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Category: SPAM

How is Malware Delivered?

Malware

Read a recent study on the origins of malicious software aka malware. Here are the highlights:

Current Malware Statistics

29% – Malware is previously unknown to security vendors due to the continued efforts of malware creators to hide the software or make it undetectable.

88% – Malware is delivered to people’s inboxes and some of it bypassing normal SPAM filters.

8.8 Days – Time before regular antivirus vendors have discovered the malware and added it to their lists for detection.

$50 – The cost of a pre-fabricated malware kit that can be bought currently on the dark web.

“The most common type of malicious attachments were: documents (Word – 31%), archive files (ZIP & RAR – 28%), spreadsheets (Excel – 19%) and executable files (EXE – 17%).”

What can be done?

A multi-tiered approach to security remains the best solution:

  • Moving from traditional antivirus to Enhanced Detection & Response (EDR) software to go beyond lists of know infections to behavior tracking of software
  • Moving from traditional SPAM filters to Email Advanced Threat Protection which scans each email and opens each attachment to see if there is any malicious activity cause by them
  • Moving from traditional router to a business class firewall with Intrusion Prevention System to monitor traffic for suspicious activity
  • Employee training is also key to keep your staff aware of immerging trends and threats 


If your company is looking to enhance your network security posture, then contact us for assistance.

Local Church Hit By Ransomware

Got a call a couple weeks ago from a local church:

“we came in and open the computer and we have ransomware on there. We can’t even get to any of our stuff. It’s telling us to email somebody and so that they can free up the computer.”

How does this happen?

Generally these things happen because people click on things they shouldn’t. Whether in an attachment in email from someone they don’t recognize, a link in social media that sounds too good to pass up, or an advertisement for something they can’t live without. Once the user gives permission for something to open or run on their computer the game is over and the hacker wins.

What to do when it happen?

  • Stop using the computer.
  • Leave the computer alone! Do not carry out any further commands, including commands to Save data.
  • Do not close any of the computer’s windows or programs. Leave the computer alone.
  • Leave everything plugged in and do not turn off the computer or peripheral devices.
  • If possible, physically disconnect the computer from networks to which it is attached.
  • Call us immediately. Write down any unusual behavior of the computer (screen messages, unexpected disk access, unusual responses to commands) and the time when they were first noticed.
  • Write down any changes in hardware, software, or usage that preceded the malfunction.
  • Do not attempt to remove a suspected virus! Let the professionals do the dirty work.

How to prevent this from happening?

Layers of protection is the simple answer. A good antivirus installed to stop the bad programs from running, DNS filtering to keep users off of bad sites / advertisements, a good backup of all data to recover when this does happen, and most important of all EDUCATION – teaching users what safe internet usage looks like and having policies in effect to train them can mitigate 60-70% of infections. 

If your company is would like to discuss the layers of security you have in place, then contact us for assistance.

Warning: Explicit SPAM Messages

Explicit Spam Message

Explicit Spam Message

Here are a couple recent SPAM emails that were received by clients and myself. They are explicit in nature but they a good lesson about the scare tactics of SPAMMERS. The first message seems to be the better SPAM message as it has better English and is even tries to be humorous, while the second is more direct and extortionary. Time to dissect these messages.

SPAM Message #1

  • Password – This message starts by stating that it knows your password. How can this be? There have been several information breaches from the government, retailers, healthcare, etc over the past couple of years. The majority of these breaches are eventually posted online with emails and passwords – hence the reason Farmhouse Networking has started offering Dark Web scanning and advises passwords be changed often.
  • Remote Access – The SPAMMER then goes on to provide a detailed explanation of how they got into the computer. It sounds convincing but deeper analysis by someone who is in the IT Security industry would reveal that their explanation is flawed. To do what they proposed would take several different exploits of various portions of the computer and would likely take longer than video would be playing.
  • Contacts – For their “computer software” to get contacts from all these various sources would require that the password mentioned earlier in the email be the same for all these services. It is recommended by Farmhouse Networking that different passwords be used for each service so that if one is compromised then the rest are not in jeopardy. It might be asked how to keep track and the answer is a password keeping software like LastPass.

 

SPAM Message #2

  • Threats – The message starts immediately with the intimidating remarks and threats. It may be true that alerting the authorities will not bring any immediate assistance, but if we are all upstanding citizens then there is nothing to worry about their threats. It is always good to submit these messages to the authorities (FBI) for analysis so they can take these guys down over time. I do find it sad that this SPAMMER did not take the time to explain how they gained access to my computer.
  • Webcam – It is very possible that if your computer is infected properly that the hacker could gain access to your webcam, but again if we are upstanding citizens and don’t do anything inappropriate in front of our computers then there is nothing to worry about here.
  • Bitcoin – The demands continue with a sense of expediency in the matter giving only 28 hours before the big reveal. This particular SPAMMER either knows the value of the first SPAMMERS creativity in producing a video or are selling themselves short at the $400 ransom in Bitcoin. Finally, they even try to give a bit of legitimacy to their claim by stating that they can send the video to a partial list of contacts.

If your company is interested in Dark Web Scanning for on-going breach protection or worried about SPAM, then contact us for assistance.

Is this really SPAM?

Thought that I would share a recently received new SPAM email variant that could easily be overlooked and possibly be a scammer looking to take your money. This one is strange to me and I wanted to share my insites.

Starting from the Top

Look closely at the From portion of the email:

This email is from a legitimate email marketing firm called AWeber. The SPAMMER is actually using a website designed to help bypass SPAM filtering to deliver mail. There is also the fact that the email is form someone that I don’t do business with. Always fight the urge to look at things that are not yours.

Stick to the Subject

Now to take a look at the Subject line of the email:

The email marketing firm this SPAM is sent from is required that you confirm someone who is joining your email campaign. Guess I would have to agree to be scammed by this person.

And now the rest…

The final thing that caught my eye was the title of the email campaign in the email:

The enticing title “Clickbank – 30k project” sounded interesting. By clicking on the button I would confirm my existence as a real person and would likely kick off a communication from someone who is likely an “African Prince” with a money making opportunity. Hope this little tutorial helps you detect other phishing attempts in the future.

If your company is having trouble with SPAM or phishing, then contact us for assistance.

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