#onpatrol4malware Blog
InfoSec Articles (10/24/19 – 11/07/19)
Read some of the most interesting and useful infosec articles from the last couple of weeks, in particular some sneaky Android apps and adware. There are updates on tools and activities of some APT groups and nation state actors. For more articles, check out our...
Infosec Articles (10/9/19 – 10/23/19)
A selection of the most useful infosec articles from the last two weeks, including two separate reports on cybercrime statistics and activities. Also, new targeting and tools for the FIN7 and Emotet threat groups.For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware...
Infosec Articles (9/24/19 – 10/8/19)
Our selection of the most recent infosec articles from around the web, including write ups about both the Masad and Arcane stealer, all accompanied by a possible link between Magecart Group 4 and Cobalt Group. For informational purposes, the Proofpoint Q2 Threat...
Infosec Articles (9/9/19 – 9/23/19)
Read our hand-picked selection of the latest security articles in which botnets and RATs make frequent appearances. Despite the changes in the industry earlier this year when Coinhive closed shop, cryptominers are also still a menace. For more articles, check out our...
Infosec Articles (8/25/19 – 9/8/19)
Read some of the most interesting and useful infosec articles from the last two weeks, in particular a couple about the newcomer Nemty ransomware. The NCSC published a reminder / warning about the upcoming end of life for Python2 (January 2020).For more articles,...
Infosec Articles (8/11/19 – 8/24/19)
Our selection of the most recent infosec articles from around the web, including a vulnerability, a malware and a phishing attack all directed at Microsoft users. Sucuri reports an increase in Troldesh ransomware. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware...
Infosec Articles (7/28/19 – 8/10/19)
Our handpicked selection of the most recent infosec articles from around the web, including vulnerabilities found in Siemens and WhatsApp. The ACSC published an informative password spraying attacks advisory. Also, Android ransomware AND malware. For more articles,...
MineMeld Configuration Guide
Palo Alto MineMeld is an “extensible Threat Intelligence processing framework and the ‘multi-tool’ of threat indicator feeds. Based on an extremely flexible engine, MineMeld can be used to collect, aggregate and filter indicators from a variety of sources...
Infosec Articles (7/13/19 – 7/27/19)
There's a growing concern over what is thought to be a regrouping of the GandCrab ransomware developers to distribute what is being called “REvil,” “Sodin,” and “Sodinokibi” ransomware. The NCSC published a useful DNS hijacking and mitigation best practices/advisory....
Infosec Articles (6/28/19 – 7/12/19)
MSPs and CSPs have been targeted by attackers in an attempt to access their systems and install ransomware. In other news, Android applications are taking more permissions than they are granted. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog. MSPs Beware:...
Infosec Articles (6/13/19 – 6/27/19)
New activity by Silex malware and one that uses InterPlanetary File System’s (IPFS) p2p network made the news over the last couple of weeks. An article by IT Governance explains angler phishing. There's a trend of city governments paying ransomware. For more articles,...
Infosec Articles (5/28/19 – 6/12/19)
Articles from the last couple of weeks reveal interesting new research about a method to fight ransomware by using flash-based storage on devices to save files. That's especially good news because Shade and Sodinokibi ransomwares have been more active. We also learn...
Infosec Articles (5/13/19 – 5/27/19)
An article from IBM Security about macro malware is one of our favorites from the last couple of weeks. It covers some of the attack vector's history and provides tips for how to detect this kind of malicious activity. A new Mirai variant is targeting routers, among...
Infosec Articles (4/29/19 – 5/13/19)
Ransomware has been a hot topic the last couple of weeks. We're seeing its versatility, with distribution techniques spanning server vulnerabilities to advertising platforms, along with the use of AV tools to distract from its activities. There's yet another CISA...
Postpassword Security with FIDO2
Welcome to the dawn of the post-password world. Multifactor authentication orbits it and two-factor authentication is just a short ride away. A new adoption campaign has launched, and it’s bound for broad enablement of FIDO2. FIDO2 will be the first stop after...
Infosec Articles (4/14/19 – 4/28/19)
DNS hijacking is a worrisome threat for all Internet users and seems to be on the rise. There's a new (free) tool from the National Cyber Security Centre to help businesses simulate and test their cyber attack responses. For more articles, check out our...
Synergistic Malware Threats
It’s easy to focus on the different kinds of malware threats. Data exfiltration, phishing, ransomware, Trojans, cryptomining and all the other threat vectors present sufficient challenges to cyber security teams. But the reality on the ground is more complicated, and...
Infosec Articles (3/30/19 – 4/13/19)
Finally, some relief from the Windows updates process that has annoyed users the world over for years! We're seeing new tricks used by old malware and vice versa; ex. Emotet intercepting email conversations and injecting malware links. For more articles, check out...
Tips for Establishing Your Security Program
(And How the Cyber Insurance Industry May Help You for Free) I won’t keep you waiting. Before you get too excited about that free assist from the cyber insurance industry, let me be clear: it won’t, directly. But that’s no problem. Resourcefulness benefits any...
Infosec Articles (3/15/19 – 3/29/19)
The last couple of weeks provided the security community with a wide variety of topics, from an AV Comparatives study on antimalware security apps in the Google Play Store to new features and capabilities for TrickBot, AZORult, and Mirai. And related to the ASUS...
Whitelisting for Block Lists
Malware Patrol's #1 goal is to protect customers from malware and ransomware infections. These days, this can mean blocking mainstream domains. Consequently, our customers report potential false positives for sites like docs(.)google(.)com, drive(.)google(.)com,...
Infosec Articles (2/29/19 – 3/14/19)
Over the last couple of weeks we've seen point-of-sale malware making its way to the top of the threats list, at least in terms of headlines and focus. A rather shocking discovery was a PDF flaw that dates back 20 years and allows these legally binding documents to be...
Infosec Articles (2/14/19 – 2/28/19)
The second half of February 2019 continued to highlight server vulnerabilities with a Linux ransomware named B0r0nt0K making headlines. There's a useful privacy resource about the pros and cons - along with how-tos - for deleting oneself from social media amid the...
Is Online Privacy the Next Phase of Globalization
Google’s first privacy fine post-GDPR sounds substantial. $57 million could certainly buy a first-class infosec infrastructure for a medium-sized company and keep many payrolls rolling out for years to come. But bear in mind that relative to Google's earnings it...
Infosec Articles (1/30/19 – 2/13/19)
Our top picks for industry articles include a detailed explanation of fileless malware by the folks at Trend Micro. A great reference for those collecting threat data is the piece on Windows file types used by malware. And just in case you missed it, one source gives...
Phishing’s Next Wave: AI-Enabled Tactics for Attackers and Cybersecurity Pros
Cybercrime steals an estimated $600 billion from the global economy every year. In the next several years we can expect that number to reach well into the trillions. Phishing and spear phishing open most cybercrime attacks. At this point it’s as old as cybercrime...
Infosec Articles (1/15/19 – 1/29/19)
Linux security has taken its place among the most pressing security concerns in the industry, as explained in an article by UPI. Emotet evolves and Office documents continue to be infection vectors. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog. Tweet New...
Phishing: The Tide Is Still Coming In
In cybersecurity the familiar is dangerous. Because of this, we must qualify what we “already know” and refresh our knowledge. Without this attention, cracks in the system grow until huge threats can fit through and shatter that complacency, along with business...
Infosec Articles (1/1/19 – 1/14/19)
Off to an active start in 2019, cryptocurrency mining malware is topping lists once again. Read articles about this nuisance and several others in our industry article picks for the first of the year. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog. Tweet NSA...
Reputation Jacking: Unknown Threats on Well-Known Sites
Threat actors place malicious content on trusted sites to gain access to user’s devices and spread malware. Instead of an outside attack, they wait for the victim to download software from a trusted source or otherwise insinuate themselves into a normal operation.
Infosec Articles (12/13/18 – 12/31/18)
During the last couple weeks of the year the infosec industry was abuzz about methods for both building and using malicious Microsoft Office documents. Utilizing another staple of the office world, a phishing campaign stores its RAT payloads on a Google Cloud Storage...
Command and Control Servers: Fundamentals and a Few Details
Few topics in current cybersecurity generate as much press as command and control servers (C2s). They enable the cybercrime that often affects companies and individuals far outside the IT industry.
Infosec Articles (12/5/18 – 12/12/18)
Read our blog for articles from the last week in infosec featuring new tools for malware analysis and identification.
DNS Sinkholes Detect and Protect. Discovering What’s Inside Them Can Be the Key to Security
Bots don’t sleep, ransomware finds new ways to infiltrate systems and yesterday’s defenses may be ineffective tomorrow. Cybersecurity requires vigilance. But vigilance alone won’t suffice. That’s why threat researchers and enterprise security analysts need...
Infosec Articles (11/28/18 – 12/4/18)
Our handpicked selection of the most recent infosec articles, with a new use for IOT printers topping the list of creative efforts. To demonstrate their effectiveness, the printer advertising has been marketed via the same printers it promises to exploit for their...
Infosec Articles (11/21/2018 – 11/27/2018)
Our handpicked selection of the most recent infosec articles from around the web. L0rdix malware is available for sale in underground forums and there's JavaScript that can even track when using the Tor browser. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog....
Infosec Articles (11/13/2018 – 11/20/2018)
Our selection of recent infosec articles from around the web. Remote access Trojans abound and new TP-Link router vulnerabilities (should) serve as a reminder for all of us to check our own equipment. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog. Tweet...
Infosec Articles (10/29/2018 – 11/12/2018)
Our handpicked selection of the most recent infosec articles from the first half of November 2018. SamSam and Kraken ransomware make headlines, along with an appearance by Emotet with new email exfiltration capabilities. For more articles, check out our...
Infosec Articles (10/16/2018 – 10/28/2018)
Read some of the most interesting and useful infosec articles we came across during the last half of October 2018. We have included information on exploits of servers with Hadoop installations, a password-stealing program called Agent Tesla, and a fully functional...
Infosec Articles (10/2/2018 – 10/15/2018)
Infosec articles we found in the first half of October 2018. We have included an article on what to do after a breach. Learn about malicious code can that be used to create a cryptominer, about the GPlayed trojan that poses as Google Play, and more.
Infosec Articles (9/17/18 – 10/1/18)
We've put together our bi-weekly compilation of infosec articles from around the security industry. Read updates on botnets like Gafgyt and Virobot. Learn about hackers targerting real estate deals, and more. For more articles, check out our #onpatrol4malware blog....
SpamAssassin Configuration Guide
Malware Patrol provides block lists compatible with SpamAssassin. "Apache SpamAssassin is the #1 Open Source anti-spam platform giving system administrators a filter to classify email and block spam (unsolicited bulk email). It uses a robust scoring...
Infosec Articles (9/4/18 – 9/16/18)
A few of our favorite infosec articles from the past few weeks. Learn about Android botnet “Black Rose Lucy” and about the“BlueBorne” bluetooth exploit. Read how the Necurs Botnet, DarkHydrus and other threat actors are turning to inconspicuous files to peddle malspam.
Infosec Articles (8/14/18 – 9/3/18)
Read a few interesting CyberSecurity news articles from the past few weeks, including an update on a rootkit named CEIDPageLock being distributed by the RIG Exploit kit, Mozilla’s plan to distrust TLS certificates issued by Symantec, new MacOS malware, and more.
Infosec Articles (8/1/18 – 8/13/18)
A couple of updates on the Emotet trojan are among the highlights of our selected infosec articles from August 2018. Other important information includes Russian cyber attacks targeting U.S. critical infrastructure from the Department of Homeland Security and best...
Infosec Articles – July 2018
Our selected infosec articles July 2018 include an Android malware that targets Israeli soldiers through fake Facebook profiles, an updated Trojan that can infect via a cryptor or a miner, a money laundering ring that uses fake Apple accounts and gaming profiles...
Infosec Articles – June 2018
We've compiled a few of our favorite recent infosec articles from the best sources in the industry. Keep reading to learn about a decryptor tool for Everbe ransomware, malicious code ADB.miner, and mysterybot Android malware, which, frighteningly, combines a banking...
Infosec Articles – May 2018
A selection of our favorite infosec articles from May 2018. Cryptocurrency-mining makes its regularly scheduled appearance, and for some 'fun' reading, check out the SecureList article "History of malicious programs". There's a year-by-year breakdown of major security...
Be Smart – 419 Nigerian Email Scams
Nigerian Email Scams Malware Patrol's spam traps and honeypots capture messages and malicious URLs from all sorts of email scams and spam. One of the most well known is called the 419 or Nigerian scam. In 419 email scams, the sender suddenly contacts...
Why choose Malware Patrol over a free DNS protection service?
Customers and prospects have approached us recently with questions similar to this: why should we choose Malware Patrol instead of a free DNS protection service? The question is fair, especially in a market that counts with, at least, 93 different offers of free DNS,...
Infosec Articles – April 2018
We are thankful that so many companies and individual researchers take the time to publish articles about the latest threats. And when they share IOCs, it's even better! We've put together some of our favorites from March and April 2018. Enjoy. DNS...
Accessing threat data on AWS S3 buckets
Malware Patrol provides some of its threat data feeds via Amazon / AWS S3 buckets. Among the feeds are the "Malware Samples (Binaries)" and the "Bitcoin Transactions (JSON format)". Amazon Simple Storage Service has a simple web services interface that can...
Malware Patrol – Protection Against Crypto Mining Abuse
Cryptocurrency mining as a service is a growing website monetization trend, especially popular on gaming and torrent sites, in which a JavaScript code utilizes the visitor's CPU for cryptocurrency mining purposes. While promoted as an alternative to online...
DNS RPZ Firewall Configuration Guide
BIND is the world’s most used DNS server and can be configured as a DNS Firewall using RPZ files (DNS RPZ). Response Policy Zone (RPZ) enables DNS administrators to selectively block name resolution of Internet resources known to be used by cyber...
Cisco ASA FirePOWER Configuration Guide
“With Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services, you consolidate multiple security layers in a single platform, eliminating the cost of buying and managing multiple solutions. This integrated approach combines best-in-class security technology with multilayer protection...
Spoofed DDoS Attacks and BCP 38
The majority of recent DDoS attacks utilize source address spoofing techniques. These spoofed DDos attacks complicate mitigation efforts and hide the IP address of the originating system. It happens with TCP SYN floods as well as UDP amplification and...
DDoS Reflection and Amplification Attacks
Reflection and amplification are mechanisms commonly used in DDoS attacks. These simple and very effective techniques gained popularity around 2013. They take advantage of publicly accessible UDP services to overload victims with response traffic. Attackers usually do...
Popular Domains Hosting Malware
Malware Patrol has maintained a database of malicious URLs and IOCs since 2005. We often receive emails from our users about "popular" and "important" domains being present in our block lists and data feeds, and that this must be a mistake. It didn't take...
Role of DGAs in Malware and Ransomware Campaigns
The vast majority of active malware and ransomware families include some sort of communication with command and control systems (C&Cs). This connection allows them to receive their instructions, such as which institutions to target, the...
pfBlockerNG Configuration Guide
Malware Patrol provides block lists compatible with pfBlockerNG, a package for pfSense version 2.x that allows the usage of custom block list, IP filtering, and country block functionalities. Instructions You can follow these simple steps to configure your...
Comparing Protection Mechanisms
In a market full of products and services that promise to solve the most varied security threats, it is important to put solutions into perspective, understand what they really deliver and never forget that no single vendor can protect from all threats.
pfSense Configuration Guide
pfSense software is a free, open source customized distribution of FreeBSD specifically tailored for use as a firewall and router that is entirely managed via web interface. In addition to being a powerful, flexible firewalling and routing platform, it includes a long...
Clam AV Software Configuration Guide
“Clam AV is an open source ant-virus engine for detecting trojans, viruses, malware & other malicious threats.” Malware Patrol provides signatures that are compatible with Clam AV software. You can follow these simple steps to configure your Clam AV instance and...
Squid3 Web Proxy Configuration Guide
Squid is a proxy for the web that provides extensive access control lists, reduces bandwidth consumption and improves response times by caching and reusing frequently requested web pages. It runs on most available operating systems, including Linux and Windows. It is...
BIND9 Configuration Guide
Bind is the world’s most used DNS server. Keep reading to learn how to configure Bind9 to work with Malware Patrol's data. Getting Started Malware Patrol provides a zone file compatible with Bind9. Its usage as a DNSBL (DNS black list) denies access to domains that...