Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus

What is Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus?

"Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" is another spam email campaign similar to Expired Invoices Email Virus, FedEx Tracking Email Virus, and many others.

Cyber criminals use this campaign to proliferate a high-risk trojan called TrickBot. As usual, developers send thousands of deceptive email messages encouraging users to open attached Microsoft Office files that stealthily download and install TrickBot into their systems.

In this case, the spam emails sometimes state that users may not be able to send/receive email attachments due to potential threat of infections. For more information, they are encouraged to read the attached MS Office document. This is a scam and has nothing to do with Microsoft - cyber criminals attempt to trick unsuspecting users into opening malicious attachments.

TrickBot is a high risk information-tracking trojan. The virus hijacks installed browsers and modifies visited website content, so that all entered logins and passwords are recorded and saved on a remote server controlled by cyber criminals. Thus, criminals might gain access to your personal accounts on social networks, bank accounts, PayPal, e-shops, and so on.

In this way, cyber criminals can steal your identity and money. Therefore, the presence of TrickBot trojan can lead to serious privacy issues and significant financial loss. If you have recently opened attachments distributed via the "Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" campaign, there is a high probability that your computer is infected with the TrickBot trojan.

Therefore, we strongly advise you to scan the system with a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite and eliminate all detected threats.

Threat Summary:

Name	Microsoft Rights Management spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate victim's computer and remain silent thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software cracks.
Damage	Stolen banking information, passwords, identity theft, victim's computer added to a botnet.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are dozens of trojan-type viruses that share similarities with TrickBot. For example, Emotet, LokiBot, FormBook, etc.

As with TrickBot, most are also distributed using spam email campaigns. In addition, many trojans are capable of recording personal information, however, some are also designed to deliver other viruses (usually ransomware) that pose a significant threat to your privacy and computer safety. For these reasons, all trojans must be uninstalled immediately.

How did Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus infect my computer?

As mentioned above, "Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" campaign distributes a malicious Microsoft Office attachment which, once opened, asks users to enable macro commands. In doing so, users inadvertently grant attachments permission to execute commands that download and install malware.

Although this malware distribution method is simple and effective, it has a significant flaw. The malicious attachment is only able to infect the system if opened in Microsoft Word. Therefore, if the file is opened using any other app, the malware will not be downloaded. This spam email campaign targets the Microsoft Windows Operating System only and users of other platforms are safe.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Lack of knowledge and careless behavior are the main reasons for computer infections. Caution is the key to safety. Therefore, be cautious when browsing the Internet. We strongly recommend that you think twice before opening email attachments. Files that seem irrelevant or have been received from suspicious/unrecognizable email addresses should be removed.

Have a legitimate anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and running. Note that 2010 and newer versions of Microsoft Office open newly-downloaded files in "Protected View" mode, thereby preventing malicious attachments from downloading malware. Therefore, you are advised to avoid using old versions of this software suite.

If you have already opened a "Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" attachment, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" email message:

Subject: I have securely shared files(s) with you
The sender has protected the attachment(s) with Microsoft Right Management
Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of file attachments. Check your e-mail security settings to determine how attachments are handled.

Malicious attachment distributed via "Microsoft Rights Management Email Virus" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is Microsoft Rights Management spam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

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