Avoid installation of Agent Tesla via Inditron Enterprises malspam email

What is Inditron Enterprises email virus?

Generally, malspam emails such as this one are disguised as important messages from legitimate companies and contain a website link or attachment. The main purpose of these emails is to trick recipients into downloading and opening a malicious file, which then installs rogue software.

This email is disguised as a message from Inditron Enterprises (a company that has nothing do to with this malspam campaign) and is used to deceive users into installing a remote administration Trojan (RAT) called Agent Tesla.

This malspam email is a short message stating that the recipient should check the attached document (swift copy) and confirm a payment. If clicked, the image in this email opens a download link for "swift copy.lha", a compressed archive file that contains another file designed to install Agent Tesla.

This remote administration Trojan is designed record keyboard input (log keystrokes), steal login credentials saved on various web browsers, email and messaging clients, FTP, VPN clients, and download managers.

Additionally, it is capable of blocking access to the Task Manager, Registry, and preventing victims from executing commands via the Command Prompt and using other Windows features.

Usually, cyber criminals employ malware such as Agent Tesla to obtain login credentials (for example, usernames, email addresses, passwords), credit card details and other sensitive information that can be misused for malicious purposes.

For example, to steal identities, make fraudulent purchases and transactions, deliver malicious software via email, and use stolen accounts to trick other people into making money transactions.

Threat Summary:

Name	Inditron Enterprises spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Message regarding a payment confirmation.
Attachment(s)	Image file that is designed to open a downlaod link for a malicious swift copy.lha file.
Detection Names (swift copy.lha)	Avast (Win32:TrojanX-gen [Trj]), BitDefender (Trojan.GenericKDZ.71532), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/Kryptik.YTT), Kaspersky (HEUR:Backdoor.MSIL.Androm.gen), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal).
Symptoms	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	Agent Tesla
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.

To summarize, once a computer is infected with Agent Tesla RAT, users might become victims of identity theft, suffer monetary loss, experience problems relating to online privacy and web browsing safety, lose access to various accounts, and encounter other serious problems.

Some examples of other malware distributed via malspam are "$100 Amazon Gift Card Email Virus", "CDP Email Virus" and "Ministro Dell'Economia E Delle Finanze Email Virus".

How did "Inditron Enterprises email virus" infect my computer?

As mentioned, Agent Tesla is installed via this malspam email only when recipients click the included image and execute a malicious file included in the malicious "swift copy.lha" archive file.

Some examples of files that cyber criminals attach to their emails are malicious Microsoft Office documents (e.g., Word, Excel), PDF documents, other archive files such as RAR, ZIP, executable files (.exe), JavaScript files.

Note that if a malicious document is opened with MS Office versions released before 2010, the document infects computers with the aforementioned malware automatically, since older versions do not include Protected View mode (they do not need permission to enable macros commands to install malware).

How to avoid installation of malware?

To avoid malware spread via spam mail, you are strongly advised against opening suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links present within them. Additionally, use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

Malicious programs also proliferate through untrusted download channels (e.g. unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders), illegal software activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updaters.

Therefore, only download from official/verified sources and activate and update software with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. To ensure device integrity and user privacy, have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept updated.

Furthermore, use these programs to run regular system scans and to remove detected/potential threats. If you have already opened "Inditron Enterprises email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the Inditron Enterprises malspam email:

Subject: please confirm the payment

Hello Dear,

The payment was made on Friday, 20th.
Please see attached the swift copy & arrange delivery.

Best regards.

SHUBHAM SALGAON
PURCHASE EXECUTIVE
Mob no.8459662255
Inditron Enterprises
82/1, Bajirao Dhavde Industrial Estate, NDA Road, Shivne, Pune - 23
Tel. : 020 25290088; 25290310; 25290311
Email ID - shubhms@inditron.in

The information contained in this electronic transmission message and any of its attachments is intended for addressee(s) only and may contain confidential information. If you are not the addressee(s), please notify the sender and delete this message completely. Any views expressed herein are those of the individual sender except where the sender specifically states it to be the views of Unilever.
Unilever is neither liable for incomplete transmission of this electronic message nor for any delay in its receipt. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, reproduction, distribution or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this electronic message is strictly prohibited.

Malicious attachment distributed via Inditron Enterprises malspam campaign:

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▼ 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 Inditron Enterprises 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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