools located on the infected system. DarkGate’s next step is to begin harvesting data from the compromised system. In particular, DarkGate appears to be targeting login credentials for Facebook business accounts, hence the focus on social media managers.

Protecting Your Credentials from DarkGate

If you’re a social media manager and regularly log on to LinkedIn, the advice is simple: stay away from any links relating to job offers for Corsair. Unfortunately, the threat actors are likely to change the details of their attack now that it’s started generating headlines. Nonetheless, you can still do the following to protect your credentials:

Never click unsolicited links: it’s important to be vigilant against unsolicited links, especially when they’re found in unsolicited direct messages. If you do receive direct messages, or even emails, containing unsolicited links, it’s best to delete them and block the sender.
Install all updates: clicking a malicious link can help threat actors exploit vulnerabilities within your PC, so you need to minimize the number of vulnerabilities which are present. The best way to achieve this is by always installing updates when prompted or making sure that automatic updates are activated.

Use an authenticator app: both LinkedIn and Facebook allow you to use an authenticator app to provide a further layer of security to your credentials. Most commonly, the sites in question will require you, after entering your login credentials, to enter a unique code generated by the app. This means that, if your login credentials are compromised, they will be next to useless to threat actors.

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

Tag Archives: Linkedin