Copycat criminals abuse Malwarebytes brand in malvertising campaign

While exploit kit activity has been fairly quiet for some time now, we recently discovered a threat actor creating a copycat—fake—Malwarebytes website that was used as a gate to the Fallout EK, which distributes the Raccoon stealer. The few malvertising campaigns that remain are often found on...

Exploit kits: fall 2019 review

Despite a slim browser market share, Internet Explorer is still being exploited in fall 2019 in a number of drive-by download campaigns. Perhaps even more surprising, we're seeing new exploit kits emerge. Based on our telemetry, these drive-bys are happening worldwide with the exception of a few...

Brand-New SystemBC Proxy Malware Spotted Using SOCKS5 for Stealth

A previously undocumented proxy malware, dubbed “SystemBC,” is upping the stealth game by using SOCKS5 to evade detection. It’s being distributed by the Fallout and RIG exploit kits EKs, according to researchers. Proofpoint researchers said on Thursday that in the most recently tracked example, t...

Exploit kits: spring 2019 review

Exploit kit activity remains fairly unchanged since our last winter review in terms of active distribution campaigns. But this spring edition will feature a new exploit kit and another atypical EK, in that it specifically goes after routers. The main driver behind these drive-by download attacks...

Exploit kits: winter 2019 review

Active malvertising campaigns in December and the new year have kept exploit kit activity from hibernating in winter 2019. We mostly observed Fallout and RIG with the occasional, limited GrandSoft appearance for wider geo-targeting. In addition, narrowly-focused exploit kits such as Magnitude,...

A week in security (January 14 – 20)

Last week on the Malwarebytes Labs blog, we took a look at how the government shutdown is influencing cybersecurity jobs, Advanced Persistent Threats group APT10, the comeback of Fallout EK, the hosting of malicious sites on legitimate servers, and the Collection 1 data breach. Other cybersecurit...

Fallout EK Retools for a Fresh New 2019 Look

A new version of the Fallout exploit kit EK has emerged, featuring new exploits and fresh payloads, including the GandCrab ransomware. The development shows that EKs have a lot of life yet left in them, researchers say. The Fallout EK generally finds its victims by way of malvertising campaigns,...

Improved Fallout EK comes back after short hiatus

Edit 2019-01-24 Fallout EK introduces a new dropper to facilitate the final payload retrieval. This update replaces the plain MZ we saw for a little while. -- After a short hiatus in early January, the Fallout exploit kit is back in business again with some new features for the new year. During i...

Exploit kits: fall 2018 review

Exploit kit EK activity continues to surprise us as the weather cools, the leaves change, and we move into the fall of 2018. Indeed, shortly after our summer review, a new exploit kit was discovered, and while no new vulnerabilities were added to the current EKs, several malvertising chains are...