Threat Actors Use Malspam Campaign to Target Italian Users With sLoad Downloader

Security researchers identified a malspam campaign targeting Italian users with a variant of the sLoad downloader.

In October and November, CERT-Yoroi detected a series of malicious email messages that shared common techniques. Each malicious sample arrived as a compressed ZIP archive containing two files: an LNK file pretending to point to a system folder and a hidden JPEG image stored with HA attributes.

When a user clicks on the link, the file uses a batch script to run a PowerShell script, which searches for another ZIP file. If it exists, the PowerShell script extracts code from that file and uses it to download other scripts. Among those other scripts are “NxPgKLnYEhMjXT.ps1,” which installs the sLoad implant on the victim’s machine.

Successful execution enables sLoad to collect information about the infected computer and periodically capture screenshots, among other functionality. It then sends this data to attackers via command and control (C&C) channels before receiving additional PowerShell code, behavior that is characteristic of Trojans and spyware.

sLoad: The Latest PowerShell-Borne Threat

This isn’t the first time that security researchers have detected attacks utilizing sLoad. In May 2018, the SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC) identified a PowerShell script targeting customers of major U.K. banks. Further analysis tied this activity to hxxps://cflfuppn[.]eu/sload/run-first.ps1.

Together, these campaigns targeting Italian and U.K. users represent the latest activity of just one threat delivered by PowerShell scripts. IBM X-Force Incident Response and Intelligence Services (IRIS) observed an increase in PowerShell attacks between 2017 and 2018. This finding coincides with Symantec’s detection of a 661 percent increase in the number of computers registering blocked PowerShell activity between mid-2017 and mid-2018.

How Security Professionals Can Block a Malspam Campaign

Security professionals can help defend their organizations against malspam campaigns by investing in awareness training that instructs employees to avoid suspicious links and email attachments. IBM X-Force IRIS also recommends using physical security controls to block the abuse of PowerShell scripts, and integrating security information and event management (SIEM) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools to provide an additional layer of protection.

Sources: Yoroi, SANS ISC, Symantec

David Bisson

Contributing Editor

NIST’s role in the global tech race against AI

4 min read - Last year, the United States Secretary of Commerce announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been put in charge of launching a new public working group on artificial intelligence (AI) that will build on the success of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework to address this rapidly advancing technology.However, recent budget cuts at NIST, along with a lack of strategy implementation, have called into question the agency’s ability to lead this critical effort. Ultimately, the success…

Researchers develop malicious AI ‘worm’ targeting generative AI systems

2 min read - Researchers have created a new, never-seen-before kind of malware they call the "Morris II" worm, which uses popular AI services to spread itself, infect new systems and steal data. The name references the original Morris computer worm that wreaked havoc on the internet in 1988.The worm demonstrates the potential dangers of AI security threats and creates a new urgency around securing AI models.New worm utilizes adversarial self-replicating promptThe researchers from Cornell Tech, the Israel Institute of Technology and Intuit, used what’s…

Passwords, passkeys and familiarity bias

5 min read - As passkey (passwordless authentication) adoption proceeds, misconceptions abound. There appears to be a widespread impression that passkeys may be more convenient and less secure than passwords. The reality is that they are both more secure and more convenient — possibly a first in cybersecurity.Most of us could be forgiven for not realizing passwordless authentication is more secure than passwords. Thinking back to the first couple of use cases I was exposed to — a phone operating system (OS) and a…

Security Intelligence

{{title}}

{{title}}

{{title}}

Topics

sLoad: The Latest PowerShell-Borne Threat

How Security Professionals Can Block a Malspam Campaign

More from

NIST’s role in the global tech race against AI

Researchers develop malicious AI ‘worm’ targeting generative AI systems

Passwords, passkeys and familiarity bias

Topic updates