Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jul 18, 2011
Malware targets customers of Brazilian banks.
Researchers at Kaspersky have discovered a piece of malware aimed at customers of Brazilian banks which creates a remote user account to enable attackers to take full control of the compromised machine.
The malware is spread via an email that poses as an update to Flash Player. Although the downloader does actually install a legitimate version of Flash Player, it also downloads what may at first look like an innocent .txt file. Once downloaded, however, the extension is changed to .msi, that of a Windows Installer file, and malicious files are installed on the system.
The malware installs a legitimate DLL which allows multiple users to be logged in at the same time, and also installs a number of DLLs which are responsible for stealing user credentials for the online banking systems of various Brazilian banks. The malware also creates a password-protected user account, 'Remo', which is used by the attackers to log into the machine and take full control of it.
The researchers discovered a web page that keeps track of infected machines, listing over 3,300 machines. This may seem a small number compared to the size of some botnets, but given that it is targeted at one country, with one particular goal (stealing money), the malware stands to make the criminals large amounts of money.
More at Kaspersky's Securelist blog here.
Kaspersky's Fabio Assolini will present 'Bonnie and Clyde: the crazy lives of the Brazilian bad guys', detailing the profitability of the Brazilian cybercrime scene, at VB2011 later this year.
VB2011 takes place 5-7 October in Barcelona, Spain. Registration is now open.
Posted on 18 July 2011 by Virus Bulletin
