{"id":11572,"date":"2022-04-11T09:11:06","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T09:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myonlinesecurity.co.uk\/?p=11572"},"modified":"2023-04-04T11:46:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T11:46:45","slug":"malspam-with-your-full-private-details-with-password-protected-word-docs-delivering-malware","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/myonlinesecurity.co.uk\/malspam-with-your-full-private-details-with-password-protected-word-docs-delivering-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Malspam With Your Full Private Details With Password Protected Word Docs Delivering Malware"},"content":{"rendered":"
We are starting to see a lot of malspam emails with password protected word doc attachments. They come with various subjects and themes, but they all contain genuine information about the recipient. Some like this one, only have the recipients full Name, Address and email address but some also contain genuine phone numbers, either landline or mobile numbers.<\/p>\n
An email with the subject of [recipients name ] Contract EFKP030417GD pretending to come from random senders with a malicious word doc attachment delivers<\/p>\n
They are using email addresses and subjects that will scare or entice a user to read the email and open the attachment. A very high proportion are being targeted at small and medium size businesses, with the hope of getting a better response than they do from consumers.<\/p>\n
Remember many email clients, especially on a mobile phone or tablet, only show the Name in the From: and not the bit in <domain.com >. That is why these scams and phishes work so well.<\/p>\n
A password protected word doc will bypass antispam and antimalware filters, because it is actually harmless and innocent until the password is inserted.<\/p>\n
The email looks like:<\/p>\n
From:<\/strong> Mechelle Ramirez <mramirez@grupoandes.com><\/p>\n Date:<\/strong> Mon 03\/04\/2021 14:19<\/p>\n Subject:<\/strong> [Recipients name] Contract EFKP030417GD<\/p>\n Attachment:<\/strong> victim.EFKP030417GD.doc [ original file name was recipients last name. random characters. I replaced recipients name with victim]<\/p>\n Hello, [redacted]<\/em><\/p>\n Contract: EFKP030417GD<\/em><\/p>\n Name: [redacted]<\/em><\/p>\n Address: 38 [redacted]<\/em><\/p>\n City: Loughton<\/em><\/p>\n State: Essex<\/em><\/p>\n Zip: IG10[redacted]<\/em><\/p>\n Filename: victim.EFKP030417GD.doc<\/em><\/p>\n Password: 5618<\/em><\/p>\n Best wishes,<\/em><\/p>\n Mechelle Ramirez<\/em><\/p>\n victim.EFKP030417GD.doc eventually downloads Ursnif ( virustotal) see VT comments for fuller details<\/p>\n All the alleged senders, companies, names of employees, phone numbers, amounts, reference numbers etc. mentioned in the emails are all innocent and are just picked at random. Some of these companies will exist and some won\u2019t. Don\u2019t try to respond by phone or email, all you will do is end up with an innocent person or company who have had their details spoofed and picked at random from a long list that the bad guys have previously found . The bad guys choose companies, Government departments and other organisations with subjects that are designed to entice you or alarm you into blindly opening the attachment or clicking the link in the email to see what is happening.<\/p>\n This email attachment contains what appears to be a genuine word doc or Excel XLS spreadsheet with either a macro script or an embedded OLE object that when run will infect you.<\/p>\n Modern versions of Microsoft office, that is Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and Office 365 should be automatically set to higher security to protect you.<\/p>\n By default protected view is enabled and macros are disabled, UNLESS you or your company have enabled them. If protected view mode is turned off and macros are enabled then opening this malicious word document will infect you, and simply previewing it in windows explorer or your email client might well be enough to infect you. Definitely DO NOT follow the advice they give to enable macros or enable editing to see the content.<\/p>\n Most of these malicious word documents either appear to be totally blank or look something like these images when opened in protected view mode, which should be the default in Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and 365. Some versions pretend to have a digital RSA key and say you need to enable editing and Macros to see the content. Do NOT enable Macros or editing under any circumstances.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At this time, these malicious macros only infect windows computers. They do not affect a Mac, IPhone, IPad, Blackberry, Windows phone or Android phone.<\/p>\n The malicious word or excel file can open on any device with an office program installed, and potentially the macro will run on Windows or Mac or any other device with Microsoft Office installed. BUT the downloaded malware that the macro tries to download is windows specific, so will not harm, install or infect any other computer except a windows computer. You will not be infected if you do not have macros enabled in Excel or Word. These Macros do not run in \u201cOffice Online\u201d Open Office, Libre Office, Word Perfect or any other office program that can read Word or Excel files.<\/p>\nBody Content:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Screenshot:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What Can Be Infected By This<\/h3>\n