SPAM frauds, fakes, and other MALWARE deliveries...

FYI…

Rogue AV projected growth in 2009
- http://preview.tinyurl.com/cqv4se
23 April 09 - PandaLabs blog - "… Cyber-criminals have chosen Rogue Anti-Malware as their primary method of payment because it has become easier for them to make money by affiliate systems and utilizing these types of attacks. It’s no wonder why we have seen more Rogue detections in the first quarter of 2009 then all of 2008… PandaLabs predicts that incidents of rogue AV scams will grow 100 percent quarter over quarter through the end of Q3*… Remember, It's just as important to update your web applications as it is to update your operating system. If you use Wordpress as a platform for your blog or website, then I recommend viewing the official hardening guide**."

* (Chart available at the URL above.)

** http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress

FYI…

Facebook phishing attack
- http://preview.tinyurl.com/crz7yq
April 29, 2009 Techcrunch.com - "… new phishing attack that has broken out on Facebook. If you get an email message that looks to be from Facebook with the subject, “Hello,” and featuring the text below, don’t bother clicking on the link included. Doing so takes you to a site called fbaction .net that mimics the look of the main Facebook login page, hoping to get you to sign in. Naturally, if you do that, the site will have access to your account and can send out more of these messages to your friends. The message body will apparently read something like this (with YOURFRIEND being replaced by the name of a friend of yours):
YOURFRIEND sent you a message.
Subject: Hello
“Visit http: //www.facebook .com/l/4253f;http://fbaction .net/”…
… looks like “fbaction .net” is now the #2 hot trending search topic for all of Google Trends. This thing is apparently spreading quick… Facebook is now blocking outgoing links to that domain, and some browsers, like IE8, have flagged it as malicious."

(Screenshot available at the Techcrunch URL above.)

FYI…

- http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/tr…ngines-and.html
April 30, 2009 - "… Spammers saw this coming on Monday. Spam with headlines claiming that celebrities (Salma Hayek, Madonna) have caught the disease are peddling generic Tamiflu – or stealing the credit card numbers of those naïve enough to make a purchase from one of the nearly 300 newly-registered domains with a “Swine Flu” twist in their name. Cisco’s IronPort anti-spam service says Swine Flu spam is now four percent of global spam. Spam that preys on public fears generated by big news stories is now a genre… See Information week’s coverage here*."
* http://www.informationweek.com/shared/prin…cleID=217200528

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FYI…

More Swine/Mexican/H1N1 related domains
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6325
Last Updated: 2009-05-02 14:21:58 UTC - "… be ever vigilant in your browsing for Swine/Mexican/H1N1 flu information. We show over 1000 new domains containing those keywords registered in the last 24 hours."

Fed Reserve Spam/Malware Attack is After Your Data
- http://www.shadowserver.org/wiki/pmwiki.ph…lendar/20090429
29 April 2009 - "… spam campaigns that are designed to appear as if they are coming from the Federal Reserve. These attacks are not attempting to phish you and trick you into giving them banking or other personal information… They are actually looking to install an info-stealing/banking trojan on your system via drive-by exploits… it is designed to look like a message coming from the Federal Reserve with a message designed to get you to click the link from the e-mail…The bad guys behind the Federal Reserve malware use the LuckySploit exploit pack. LuckySploit has a variety of exploits… Successful exploitation tends to drop a file named wQJs.exe onto the system in the user's Temp folder. It may also drop a file named svchost.exe (same name as a legitimate Windows file) onto the system as well. This "svchost.exe" and "wQJs.exe" are the same file. They both create shell32.dll and 123.info in the user's Temp directory as well. Note that 123.info is just a text file that contains the path to the malware.
Malware Details:
File Name: wJQs.exe | svchost.exe
File Size: 9216 bytes
MD5 hash: 175ef7faf41ecbe757bcd3021311f315
File Name: shell32.dll
File Size: 6144 bytes
MD5 hash: 3182da0a9c6946e226ee6589447af170
VirusTotal Results for these files can be viewed below:
.exe: http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/a4f6ce9…0d7f86ceb6181f1
.dll: http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/d6ba4ef…c6215bf41a64f7c …"

(Screenshot and more detail available at the Shadowserver URL above.)

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FYI…

IFrame redirects lead to MBR rootkit
- http://blog.trendmicro.com/porn-sites-lead-to-mbr-rootkit/
May 3, 2009 - "Websites related to pornography that appear to be compromised were found by Trend Micro engineers loading malicious JavaScript which redirects users onto malicious domains that ultimately lead to the download of an MBR rootkit (TROJ_SNOWAL.A) onto the affected system… malicious scripts all follow a similar routine: upon execution, it checks for the date on the target system then generates a URL based on the date obtained. It then creates an IFrame, which would redirect the user to the generated URL. The URL then leads to the download of a malicious file, which in turn downloads an MBR rootkit…"

(Screenshot and more detail available at the URL above.)

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FYI…

Facebook phishing malware
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6328
Last Updated: 2009-05-04 14:47:00 UTC - "Looks like there may be a piece of malware out there is sending out messages to folks on Facebook trying to trick them into visiting a facsimile "Facebook" login page to steal credentials. The phishing site is currently on "junglemix .in," so you may want to block that site. More details as we figure this thing out…"

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FYI…

H1N1 Domains
- http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001674.html
May 4, 2009 - "… here is a list of domains* registered over the weekend using the words swine flu. There are 1,344 on the list. Again, so far, none of the domains we've checked are hosting any malicious files. In fact, the only malicious file we've seen is something that Symantec posted** about last week. It's a PDF "Swine Flu FAQ" exploit which drops a password stealer and then opens a clean PDF file as a decoy. One interesting thing about the exploit that hasn't been mentioned yet is the file name, The Association of Tibetan journalists Press Release.pdf. Tibet themed exploits are very popular with targeted attacks***."
* http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/sw…ay_4th_2009.txt

** https://forums2.symantec.com/t5/blogs/bloga…/article-id/268

*** http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001672.html

FYI…

Waledac Turns to Cash and Vaccines w/SPAM
- http://blog.trendmicro.com/waledac-turns-t…h-and-vaccines/
May 5, 2009 - "Riding on the ongoing global economic recession, Waledac updates its SPAM messages with email subjects related to earning a fortune through Google cash. Other spam email subjects we’ve seen so far:
* Be your own boss with Google
* Earn cash using Google today
* Google System that really works
* Make a fortune online
* Make thousands a month from home
* Start your home business today
* Use Google to earn extra cash

As of this writing, the hyperlink found in the email body redirects to an advertising link which currently returns a redirect loop error in Firefox web browser. Another current event seen leveraged on by this wave of Waledac spam runs is the swine flu outbreak, as spammed messages bear subjects that seem related to a vaccine for swine flu. Other spam email subjects seen so far:
* Anti-swine flu drugs are available here
* Anti-viral treatment for swine flu
* Are you worried about swine flu?
* Are you worried about swine flu? buy medicine!
* Be quick! anti-swine flu drugs are almost sold out
* Buy medicine that prevent you from getting swine flu
* Buy medicine to prevent swine flu
* Buy new effective medicine against swine flu
* Buy the most effective treatment for combating the new swine flu
* Do you want to prevent yourself from swine flu?
* Do you want to protect yorself against swine flu?
* Dont stand in line for swine flu medicine
* Get swine flu medicine here
* Get the swine flu medicine right here
* Hurry up! swine flu drugs are almost sold out
* Keep your family from getting swine flu
* New medicine to prevent swine flu
* New vaccine helps to prevent swine flu
* New vaccine to prevent swine flu
* Order anti-swine flu medicine today
* Order new medicine against swine flu
* Order now vaccine against swine flu
* Prevent infections with swine flu viruses
* Prevent yourself from cathcing swine flu
* Protect your family against swine flu!
* Protect yourself from swine flu
* Stop risk of being killed by swine flu!
* The vaccine protecting against swine flu
* You can buy swine flu drugs here
* You can order anti-flu drugs treaing swine flu here
* You can order anti-swine flu drugs on-line
* You can protect yourself against swine flu!

The given link however only leads to the all too familiar Canadian pharmacy site…"

(Screenshots available at the TrendMicro URL above.)

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FYI…

Targeted attacks - most common file types
- http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001676.html
May 6, 2009 - "… we decided to take a look at targeted attacks and see which file types were the most popular during 2008 and if that has changed at all during 2009. In 2008 we identified about 1,968 targeted attack files. The most popular file type was DOC, i.e. Microsoft Word representing 34.55%… So far in 2009 we have found 663 targeted attack files and the most popular file type is now PDF. Why has it changed? Primarily because there has been more vulnerabilities in Adobe Acrobat Reader than in the Microsoft Office applications… More info about targeted attacks and how they work can be found in our YouTube video*."

(Charts available at the URL above.)

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFw9ZHy0V3c

FYI…

Rogue Browser Agents
- http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001684.html
May 18, 2009 - "How big an issue are Rogue antivirus applications? Let's take a look. What is your browser's user agent? Any ideas? The Firefox browser should look something like this: You can determine yours from http://whatsmyuseragent.com . Now let's take a look at this user agent:
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; AntivirXP08; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

Do you see it? Right there in the middle, "AntivirXP08". What is that all about? Some rogues modify the browser's user agent. We've seen hundreds of AntivirXP08 string variations. The modified string is possibly used to identify the affiliates responsible for the installation which drives "business" to the rogue's website. Modified user agents could also be used deliver different content. A victim with AntivirXP08 doesn't need to be convinced to download an installer, instead they can be targeted to complete the scam and to buy the rogue. How many infected user agents are out there? Toni examined one of our sinkholes and its April 2009 logs contained 63,000 unique IP addresses using agents that contain AntivirXP08. 63 thousand. That's a lot of infections, right? And that doesn't include other strings we've seen such as "Antimalware2009". It's a small measure of a very large problem."

(Screenshot available at the F-secure URL above.)

FYI…

eBay phishing Scam…
- http://www.sophos.com/blogs/sophoslabs/v/post/4452
May 20, 2009 - "… eBay phishing scam came in the form of a seemingly innocent query about the sale of iPhones. The scam message is quite simple… At first sight, it appears to be a product spam campaign to promote the iPhone. However, when clicking the link that came with the attached email, a -fake- eBay page comes up. This email is actually a ruse designed to steal an eBay user’s information…
SophosLabs analysts have encountered many instances of such misdirection of legitimate websites. They range from internet banking websites to online retail websites. As always, online users should take precautions and never attempt to follow an embedded weblink to an online store or a banking website from an email, even if by first appearances, it looks legitimate…"

(Screenshots available at the URL above.)

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FYI…

Malicious iFrame on Gadgetadvisor.com
- http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001687.html
May 22, 2009 - "Are you a gadget geek? Do you often seek advice from Gadget Advisor before making a purchase? Our Web Security Analyst discovered a malicious IFrame on the popular tech website that redirects visitors to a malicious website… If the site detects a PDF browser plugin for Adobe Acrobat and Reader, it loads a specially-crafted malicious PDF file that exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability ( http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?v…d=CVE-2008-2992 ). The net effect of the attack is to plant a trojan, detected as Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.brxr, on vulnerable systems by calling the util.printf JavaScript function, which connects back to the malicious website in order to download the trojan to the machine. A remote attacker can access the user's machine once it has been infected with the trojan… This attacks is targeted against older, unpatched version of Adobe programs, as the latest Adobe updates have already fixed this problem. More information and the updates can be found at Abobe at:
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bull…/apsb08-19.html. Disabling the JavaScript function in Acrobat and Reader will also prevent the threat from proceeding."

(Screenshot available at the F-secure URL above.)

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FYI…

Facebook phishing/spam/"worm" …
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6451
Last Updated: 2009-05-25 07:16:47 UTC … (Version: 5) - "… new Facebook phising/spam/"worm" campaign is doing the rounds. It uses Belgium domains (.be) to impersonate the Facebook login page and steal the user credentials.
UPDATE 4: The malicious domains do not only impersonate Facebook but contain malicious "hidden" (1x1pixel) iframes, hosted on the same host, such as: "/tds/r.php?sid=2&pid=5511". Do not browse them…
UPDATE 3: As expected, more domains are coming (and some of them are still active right now - May 25, 0:00am CET)…:
• redfriend dot be, redbuddy dot be, picoband dot be, areps dot at, greenbuddy dot be
• picoband dot be, vispace dot be, whiteflash dot be, bestspace dot be
• There are other "more than suspicious" .be domains associated to the same IP address.
The ones active do resolve to IP address 211.95.78.98. From APNIC…
country: CN …"

- http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001689.html
May 25, 2009

FYI…

Facebook phishing using Belgium (.be) domains (cont'd)
- http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6451
Last Updated: 2009-05-25 20:01:20 UTC …(Version: 6)
"UPDATE 5: (May 25, 22:00h CET) It seems there is a new variation moving around, using tinyurl links… For example, you get a Facebook message pointing to "tinyurl dot com /o5kblj/" that takes you to a link at "simplemart dot be".
> Remember you can enable/disable the tinyurl preview feature through
" http://tinyurl.com/preview.php ". You just need to enable cookies on your browser.
Some of the malicious domains being used are redfriend dot be, redbuddy dot be, picoband dot be… (at this point, none of them can be resolved)…"

More on same…

Koobface… again
- http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Alerts/3403.aspx
05.26.2009 - "… Koobface attempted another running campaign on Facebook. If infected, Facebook users start to spam their friends with a link to a malicious Web site. When users visit the link, they are redirected various malicious and phishing pages. We detected these on numerous .be domains and TinyURL links. One such malicious page is a fake YouTube page that appears to be a funny video. The page tells visitors to to upgrade their Flash player in order to play the video, and the Flash setup program is actually Koobface malware… Among other things, a proxy server is installed on the infected computer…"

(Screenshots available at the Websense URL above.)

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