How to solve the Malwarebytes CrackMe: a step-by-step tutorial

The topic of this post is a Malwarebytes CrackMe—an exercise in malware analysis that I recently created. First, the challenge was created to serve internal purposes, but then it was released to the community on Twitter and triggered a lot of positive response. Thanks to all of you who sent in yo...

Singles’ Day deal seekers beware

Originally a day set aside for singles in China to be proud of their singlehood, Singles' Day has been transformed into what is arguably the world’s single largest e-commerce festival, thanks to the involvement of The Alibaba Group. In fact, the Alibaba Group alone reported $17.8 billion in sales...

Disdain exploit kit and a side of social engineering deliver Neutrino Bot

Today we picked up new activity from an exploit kit that was first discovered back in August of this year. The Disdain exploit kit, simply identified by a string of the same name found in its source code, is being distributed again after a short interruption via malvertising chains. Disdain EK...

Winning the battle against PUPs on your computer and in court

I know very few people, other than lawyers, that get excited about corporate court cases. But, I want to share with you a recent decision that I believe is cause for every computer user to celebrate. This week, a United States District Court judge ruled in Malwarebytes' favor, dismissing a lawsui...

Of scammers and cute puppies

We’ve followed tech support scammers for quite a while at Malwarebytes. They’ve been of particular interest because of their preference for scamming the poor, the elderly, and the developmentally disabled. But there’s a diverse spectrum of online scams a criminal can profit from, and today we’re...

Phony WhatsApp used Unicode to slip under Google’s radar

After a troubling week for Google not so long ago, the company is under the spotlight once more for missing another app that, after further investigations by several members of Reddit, was found laden with adware. This app, which was called "Update WhatsApp Messenger," used the logo and developer...

Part 2: All rise! Mind these digital crimes and arm your business against them

In the first installment of this two-part series, we advised consumers to stay on top of a selection of up-and-coming crimes to significantly lessen the chances of encountering them in the future. For this post, we're going to look into digital crimes that keeps small businesses and large...

A look into the global drive-by cryptocurrency mining phenomenon

An important milestone in the history of cryptomining happened around mid-September when a company called Coinhive launched a service that could mine for a digital currency known as Monero directly within a web browser. JavaScript-based mining is cross-platform compatible and works on all modern...

Magnitude EK actor goes for Bitcoin multiplier scam (updated)

It is well known that hot commodities tend to attract scammers and online criminals. The continuous rise of Bitcoin over the past year valued at over USD $7,188 at the time of writing is generating frenzy amongst fans of cryptocurrencies as well as those watching from the sidelines. While the...

A week in security (October 30 – November 5)

Last week on our blog, we told you what to expect at the upcoming Irisscon security conference in Dublin. We gave you a quick introduction into the why and how of analyzing malware based on their API calls. And we issued a warning about some lesser-known cybercrimes. Plus we explained why emergin...

Explained: blockchain technology

Last week, we talked about what cryptocurrency is and why cybercriminals love it. We mentioned that cryptocurrency was founded on a technology called blockchain, which is a tight system that, when applied correctly, is more secure than most other financial transactions. In this post, we'll explai...

What is cryptocurrency and why do cybercriminals love it?

Ever pretend you know what your friends are talking about because you want to sound smart and relevant—and then trap yourself in a lie? “Wow, looks like those hackers were mining for cryptocurrency. You know what cryptocurrency is, right?” “Oh yeah, totally. Cryptocurrency. Bad stuff. You know...

Why emerging APAC markets are prime targets for the malware of the future

In many ways, Asia has led the way in technological development. Robotics, video games, dizzyingly fast Internet speeds. But when it comes to cybersecurity, several APAC countries, especially those in emerging markets, are severely lacking. And while, according to the 2017 State of Malware Report...

IRISSCON security conference comes to Dublin in November

It's that time of the year when IRISSCON—the biggest security conference in Ireland, in my humble opinion—springs into life with a great collection of talks and Capture the Flag events. Held on November 23 in Dublin, there will be a strong focus on working in Infosec this year, alongside some of...

All rise! Mind these digital crimes and arm yourself against them

Have you noticed that, in this year alone, headlines are inundated with words that contain "cyber"? Cybercrime. Cyberattack. Cybersecurity. Cyberwarfare. The cyber. Okay, that was last year. Frankly, with so much going on, we hardly remember a time when the term "cyber" seemed quaint and a little...

Analyzing malware by API calls

Over the last quarter, we've seen an increase in malware using packers, crypters, and protectors—all methods used to obfuscate malicious code from systems or programs attempting to identify it. These packers make it very hard, or next to impossible to perform static analysis. The growing number o...

Know your threats: the nine scariest malware monsters

It's been a particularly ghoulish year in cybersecurity, from Russian hacks to ransomware outbreaks. The bad boogey man in the black hoodie has been pulling one over the collective public. It's dark and creepy, but users refuse to stop peeking behind the door. It's enough to make even the most...

A week in security (October 23 – October 29)

Welcome back to "A week in security." Last week, we took a look at how deleted files can be recovered, explored the BadRabbit ransomware plague attacking Eastern Europe including a deep dive into the code, and talked about what it takes to work in security. One of our researchers, who is a PhD...

Traditional AV solutions shown ineffective in real-time global heat map

It's no secret that antivirus technology AV has faced increased scrutiny in the tech industry for quite some time. With signature-based detection methods, traditional AV solutions are simply weak against unknown malware and other malicious content. Meanwhile, consumers and businesses continue to...

Please don’t buy this: smart locks

We all like buying the latest and greatest tech toy. It’s fun to get new and novel features on a product that used to be boring and predictable; a draw of the original BeBox amongst many was a layer of “das blinkenlights” across the front. But sometimes, the latest feature is not always the...

Our computers, ourselves: digital vs. biological security

Though by night I fight malware alongside the rest of the Malwarebytes research team, by day I work as a doctoral student in Immunobiology at Yale University, where I study the development of the immune system in your bone marrow. This grants me a unique perspective, as I’ve studied both the...

When cybersecurity isn’t all cyber: What does it really take to work in cybersecurity?

With the multitude of breaches and outbreaks already witnessed in 2017, it's become clear that industries across all verticals are challenged by cybersecurity. This is a serious business problem that needs to be addressed ASAP. As much talk as there is about organizations getting hacked, scores o...

BadRabbit: a closer look at the new version of Petya/NotPetya

Petya/NotPetya aka EternalPetya, made headlines in June, due to it's massive attack on Ukraine. Today, we noted an outbreak of a similar-looking malware, called BadRabbit, probably prepared by the same authors. Just like the previous edition, BadRabbit has an infector allowing for lateral...

BadRabbit ransomware strikes Eastern Europe

A new strain of ransomware called BadRabbit is spreading through Eastern Europe. Likely created by the same authors as the Petya/Not Petya ransomware outbreak in June, BadRabbit ransomware uses a website to drop a fake Flash update and then drops its payload. Click to view slideshow. Countries we...

Digital forensics: How to recover deleted files

Where I personally have a problem remembering names and birthdays, computers have a hard time “forgetting” things. Even when we tell them to do so. If you ever unintentionally deleted a file, you may have been able to retrieve it from the Recycle Bin. Or, if it was past that stage and the file wa...

A week in security (October 16 – October 22)

Last week was an eventful one in security, keeping our research and intel teams on their toes. Multiple security researchers homed in on suspicious and malicious apps on Google Play, affecting thousands of Android users. A new variant of Mac malware Proton was also found in the wild, this time...

More trouble in Google Play land

This is not a good week for Google, it seems. After our mobile security experts repeatedly discovered adware on several apps on the Google Play store, our friends at Symantec have unearthed at least eight malicious apps that are found capable of adding affected mobile devices to a botnet. Accordi...

Mac malware OSX.Proton strikes again

The hackers responsible for the Mac malware OSX.Proton have struck again, this time infecting a copy of the Elmedia Player app that was being distributed from the official Eltima website. At this time, it is still unknown how long their website was providing the hijacked app. Proton was silently...

How to create an intentional culture of security

In this day and age, companies great and small are vulnerable to potential attacks that they are exposed to every day. From insider threats to simple phishing, one is always left guessing if they know enough to handle them or are well prepared to face the risks. Educating your staff about basic...

BYOD, why don’t you?

Bring Your Own Device BYOD is a policy that allows employees to bring their own devices to the workplace and use them there. At one time, this was the latest bonus to attract and keep employees happy—plus save a few bucks. Nowadays the question is more like: Is there anyone who doesn't bring his...

Magniber ransomware: exclusively for South Koreans

The Magnitude exploit kit has been pretty consistent over the last few months, dropping the same payload—namely, the Cerber ransomware—and targeting a few select countries in Asia. Strangely, Magnitude EK disappeared in late September, and for a while we wondered whether this was yet another...

419 scammer offers USD $60 million—and a free child

Scammers often come crawling out of the woodwork in all sorts of places you wouldn't necessarily expect. This is to their advantage when trying to keep suspicion in check; after all, we're pretty much pre-programmed to think 419 scams will only wander into our inboxes. Twitter, though? That's a...

When an “Outstanding” rating from CNET isn’t enough

The editors at respected tech site CNET/Download.com recently awarded Malwarebytes for Windows with an “outstanding” rating of 4.5 stars out of five. In the review, editor Tom McNamara recommended Malwarebytes because the scanning engine is of “high quality,” it works well with Windows 10, and do...

Why is Malwarebytes blocking CoinHive?

If you've encountered a Malwarebytes web protection block for coinhive.com over the last few weeks, you are either glad about it, angry about it, or don't really care. Since September 19, the second most frequently blocked website for our customers has been coinhive.com, and when we observe that...

Exhibition: it-sa Nuremberg

Scroll down for the German version of this post. Since 2009, security professionals, developers, and product providers have shared their ideas and platforms at it-sa, a security exhibition in the Exhibition Centre in Nuremberg, Germany. This year, it-sa featured 629 exhibitors including...

Release the KRACKen: flaw in Wi-Fi security leaves users vulnerable

A serious flaw in the wireless protocol that secures all modern protected Wi-Fi networks has been discovered. How serious? If your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected. This feasible attack, dubbed KRACK, could abuse design or implementation flaws in the Wi-Fi standard, not some...

Old MS Office feature weaponized in malspam attacks

There have been a lot of talks recently following a write up and proof of concept about a Microsoft Office feature that can be misused and weaponized by malicious actors. The protocol, known as Dynamic Data Exchange.aspx DDE, has actually been around for a long time, and allows applications to...

Yet more mobile adware found in Google Play

Finding an adware variant that made its way past the Google Play store is out of the ordinary. So when two adware variants slip by in one week, we take notice. Last week, we added two new Ad SDKs to our growing list of adware detections—Adware.Solid and Adware.Cootek. Both Ad SDKs were found in a...

A week in security (October 9 – October 15)

Last week on the Labs blog, we talked about GDPR as part of our series in the National Cyber Security Awareness Month NCSAM. We also discussed a new method for phishing Apple ID passwords and the possible ramifications. We analyzed the malvertising chain due to a script that was found on popular...

Phishes, pseudophishes, and bad email

Everyone knows about phishing. We’ve all heard that the solution to phishing is to educate the user as, after all, it must be the user’s fault for stupidly clicking on the thing. But what about when perverse incentives make clicking the phish seem logical? What about the enterprise pseudophish—wh...

Mobile Menace Monday: despicable adware

Are you wondering how that mysterious icon ended up on your Android phone's start screen? Annoyed at the ads clogging your notification bar? You aren't alone. Thousands of Android apps now include software that shoves marketing icons onto your phone's start screen or pushes advertising into your...

Decoy Microsoft Word document delivers malware through a RAT

In this post, we take a look at a Microsoft Word document which itself is somewhat clean, but is used to launch a multi-stage attack that relies on the hyperlink feature in the OpenXML format. This then loads another document that contains an exploit. Most malicious Microsoft Office documents...

Malvertising on Equifax, TransUnion tied to third party script (updated)

Update 10-16-2017: More information regarding the third-party script fireclick.js and the domain it contacted netflame.cc was revealed by the Wall Street Journal. That domain once was used by Digital River Inc., an e-commerce and digital-marketing vendor, for a now-defunct web-analytics product...

Labs report: summer ushers in unprecedented season of breaches

In this edition of the Malwarebytes Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques report for the third quarter of 2017, we saw a number of high profile breaches targeting the personal information of hundreds of millions of people. While the Equifax breach may have dominated the news cycle, notable attacks...

A new kind of Apple phishing scam

In a recent blog post, Felix Krause revealed a method for phishing Apple ID passwords on iOS that would be quite indistinguishable from a real iOS password request. This got us thinking about the ramifications—how else could this tactic be used in the Apple ecosystem, and what kind of damage coul...

Make way for the GDPR: Is your business ready?

In Week 2 of National Cyber Security Awareness Month NCSAM, the spotlight is on businesses—particularly, their more profound need to take cybersecurity seriously in this age of breaches. And what better way for them to start this off than to think about how they can improve on handling and storin...

A week in security (October 02 – October 08)

Last week, we gave you some tips for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, walked through an exploration of a small adware file, and explored the complicated world of the Homograph attack. Here's what else happened in security. VB2017 Many of our team members attended VB2017 in Madrid, one of t...

Out of character: Homograph attacks explained

In April, Xudong Zheng, a security enthusiast based in New York, found a flaw in some modern browsers in the way they handle domain names. While Chrome, Firefox, and Opera already have security measures in place to cue users that they might be visiting a destination they thought was legitimate, a...

Using ILSpy to analyze a small adware file

My curiosity was triggered when the telemetry of our heuristic scanner started showing a multitude of reports about a small file called grandfather.exe, so I went out to grab a copy and have a look at it. As you can probably tell from some of the detection names at Virustotal, this is a MSIL...

National cybersecurity awareness month: simple steps for online safety

With each new devastating breach of security—Equifax, Deloitte, and Sonic, to name a few recent cyber fails—the need for increased cybersecurity awareness has never been more apparent. It’s a good thing, then, that this month is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month NCSAM. Observed every October...