Financial threats

Trojan-Ransom.AndroidOS.Fusob.h remained the most popular mobile Trojan-Ransomware in the third quarter, accounting for nearly 53% of users attacked by mobile ransomware.

In September 2016, we discovered a new version of Gootkit with a characteristic and instantly recognizable feature: an extra check of the environment variable ‘crackme’ in the downloader’s body. Just as interesting was the fact that we were able to gain access to the bot’s C&C server, including its complete hierarchal tree of folders and files and their contents.

Unlike the previously reported and now decrypted Xpan ransomware, this same-but-different threat from Brazil has recently been spotted in the wild. This time the infection vector is a more massively propagated malicious campaign relying on traditional spam email.

A Tweet posted recently by AVG researcher, Jakub Kroustek, suggested that a new ransomware, written entirely in Python, had been found in the wild, joining the emerging trend for Pysomwares such as the latest HolyCrypt, Fs0ciety Locker and others.

In this article, we discuss how it is possible to take advantage of errors made in the implementation of a cryptographic scheme, and how mistakes by malware writers allow us to help users restore their encrypted data.

We discovered a new variant of a Brazilian-made ransomware, that is being used to infect local companies and hospitals, directly affecting innocent people, encrypting their files and asking to pay the ransom.

The report comprises two papers in which we analyze all existing methods of authentication used in ATMs and those expected to be used in the near future, including: contactless authentication through NFC, one-time password authentication and biometric authentication systems, as well as potential vectors of attacks using malware, through to network attacks and attacks on hardware components.

After a successful infection, RAA executes its main task, i.e. encrypts the user’s files. However, it doesn’t stop there: some versions of RAA also include a Pony Trojan file, which steals confidential information from the infected computer.

In June, 2016, the Russian police arrested the alleged members of the criminal group known as Lurk. The police suspected Lurk of stealing nearly three billion rubles. The story of Lurk gives some idea of the amount of work that has to be done to obtain enough evidence to arrest and prosecute suspects.

In the second quarter of 2016, Kaspersky Lab’s web antivirus detected 16,119,489 unique malicious objects: scripts, exploits, executable files, etc. 54,539,948 unique URLs were recognized as malicious by web antivirus components.

Bankers and encryptors, ransomware and spyware, old and new exploits; APT attacks, ATM infection, spear phishing and fraud targeting large numbers of users – cybercriminals continue their hunt for money and information

We recently found that a new logic in the latest version of the Shade encryptor currently being spread widely within the territories of Russia and CIS. On the basis of this logic, the ransomware checks the computer for any involvement in accounting activities and, if the check is successful, installs remote control tools into the compromised system instead of encrypting the victim’s files.

While we were researching the malicious program Lurk in early February 2016, we discovered an interesting oddity in how this banking Trojan spreads. From the data we had, it emerged that the users attacked by Lurk also installed the remote administration software Ammyy Admin on their computers.

The number of users attacked with ransomware is huge. But how big is it? Ransomware seems to be a global threat. But maybe there are regions at a higher risk of danger? There seem to be a lot of ransomware malware groups. But what are the most widespread and dangerous?

The number of users attacked with ransomware is huge. But how big is it? Ransomware seems to be a global threat. But maybe there are regions at a higher risk of danger? There seem to be a lot of ransomware malware groups. But what are the most widespread and dangerous?