Avoid infecting your device with malware via fake "Kaseya" emails

What is "Kaseya email virus"?

"Kaseya email virus" is the name of a malware-spreading spam campaign. The term "spam campaign" is used to describe a large-scale operation during which thousands of deceptive emails are sent.

The letters distributed through this campaign urge recipients to install an update from "Microsoft" to fix a vulnerability present in Kaseya customers' networks. Kaseya are legitimate developers of software designed to manage networks, systems, and information technology infrastructure.

It must be emphasized that these scam emails are in no way associated with either Kaseya Limited or the Microsoft Corporation. This spam campaign aims to exploit the 2021 July ransomware incident that affected Kaseya and its customers.

These fake letters proliferate the Cobalt Strike malicious program, which possesses data-stealing abilities and can cause chain infections.

"Kaseya" scam email in detail

The fake "Kaseya" emails (subject/title "Our Shipping Renewal INS734267495"; may vary) request recipients to install an update from "Microsoft". This "update" will supposedly protect users from ransomware infections.

The "update" is necessary as it will address the vulnerability in Kaseya. However, once executed, the malicious file ("SecurityUpdates.exe"; may vary) triggers download/installation of Cobalt Strike malware.

Cobalt Strike malware functionalities

As mentioned in the introduction, the main functions of Cobalt Strike are data theft and download/installation of additional malware. To elaborate, features of the former category include keylogging (i.e., recording of keystrokes) and file extraction from the infected device.

Typically, cyber criminals seek to obtain victims' personally identifiable details, browsing activity, various account/platform log-in credentials (i.e., IDs, email addresses, usernames, and passwords), business-related data, financial information (e.g., banking account details, credit card numbers, etc.), and other sensitive content.

Cobalt Strike can also infect systems with ransomware, trojans, cryptocurrency miners, and other malicious software. Hence, the threats posed by this malware are extensive.

To summarize, by trusting the "Kaseya" scam emails, users can experience multiple system infections, serious privacy issues, significant financial losses, and identity theft.

If it is suspected or known that Cobalt Strike (or other malware) has already infected the system, it is crucial to immediately remove it using anti-virus software.

Threat Summary:

Name	Kaseya spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Scam emails urge recipients to fix a vulnerability by installing an update.
Attachment(s)	SecurityUpdates.exe (filename may vary)
Detection Names	Avast (Win32:CrypterX-gen [Trj]), BitDefender (Trojan.GenericKD.37199125), ESET-NOD32 (Win32/Rozena.AFJ), Kaspersky (HackTool.Win32.Cobalt.aif), Microsoft (Trojan:Win32/Vigorf.A), 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	Cobalt Strike
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.

Spam campaigns in general

"ATLAS AL SHARQ TRADING Email Virus", "COSCO Shipping Email Virus", "Santander Email Virus", and "Contech Email Virus" are some examples of spam campaigns distributing malware.

The emails sent through these mass-scale operations are usually presented as "urgent", "priority", "important", and/or disguised as messages from genuine companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, service providers, and other entities. Aside from malicious software proliferation, spam mail is also used to facilitate phishing and different types of scams.

Due to how widespread deceptive mail is, it is highly recommended to exercise caution with incoming emails.

How did "Kaseya email virus" infect my computer?

Spam campaigns spread malware via infectious files distributed through them. The scam emails can contain download links of such files, or they can be attached to the letters.

Virulent files can be in various formats, e.g., PDF and Microsoft Office documents, archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth. When the files are executed, run, or otherwise opened - the infection chain is initiated.

For example, Microsoft Office documents infect systems by executing malicious macro commands. This process starts the moment a document is opened in Microsoft Office versions released before 2010.

Later versions have "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic execution of macros. Instead, users can manually enable editing/content (i.e., macro commands).

How to avoid installation of malware?

To avoid infecting the system via spam mail, it is advised against opening suspicious and irrelevant emails - especially any attachments or links found in them. It is recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

Malware is also proliferated through untrustworthy download sources (e.g., unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, and other third-party downloaders), illegal activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updates.

It is crucial to only download from official and verified channels. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers.

It is paramount to have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept updated. Furthermore, this software has to be used to run regular system scans and remove detected threats. If you've already opened "Kaseya email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Kaseya" scam email letter:

Subject: Our Shipping Renewal INS734267495

Thanks guys

 

Guys please install the update from microsoft to protect against ransomware as soon as possible. This is fixing a vulnerability in Kaseya.

 

hxxps://www.kaseya.com/potential-attack-on-kaseya-vsa/

 

Kind Regards
Graham Widdowson
Branch Manager

 

GRENKELEASING LTD
GSO Business Park
Building 2
Barbana Road
East Kilbride
G74 5PG

 

Tel +44 1355 599800
Dir +44 1355 599810
Fa +44 1355 599801
Mob +44 7590 803057
mailto: gwiddowson@grenke.co.uk

Screenshot of VirusTotal detections of the malicious attachment distributed via "Kaseya" spam campaign ("SecurityUpdates.exe" filename):

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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 Kaseya 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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