Hello again, FakeBat: popular loader returns after months-long hiatus

The web browser, and search engines in particular, continue to be a popular entry point to deliver malware to users. While we noted a decrease in loaders distributed via malvertising for the past 3 months, today's example is a reminder that threat actors can quickly switch back to tried and teste...

Cybercriminals Exploit Popular Software Searches to Spread FakeBat Malware

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a surge in malware infections stemming from malvertising campaigns distributing a loader called FakeBat. "These attacks are opportunistic in nature, targeting users seeking popular business software," the Mandiant Managed Defense team said in a technical...

FakeBat Loader Malware Spreads Widely Through Drive-by Download Attacks

The loader-as-a-service LaaS known as FakeBat has become one of the most widespread loader malware families distributed using the drive-by download technique this year, findings from Sekoia reveal. "FakeBat primarily aims to download and execute the next-stage payload, such as IcedID, Lumma,...

A week in security (May 6 – May 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Dell notifies customers about data breach DocGo patient health data stolen in cyberattack Desperate Taylor Swift fans defrauded by ticket scams Tracing what went wrong in 2012 for today’s teens, with Dr. Jean Twenge: Lock and Code S04E10 Last week on ThreatDown:...

A week in security (April 15 – April 21)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Law enforcement reels in phishing-as-a-service whopper Mental health company Cerebral failed to protect sensitive personal data, must pay $7 million Cannabis investment scam JuicyFields ends in 9 arrests Should you share your location with your partner? Giant Tiger...

One year later, Rhadamanthys is still dropped via malvertising

It was just a little over a year ago that the Rhadamanthys stealer was first publicly seen distributed via malicious ads. Throughout 2023, we observed a continuation in malvertising chains related to software downloads. Fast forward to 2024 and the same malvertising campaigns are still going on...

New ZLoader Malware Variant Surfaces with 64-bit Windows Compatibility

Threat hunters have identified a new campaign that delivers the ZLoader malware, resurfacing nearly two years after the botnet's infrastructure was dismantled in April 2022. A new variant of the malware is said to have been in development since September 2023, Zscaler ThreatLabz said in an analys...

Atomic Stealer rings in the new year with updated version

Last year, we documented malware distribution campaigns both via malvertising and compromised sites delivering Atomic Stealer AMOS onto Mac users. This stealer has proven to be quite popular in the criminal underground and its developers have been adding new features to justify its hefty...

PikaBot distributed via malicious search ads

During this past year, we have seen an increase in the use of malicious ads malvertising and specifically those via search engines, to drop malware targeting businesses. In fact, browser-based attacks overall have been a lot more common if we include social engineering campaigns. Criminals have...

Malvertisers zoom in on cryptocurrencies and initial access

During the past month, we have observed an increase in the number of malicious ads on Google searches for "Zoom", the popular piece of video conferencing software. Threat actors have been alternating between different keywords for software downloads such as "Advanced IP Scanner" or "WinSCP"...

New Malvertising Campaign Uses Fake Windows News Portal to Distribute Malicious Installers

A new malvertising campaign has been found to employ fake sites that masquerade as legitimate Windows news portal to propagate a malicious installer for a popular system profiling tool called CPU-Z. "This incident is a part of a larger malvertising campaign that targets other utilities like...