Avoid installation of SDBBot via Audit and Assurance malspam campaign

What is "Audit and Assurance Email Virus"?

This malspam campaign is disguised as a message from a global audit, accounting and consulting group called Mazars. In fact, this company has nothing to do with this bogus email. The main purpose of this campaign is to trick recipients into opening the attached file, a malicious HTML file disguised as an invoice.

When opened, this file downloads another file designed to infect computers with SDBBot, a Remote Administration Trojan (RAT).

Like most malspam campaigns, this one is designed to appear as an official message from a legitimate company. Typically, cyber criminals behind such emails attempt to trick unsuspecting recipients into opening/executing the attached file, or clicking a link, which then downloads a malicious file and then executes it.

In any case, their main goal is to trick recipients into causing installation of malware. In this particular case, cyber criminals attempt to infect computers with SDBBot. This malware consists of three components: installer, loader and RAT. The first component (installer) establishes persistence for the second component (loader) and installs the Remote Administration Trojan.

SDBBot sends and receives commands through a Command and Control (C2) server, which can be used to control infected computers remotely and perform actions such as computer shut-down and restart, read, write, and delete files, take screenshots, record the computer screen and or videos via the webcam, etc.

Like most RATs, SDBBot is often used to install additional malware (e.g., ransomware, other Trojans). Therefore, victims of SDBBot attack might suffer monetary and/or data loss, experience issues relating to online privacy, browsing safety, lose access to various accounts, become victims of identity theft, etc.

For these reasons, do not to trust these emails and leave the attached/linked files unopened. The same applies to all the other malspam campaigns.

Threat Summary:

Name	Audit And Assurance spam
Threat Type	Remote Administration Trojan.
Hoax	This email is disguised as a message regarding an invoice.
Attachment(s)	Invoice [52857] - Due Date _ 12 June 2020 - Client ID [5687661].html (its name might vary).
Symptoms	Remote Administration Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Payload	SDBBot
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the 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.

More examples of malspam campaigns are "BOTAS Email Virus", "Payments Due Email Virus" and "Your Purchase Of BTC Has Started Email Virus". Most are sent by cyber criminals who attempt to trick recipients into executing a malicious file, which then installs other malware. Examples of malware infections distributed in this way are Gozi, NanoCore, TrickBot and Zeus.

How did "Audit and Assurance Email Virus" infect my computer?

In order for SDBBot to be installed on computers, recipients must first open the attached HTML file (in this case, "Invoice [52857] - Due Date _ 12 June 2020 - Client ID [5687661].html") and then execute the file that it downloads. Therefore, to remain safe you should leave any such attached/downloaded files unopened.

Cyber criminals commonly attach HTML and JavaScript files, executables (such as .exe), Microsoft Office, PDF documents, and archive files such as ZIP, RAR. Note that malicious MS Office documents install malware only if users allow them to run macro commands by enabling editing/content.

Note that, if the documents are opened with MS Office versions released before 2010, they infect computers automatically, since these versions do not include the "Protected View" mode.

How to avoid installation of malware

Do not trust irrelevant emails that contain attachments or web links, especially if they are received from unknown, suspicious addresses Software should not be downloaded or installed through third party downloaders, installers, unofficial pages, Peer-to-Peer networks or other channels of this kind.

Download files and programs using official websites and direct links. Installed software must be activated and updated with tools/functions that are designed by official software developers. It is not safe to use various third party, unofficial tools, since they often install malware.

Furthermore, it is illegal to activate licensed software with 'cracking' tools. Scan the operating system for threats regularly using reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software. It is important to ensure that software of this type is kept up to date.

If you have already opened "Audit and Assurance Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Audit and Assurance Email Virus" email message:

Hi
I hope you are well and having a well-deserved break.

 

Apologies to drop this in your inbox whilst you are on leave but I needed to get it out before month end.

 

Any questions please let me know.

 

Thanks

LAURA HEUER
SENIOR MANAGER - AUDIT AND ASSURANCE
T: +44 (0)161 2389 203 / M: +44 7823 642471

NOTICE: In anticipation of and/or following the departure of the United Kingdom and its territories from the European Union (anticipated to be on or around January 2020), your existing terms of engagement with us, if signed on or before 20 December 2019, may need to be updated for the protection of personal data to include the standard contractual clauses as set out in the GDPR. Please access the Notices effecting the changes to existing engagement letters signed on or before 20 December 2019 in the following links — Mazars as Controller and Mazars as Processor . Should you have any queries in relation to this Notice, please liaise with your engagement contact.

Mazars LLP is the UK firm of Mazars, an integrated international advisory and accountancy organisation. Mazars LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number 0C308299 and with its registered office at Tower Bridge House, St Katharine's Way, London E1W 1DD.

 

Registered to carry on audit work in the UK by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Details about our audit registration can be viewed at www.auditregister.org.uk under reference number C001139861.

 

Mazars Financial Planning Limited and Mazars Corporate Finance Limited are both registered in England and Wales with Nos. 3172233 and 4252262 respectively. Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Mazars LLP, are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and have their registered offices at: Tower Bridge House, St Katharine's Way, London E1W 1DD.

 

This email and any attachments are confidential and may also be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately, and do not disclose the contents to another person, use it for any purpose, store or copy the information in any medium. Please also destroy and delete the message from your computer.

 

If you currently receive marketing communications from us and no longer wish to do so, please email privacy@mazars.co.uk confirming your choice to unsubscribe.

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 Audit And Assurance 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.

▼ Show Discussion