{"id":11638,"date":"2022-04-12T06:01:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T06:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myonlinesecurity.co.uk\/?p=11638"},"modified":"2023-04-04T13:20:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:20:47","slug":"more-resume-malspam-with-password-protected-word-doc-attachments-continue-to-plague-us-delivering-a-variety-of-different-malware","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/myonlinesecurity.co.uk\/more-resume-malspam-with-password-protected-word-doc-attachments-continue-to-plague-us-delivering-a-variety-of-different-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"More Resume Malspam With Password Protected Word Doc Attachments Continue To Plague Us Delivering A Variety Of Different Malware"},"content":{"rendered":"
I haven\u2019t seen any examples of this Resume malware for a while now, so when this popped up in my inbox, it looked interesting enough to investigate a bit more. This is a continuation from these 3 previous posts about malware using resumes or job applications as the lure. [1] [2] [3] They have changed behaviour again since that post was written and it is time to once again update the details. ( I have only received 1 so far today that was uploaded via the submission system here.<\/p>\n
The primary change in delivery method is the use of a password for the word doc to try to bypass antivirus filters. However there does appear to be differences in the malware itself to previous versions.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s version continues to Smoke Loader \/Sharik trojan which is a downloader for other malware.<\/p>\n
An email with the subject of Website Job Application coming from Rob Meyers <Gong@latestmistake.com> ( probably random names) with a malicious word doc attachment delivers Smoke loader\/ sharik trojan.<\/p>\n
They are using email addresses and subjects that will scare, shock, persuade or entice a user to read the email and open the attachment. These are generally targeted at small or medium sized businesses, small charities or organisations who might not have enterprise level protections against this sort of malware delivery method. In today\u2019s current jobs climate, it is extremely common to get resumes or job applications out of the blue. These are just generic enough and just about believable so that a busy, hardworking HR department or General Office dogsbody in a small organisation could be tempted to look at the word doc to see if the details matched the company requirements, before replying.<\/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
The email looks like:<\/p>\n
From:<\/strong> Rob Meyers <Gong@latestmistake.com><\/p>\n Date:<\/strong> Tue 19\/12\/2021 13:32<\/p>\n Subject:<\/strong> Website Job Application<\/p>\n Attachment:<\/strong> Rob Resume.doc<\/p>\n Howdy<\/em> I password protected my resume for security.<\/em> Your help is greatly appreciated,<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014<\/em> <\/p>\n Rob Resume.doc Current Virus total detections: Hybrid Analysis | AnyRun beta | It should be noted that this malicious word doc and the downloaded malware either has some sort of anti-analysis protection or the malware delivery site will reject connections from known sandboxes, VM analysis tools and known researcher or antivirus IP addresses. Neither of the 2 Online sandboxes \/ analysis tools could retrieve the downloaded malware. That had to be done manually.<\/p>\n They have continued with the previous behaviour of using BITS (bitsadmin.exe) to download the file instead of PowerShell. They also are still using \u201cautoclose\u201d in the macro so it doesn\u2019t run until the word doc has been closed, so avoiding any obvious signs of infiltration. Also the downloaded file sleeps for a long, long time before doing anything.<\/p>\n This malware downloads from http:\/\/80.82.67.217\/paddle.jpg which of course it not an image file but a renamed .exe (ASxas.exe) VirusTotal | Hybrid Analysis | Anyrun Beta | HA shows a further download of a bitcoin miner ( VirusTotal ) but Anyrun could not get anything despite leaving it running for 10 minutes. It is highly likely that a \u201cgenuine\u201d victim getting this malware installed on his or her computer will get a large variety of different malware files dropped and run over an extended period of time. None of the online sandboxes or analysis tools can run for an indefinite period and completely imitate the behaviour of a real computer.<\/p>\n HA also shows some \u201cinteresting\u201d connections to 107.181.246.221 ( microsoftoutlook.bit) This looks like some sort of C2 sending information,which uses a DNS system outside the standard DNS systems (Wikipedia). This either requires a browser plugin or some sort of bitcoin miner to use.<\/p>\n The malware IP 80.82.67.217 is \u201cowned\u201d by quasinetworks.com ( used to be called Ecatel) who have a somewhat debatable reputation when it comes to dealing with abuse reports [1]<\/p>\n This word doc looks like this:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And after you input the password from the email body ( 123456) you see a typical page asking you to enable editing and then macros and content<\/p>\n <\/p>\n latestmistake.com was registered in September 2021 using privacy protection via Namecheap.com as registrar. It appears to be hosted by OVH on 158.69.54.98 with SPF and DKIM authentication set up allowing it to also send emails from 66.70.229.27 ( in fact any IP address inside the 66.70.229.0\/24 range). Couple this with the fact there is no website set up on the IP address , This suggests that the domain has been set up to be used in these fraud & malware spreading campaigns.<\/p>\n Received: from mta27.latestmistake.com (unknown [66.70.229.27]) 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 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
\nI visited your website today..<\/em>
\nI\u2019m currently looking for work either full time or as a intern to get experience in the field.<\/em>
\nPlease look over my CV and let me know what you think.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPassword is 123456<\/em><\/p>\n
\nRob Meyers<\/em><\/p>\nScreenshot:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Email Headers And Website Details:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nby (removed for privacy) with ESMTP
\nid afba146f-e4f9-11e7-8a28-005056a84df4;
\nTue, 19 Dec 2021 20:17:51 +0000 (UTC)
\nDKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed\/relaxed; s=bulk; d=latestmistake.com;
\nh=From:To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:Content-Type:MIME-Version; i=Gong@latestmistake.com;
\nbh=sJCGggdU3v6DOdOvptJwfToQybg=;
\nb=J78dErzzYnfRPJrh7QMYaR3tA3k4XszVzXa3YqwbZnnOqQL4aABMjl8YZuBxqEYLibQgA44BsAjU
\nYQE9ilIiAWnfHs4jkUD8Yrsbrosm38+vk\/r5pdIG2LuKXeKzt38YBKHHYh2RF8Kc2mmDgmtGXnI\/
\nrfGie\/an7745YvjbrlA=
\nDomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=bulk; d=latestmistake.com;
\nb=K9EuZfxK5rrm5eiWPDI35aX3OPbCra7RGUFmYV1CWKGTwf0T1DkBpmNI1ZZJPrWjlvUuLnupCCRe
\nWu66xWtJL4PQeGyezjHf0UmcuBF6iezI1CM8hYiGkaViEYfmKx1aqYK8yFCj9EZWRgleaAfJZN9\/
\n6niKSx8lea12oL0zwiA=;
\nFrom: \u201cRob Meyers\u201d <Gong@latestmistake.com>
\nTo: victim@victimsdomain.com
\nSubject: Website Job Application
\nMessage-ID: <2D9B4606.C280E9654D52D5AF@latestmistake.com>
\nX-Priority: 3
\nImportance: Normal
\nDate: Tue, 19 Dec 2021 14:31:36 +0100
\nContent-Type: multipart\/mixed;
\nboundary=\u201d\u2013InfrawareEmailBoundaryDepth1_2B991227\u2013\u201d
\nMIME-Version: 1.0
\nX-Mailer: Infraware POLARIS Mobile Mailer v2.5
\nErrors-To: <bouncechecker@yahoo.com>
\nReturn-Path: <bouncechecker@yahoo.com><\/p>\nWhat Can Be Infected By This<\/h3>\n