IRS Tax Refund Spam Resurfaces in Time for Tax Season

In the United States, tax season starts on January 1 and Americans are required to complete their annual tax returns before the April 15, deadline. As is customary at this time of year, new IRS tax refund spam email campaigns have been launched by cybercriminals.

During the first quarter of the year employees must get their tax documents from their employers and collect and collate all paperwork relating to their earnings over the year. Many dread having to pay out thousands of dollars in tax, but for some there is some good news.

The IRS has been sending emails to millions of Americans telling them that their previous tax returns have been assessed and they are due for a tax refund. The notifications have arrived by email and details of the refund are contained in an email attachment. All the recipient needs to do is to open the attached file to find out how much money they are due to have refunded.

Unfortunately, the email notifications are bogus and have not been sent from the IRS. This is just the latest IRS tax refund spam campaign to be launched by cybercriminals. The email is anything but good news. The IRS tax refund spam email contains a zip file, but instead of details of a refund, the file contains a rather nasty selection of malware and ransomware. Worse still, the batch of malware is sophisticated and capable of evading detection. The malware remains resident in the memory of the device used to open the email attachment. The mail recipient is unlikely to discover their device has been infected until it is too late.

If anti-spam solutions have been installed the IRS tax refund spam emails should be caught and quarantined. Even if not, some users will have to try hard to infect their devices. If security software has been installed on the device, opening the attachment should result in warnings being issued. The user will need to ignore those warnings before proceeding. Many do just that. The attraction of a tax refund after overspending at Christmas is too difficult to resist.

For many users the latest strains of malware included in the zip file will not trigger AV engines and even some anti-malware software programs will not identify the files as being malicious. The threat to businesses is therefore serious. If the attachment is opened and run, the malware will be installed and granted the same network and device privileges as the user.

IRS tax refund spam contains CoreBot and the Kovter Trojan

Opening the email attachment will deliver the latest strain of the Kovter Trojan. Kovter is not installed on the computer’s hard drive as commonly occurs with malware. This makes it much more difficult to detect. Instead, malicious code is run with the malware residing in the memory. Memory resident malware does not tend to persist. Once the infected computer is rebooted, the malware doesn’t reload. However, in the case of Kovter it does. Kovter is reloaded via the registry each and every time the computer is booted. Kovter is fileless malware that runs commands via Powershell in a similar fashion to Poweliks. If a computer does not have Powershell installed, the user is not protected. Kovter will just download it and install it on the device.

Kovter is not new of course. It was first identified two years ago, but it has since evolved to evade detection. In addition to being used to deliver ransomware, which locks the computer until a ransom is paid, it is also being used to perform click-fraud and generate revenue for the hackers via CPC campaigns.

Kovter is known to be used on an affiliate basis. Any individual who signs up is paid based on the number of devices they are able to infect. Cybercriminals have been spreading infections via a range of exploit kits such as Angler, Neutrino, and Fiesta. The IRS tax refund spam attack is a new way of getting the malware installed on devices.

The zip file also installs CoreBot; a particularly nasty malware that poses even bigger problems for businesses. If employees are fooled by the IRS tax refund spam and open the zip file, CoreBot can prove particularly problematic to detect, and can potentially cause a lot more damage. CoreBot is a modular malware that can have additional functions added by hackers as and when they desire. It has previously been used as a data stealer, although recently it has been used for man-in-the-middle-attacks on financial applications and web services. The malware is capable of stealing banking credentials and login information. It can also be used to exploit new zero-day vulnerabilities.

It security professionals should be wary and should warn their company’s employees of the tax refund spam, and instruct them not to open any zip file attachments, or any email attachments that have been sent from unknown senders. The IRS will not notify individuals of a tax refund in this manner. Any IRS email with a file attachment is likely to be spam and contain malware.

Domain Spoofing Whaling Attacks on the Rise

If you work in the accounting department of your company, you need to be more vigilant as cybercriminals are specifically targeting account department executives. Whaling attacks are on the increase and cybercriminals are using domain spoofing techniques to fool end users into making bank transfers from corporate accounts. Once money has been transferred into the account of the attacker, there is a strong probability that the funds will not be recoverable.

Whaling, as you may suspect, is a form of phishing. Rather than cybercriminals sending out large volumes of spam emails containing malware or links to malicious websites, individuals are targeted and few emails are sent. Cybercriminals are putting a lot of time and effort into researching their targets before launching their attack.

The aim is to gather intel on an individual that has the authorization to make bank transfers from company accounts. Individuals are usually identified and researched using social media websites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

When individuals are identified and the name and email address of their boss, CFO, or CEO is discovered, they are sent an email requesting a bank transfer be made. The email is well written, there is a pressing need for the transfer to be made, and full details are provided in the email. They are also given a reasonable explanation as to why the transfer must be made. The email also comes from senior management.

In the majority of cases, the transfer request will not follow standard company procedures as these are not known by the attackers. However, since an email will appear to have been sent from a senior figure in the company, some account department employees will not question the request. They will do as instructed out of fear of the individual in question, or in an attempt to show willingness to do what is required of them by their superiors.

Unfortunately for IT security professionals, whaling emails are difficult to detect without an advanced spam filtering solution in place. No attachments are included in the email, there are no malicious links, just a set of instructions. The attack just uses social engineering techniques to fool end users into making the transfer.

What is Domain Spoofing?

The whaling attacks are often successful, as users are fooled by a technique called domain spoofing. Domain spoofing involves the creation of an email account using a domain that is very similar to that used by the company. Provided the attacker can get the correct format for the email, and has the name of a high-level account executive, at first glance the email address will appear to be correct.

However, closer inspection will reveal that one character in the domain name is different. Typically, an i will be replaced with an L or a 1, an o with a zero, or a Cyrillic character may be used which is automatically converted into a standard letter. If the recipient looks at the email address, they may not notice the small change.

To reduce the risk of account department employees falling for whaling attacks, anti-spam solutions should be implemented and configured to block emails from similar domains. Staff must also be told not to make any transfer requests that arrive via email without first double checking with the sender of the email that the request is genuine, and to always carefully check the email address of the sender of such a request.

New Lloyds Bank Phishing Scam Detected

A new Lloyds Bank phishing scam has been uncovered. The UK bank’s customers are being targeted just before Christmas with a highly realistic email, apparently sent from Lloyds Banking Group. Christmas is a time when people let their guard down. Its busy at work, there is much to do, and minds are invariably on Turkey, holidays, and rushing to get last minute preparations completed.

New Lloyds Bank phishing scam is highly realistic

The email contains the exact same font, logo, and styling that are used on the real online banking portal, making the campaign one of the most realistic online banking phishing scams we have seen.

The latest Lloyds Bank phishing scam is pure simplicity. It is brief and to the point, and has been designed to scare users into clicking on the link and signing into their account to check their bank balance.

All that the email says, is “You have One New Message. Your account has been accessed in multiple locations. Click below to update your Lloyds Bank Account, with a hyperlink using the anchor text “Sign In.” There are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors to warn users that the email is anything but genuine.

In fact, even clicking the sign in link is unlikely to arouse suspicion. The link will direct the soon-to-be victim to a website containing an exact copy of the Lloyds Bank portal that customers will be very familiar with. All of the text is genuine, and the website features apparently clickable links in all the right places. It is an almost exact replica of the real site.

Only if a user decides to click on any of the links will they realize something is not quite right. The scammers have only taken an image of the real site. They have not made any of the links actually clickable.

But then again, after the recipient of the email has been sent a warning telling them their account is under threat, they are unlikely to suddenly decide to check the latest mortgage rates or take out a loan.

The only part of the website that works is the section where users are required to enter their user ID, password, and memorable word. Once the credentials have been entered, the victim will be redirected to Lloyds. That may arouse suspicion when their login attempt did not work, but the scammers hope that few will bother to change their password when they realize their account has not been compromised.

The scammers are likely to act quickly. Once they have a User ID, password, and memorable word, they have the basic information necessary to access the account. That information may be sufficient to gain access to the account and make a fraudulent transfer. If not, it will be used as the basis for a further spear phishing email to attempt to get the answer to a security question. If the victim fell for the first campaign, chances are they will fall for another.

There is only one other giveaway that this is a Lloyds Bank phishing scam. The URL is not lloydsbank.com.

The scam highlights the importance of checking the URL before entering any login credentials and checking to make sure the site address starts with https://. This site is clearly not genuine and has no green padlock, indicating something is amiss to anyone even casually checking the web address. However, not all online banking customers will do that when the website appears to look like the real deal.

McAfee SaaS Email Protection Products Dropped by Intel Security

Following the recent news that Intel Security will be discontinuing McAfee SaaS Email Protection products, SpamTitan is preparing for 2016 when business customers start looking for a new email security vendor to ensure continued protection.

McAfee SaaS Email Protection to Come to an End

Intel Security, the new company name for McAfee, has taken the decision to exit the email security business. The company will be dropping McAfee SaaS Email Protection products and will be concentrating on other areas of business.

From January 11, 2016, McAfee SaaS Email Protection and Archiving and McAfee SaaS Endpoint will stop being sold by Intel Security. The news is not expected to trigger a mass exodus in early 2016, as Intel Security has announced that it will continue to provide support for the products for a further 3 years. Support for both McAfee SaaS Email Protection and Archiving and SaaS Endpoint will stop after January 11, 2019. However, many customers are expected to make the switch to a new email security provider in the new year.

SpamTitan Technologies Anti-Spam Solutions

SpamTitan Technologies offers a range of cost effective business email security appliances which keep networks protected from malware, malicious software, and email spam. Users benefit from dual AV engines from Bitdefender and Clam Anti-Virus, offering excellent protection from email spam, phishing emails, and inbox-swamping bulk mail.

SpamTitan is a highly effective anti-spam solution that was first launched as an image solution. Following an agreement with VMware, SpamTitan was developed into a virtual appliance. The range of anti-spam products has since been developed to include SpamTitan OnDemand in 2011 and SpamTitan Cloud in 2013. In August 2015, SpamTitan blocked 2,341 billion emails and has helped keep business networks free from malware and viruses.

SpamTitan was the first Anti-Spam Appliance to be awarded with two Virus Bulletin VBSPAM+ awards and has also received 22 consecutive VBSpam Virus Bulletin certifications. Additionally, SpamTitan was awarded the Best Anti-Spam Solution prize at the Computing Security Awards in 2012.

Companies in over 100 countries around the world have chosen SpamTitan as their anti-email spam partner. The email security appliance stops 99.98% of email spam from being delivered.

WebTitan Web Filtering Solutions from SpamTitan Technologies

WebTitan Gateway offers small to medium businesses a cost effective method of blocking malware and malicious websites, with highly granular controls allowing individual, group, and organization-wide privileges to be set. Delivered as a software appliance that can be seamlessly integrated into existing networks, it is an essential tool to protect all business users and allow the Internet to be viewed securely.

WebTitan Cloud is a cloud-based web filtering solution requiring no software installations. Create your own web usership policies and block malware-infected websites, objectionable websites, and restrict Internet access to work-related content with ease. Benefit from a comprehensive set of reporting tools which allow the browsing activity of every end user in the organization to be easily monitored.

WebTitan Wi-Fi has been developed for Wi-Fi providers and MSPs to allow easy control of Internet access. WebTitan Wi-Fi allows users to easily block objectionable content and malicious websites, with controls able to be applied by location. The cloud solution requires no software installations. All that is required to start protecting your business is a simple DNS redirect to WebTitan cloud servers.

WebTitan web filtering solutions blocked 7,414 malware-infected webpages in August 2015, and have helped keep businesses better protected from malicious website content, phishing campaigns, and drive-by malware downloads.

Healthcare Industry Phishing Report: Greater Email Security Required

In the United States, healthcare industry phishing campaigns have been responsible for exposing the protected health records of well over 90 million Americans over the course of the past 12 months. That’s over 28% of the population of the United States.

This week, another case of healthcare industry phishing has come to light with the announcement of Connecticut’s Middlesex Hospital data breach. The hospital discovered four of its employees responded to a phishing email, resulting in their email account logins being sent to a hacker’s command and control center. In this case the damage caused by the phishing attack was limited, and only 946 patients had their data exposed. Other healthcare organizations have not been nearly so lucky.

Largest ever healthcare industry phishing attack suffered in 2015

In February, Anthem Inc., the second largest health insurance company in the United States, discovered it had suffered the mother of all healthcare data breaches. Approximately 78.8 million health insurance subscriber records were obtained by criminals in the attack. The breach did not occur in February, but months previously, with the hackers being allowed plenty of time to exfiltrate data.

Another U.S. health insurance company discovered it too had been hacked just a couple of weeks later. Premera Blue Cross similarly found out that hackers had gained access to its systems many months previously and had potentially obtained the records of over 11 million insurance subscribers.

Both security breaches were highly sophisticated in nature, but were discovered to have their roots in healthcare industry phishing campaigns. Employees had responded to phishing emails which ultimately allowed hackers to gain access to huge volumes of highly confidential healthcare data.

In 2014, Community Health Systems suffered a data breach that exposed the PHI of 4.5 million individuals in what was then the second largest healthcare data breach reported. That data breach had its roots in a phishing campaign sent to its employees.

Healthcare industry phishing attacks occurring with alarming frequency

In just 12 months, many healthcare providers and health plans have suffered at the hands of phishers. Some of the healthcare industry phishing attacks have been summarized in the table below:

Successful U.S. Healthcare Industry Phishing Attacks in 2015

Company Records Exposed
Anthem Inc. 78,800,000
Premera Blue Cross 11,000,000
CareFirst Blue Shield 1,100,000
Seton Healthcare 39,000
Saint Agnes HealthCare 25,000
Partners Healthcare 3,300
Middlesex Hospital 946
St. Vincent Medical Group 760

 

Cybercriminals attracted by easy targets and big rewards

In the United States, healthcare organizations and their business associates are covered by legislation which requires robust protections to be put in place to keep computer networks secure and patient health data safeguarded from attack. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires administrative, technical, and physical controls to be used to keep the Protected Health Information (PHI) of patients secure at all times.

Even though the industry is heavily regulated, the industry lags behind others when it comes to data security. Hackers often see healthcare organizations as an easy target. Their networks are complex and difficult to protect, and IT security budgets are insufficient to ensure that all of the appropriate protections are put in place to keep data secure.

On top of that, healthcare providers and health insurers store an extraordinary volume of highly sensitive data on patients and subscribers. Those data are much more valuable to thieves than credit card numbers. Health data, Social Security numbers, and personal information can be used to commit identity theft, medical fraud, insurance fraud, credit card fraud, and tax fraud. One set of patient data can allow criminals to fraudulently obtain tens of thousands of dollars, and the data can typically be used for much longer than credit card numbers before fraud is detected.

It is therefore no surprise that healthcare providers are such a big target. There are potentially big rewards to be gained and little effort is required. Healthcare industry phishing is therefore rife, and spear phishing campaigns are now increasingly being used to get busy healthcare employees to reveal their login credentials. Many of those campaigns are proving to be successful.

Industry reports suggest that the healthcare industry in the United States does not have sufficient controls in place to prevent against phishing attacks. A KMPG study conducted earlier this year showed that 81% of U.S. healthcare organizations had suffered cyberattacks, botnet, and malware infections. Other research conducted by Raytheon/Websense suggested that the healthcare industry in the United States suffered 340% more data breaches than other industries.

Healthcare industry phishing emails are not always easy to identify

Just a few years ago, a phishing email could be identified from a mile away. They contained numerous spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Nigerian 419 scams were commonly seen and easily spotted. Malicious email attachments were sent, yet they could be easily identified as they were rarely masked. It is easy to train staff never to open an executable file sent via email.

Today, it’s a different story. Healthcare industry phishing emails are not always easy to identify. Malicious emails are crafted with a high level of skill, spell checks are used, subjects are researched, as are the targets. Links are sent to phishing websites that cybercriminals have spent a lot of time, money, and resources developing. Even a trained eye can have trouble identifying a fake site from a real one. The threat landscape has changed considerably in just a few years.

Sometimes healthcare industry phishing emails are so convincing that many members of staff are fooled into responding. Franciscan Health System is a good example. In 2014, a phishing campaign was sent to the healthcare provider via email. The scam was straightforward. Workers were sent an email containing a link and a good reason to click it. They clicked through to a website which required them to enter their login credentials. 19 workers reportedly fell for the campaign and revealed their email account login names and passwords. Contained in their email accounts were patient data. As many as 12,000 patients were affected.

What can be done to reduce the risk of phishing attacks?

There are a number of controls and safeguards that can be implemented to reduce the risk of healthcare industry phishing campaigns being successful, and multi-layered defenses are key to reducing risk.

Conduct Regular Staff Training

All members of staff should be trained on email and internet security, and told how to identify phishing emails and phishing websites. They must be issued with a list of best practices, and their knowledge should be tested. The sending of dummy phishing emails is a good way to check to see if they have taken onboard the information provided in training sessions.

Use Powerful Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Software

Separate anti-virus and anti-malware solutions should be used and virus/malware definitions updated automatically. Regular scans of the network and individual devices should be scheduled at times of low network activity.

Employ Spam Filtering Software

Spam filtering solutions are essential. One of the best ways of preventing end users from falling for phishing emails is to make sure they never receive them. Powerful anti-spam solutions will block and quarantine malicious email attachments and prevent phishing emails from being delivered to end users.

Implement Web Filtering Solutions

Not all phishing campaigns come via email. Social media websites are often used as an attack vector and malicious website adverts can direct users to phishing websites. Implementing a web filter to limit the types of websites that users are permitted to visit can significantly reduce the risk of users falling for a phishing campaign. Web filtering solutions will also block access to known phishing websites.