Do not open a file attached to the SALAMA email?

What is SALAMA email virus?

Typically, cybercriminals behind malspam impersonate legitimate companies, organizations, or other entities when they send emails with a malicious attachment (or attachments) or download links for a malicious file.

Their goal is to trick recipients into downloading and opening a malicious file designed to infect a computer with malware. It is noteworthy that cybercriminals disguise their emails as important, urgent letters regarding some invoice, shipment, purchase order, etc. This email is used to deliver a remote access trojan (RAT) called Agent Tesla.

This email is disguised as a letter from Salama, a Spanish company operating in the maritime sector and providing services in the main Spanish ports. It claims that the "New_#P042221_pdf.gz" (its name may vary) file attached to it is a copy of a purchase order.

This archive file contains an executable file named "#P042221_pdf.exe" (its name may vary). If executed, the file mentioned above starts the installer for Agent Tesla, a remote access trojan. RATs allow cybercriminals to remotely access and control infected machines.

In most cases, they can log keystrokes (record keyboard input), manage files (e.g., move, rename, copy, delete files), run commands via PowerShell, Command Prompt, download and execute files, capture screenshots, access microphone, webcam.

It is known that the Agent Tesla RAT can log keystrokes, steal login credentials from web browsers, email clients, VPN, and FTP clients, disable certain Windows features, capture screenshots, and steal Wi-Fi credentials.

Therefore, cybercriminals behind Agent Tesla target mainly login credentials that could be used to steal a variety of personal accounts. In most cases, threat actors use stolen accounts to commit identity fraud, make unauthorized purchases, transactions, deliver malware or spam to other users.

Since Agent Tesla can record keystrokes, cybercriminals can use this feature to steal any data that victims enter with their keyboard. It means that this RAT can be used to steal not only login credentials but also credit card details like CVV number, cardholder name, surname, expiry date, and other sensitive information.

Threat Summary:

Name	SALAMA spam
Threat Type	Remote Administration Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Email is sent by Salama company and the file attached to it is a purchased order
Attachment(s)	New_#P042221_pdf.gz (its name may vary)
Detection Names (Agent Tesla)	Avast (Win32:PWSX-gen [Trj]), BitDefender (Trojan.GenericKD.36768158), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/Kryptik.AAOX), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-PSW.MSIL.Coins.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:MSIL/AgentTesla.OH!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Remote Access 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.

In conclusion, Agent Tesla attack victims are likely to become victims of identity theft, lose access to personal accounts, suffer monetary loss, and encounter other problems related to online privacy, browsing safety.

It is important to mention that RATs often are used not only to steal sensitive personal information but also to distribute malware (install additional malware on the already infected computers, for example, ransomware or some cryptocurrency miner). A couple of examples of other RATs are HabitsRAT, DarkCrystal, and Strigoi Master.

How did "SALAMA email virus" infect my computer?

Cybercriminals behind this malspam campaign distribute Agent Tesla by sending emails that contain a malicious GZ file (archive file) that contains a malicious EXE file (executable) file. Installation of the Agent Tesla RAT starts after executing the executable file named "#P042221_pdf.exe" (its name may vary in other email variants).

It is important to mention that there are other malspam campaigns used to deliver Agent Tesla via malicious Microsoft Word and Excel documents. Malicious MS Office documents install malware only if they get permission to enable macros commands (editing/content).

It is because newer Microsoft Office versions have the "Protected View" mode, which prevents malicious documents from installing malware without additional user interference. However, MS Office versions released before the year 2010 do not have this feature.

Therefore, malicious documents opened with those versions install malware once they are opened. A couple of examples of other files that can be used to deliver malware via email are JavaScript files and PDF documents.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Files attached to irrelevant emails should not be opened. Especially if such emails are sent from suspicious or unknown addresses The same applies to website links in emails of this kind.

Very often, cybercriminals use email as as channel to trick users into dowloading and opening a malicious file (e.g., MS Office document, executable file, PDF document). Installed programs have to be updated and activated using tools or functions that their official developers have designed.

It is not legal to activate licensed software with 'cracking' tools. Also, both third-party updaters and 'cracking' tools often are bundled with malware (used to distribute malicious software).

Files and programs should be downloaded from official, trustworthy websites. Files downloaded from unofficial pages or through other channels like Peer-to-Peer networks, freeware download websites, third party downloaders, etc., can be malicious.

It is common that those files are disguised as legitimate, regular. The operating system should be scanned for malware or any other threats regularly.

It is advisable to do it using a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software. If you've already opened "SALAMA email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the SALAMA email:

Subject: new po#042221

Good Morning,

Please find the attached copy of new po#042221.
Kindly acknowledge the same and send the proforma invoice for payment.

--
CHRIS SALAMA & Co. Ltd
MARINA SPAIN 21 - 3˚BPOB 53
51001 - CEUTA
SPAIN
Tel: +34 956 51 46 44 / +34 956 51 19 09 / +34 956 51 96 88
Fax: +34 956 51 62 04
Mobile: +34-608 54 77 04
www.salama.es

Agent Tesla detected as a threat by Virustotal:

Agent Tesla running in Task Manager:

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 SALAMA 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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