A phishing campaign has been running since late March that tricks people into installing a new version of the remote access trojan, JSOutProx. JSOutProx was first identified in 2019 and is a backdoor that utilizes JavaScript and .NET that allows users to run shell commands, execute files, take screenshots, control peripheral devices, and download additional malware payloads. The malware is known to be used by a threat actor tracked as Solar Spider, which mostly targets financial institutions in Central Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, with the latest version of the malware also being used to target organizations in the Middle East.
The malware has mostly been used on banks and other financial institutions. If infected, the malware collects information about its environment and the attackers then download any of around 14 different plug-ins from either GitHub or GitLab, based on the information the malware collects about its operating environment. The malware can be used to control proxy settings, access Microsoft Outlook account details, capture clipboard content, and steal one-time passwords from Symantec VIP.
Like many other remote access trojans, JSOutProx is primarily delivered via phishing emails. A variety of lures have been used in the phishing emails but the latest campaign uses fake notifications about SWIFT payments in targeted attacks on financial institutions and MoneyGram payment notifications in attacks on individuals, which aim to trick the recipients into installing the malware.
The latest campaign uses JavaScript attachments that masquerade as PDF files of financial documents contained in .zip files. If the user attempts to open the fake PDF file, the JavaScript is executed deploying the malware payload. The main aim of the campaign is to steal user account credentials, gather sensitive financial documents, and obtain payment account data, which can either be used to make fraudulent transactions or be sold to other threat actors on the dark web. Email accounts are often compromised which can be leveraged in Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks to steal funds from clients. According to VISA, “The JSOutProx malware poses a serious threat to financial institutions around the world, and especially those in the AP region as those entities have been more frequently targeted with this malware.”
Since phishing is the main method of malware delivery, the best defense against attacks is advanced anti-spam software and end-user security awareness training. JSOutProx malware is able to bypass many traditional anti-spam solutions and anti-virus software due to the high level of obfuscation. The best defense is an anti-spam solution with AI and machine learning capabilities that can identify the signs of malicious emails by analyzing message headers and message content to determine how they deviate from the emails typically received by the business and also search for the signs of phishing and malware delivery based on the latest threat intelligence.
To identify the malicious attachments, an anti-spam solution requires sandboxing. Any messages that pass standard antivirus checks are sent to the sandbox where behavior is analyzed to identify malicious actions, rather than relying on malware signatures for detection. SpamTitan can extract and analyze files in compressed archives such as .zip and .rar files and in recent independent tests, SpamTitan achieved a phishing catch rate of 99.914%, a malware catch rate of 99.511%, with a false positive rate of 0.00%. SpamTitan from TitanHQ is delivered as either a hosted anti-spam service or an anti-spam gateway that is installed on-premises on existing hardware. SpamTitan has been developed to be easy to implement and use and meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and managed service providers.
Phishing emails target employees so it is important to teach them how to identify phishing emails. Due to the fast-changing threat landscape, security awareness training should be provided continuously to the workforce, and phishing simulations should be conducted to give employees practice at identifying threats. SafeTitan from TitanHQ can be used to easily create effective training programs that run continuously throughout the year and keep employees up to date on the latest threats and tactics, techniques, and procedures used by malicious actors. SafeTitan also delivers relevant training in real-time in response to security mistakes and phishing simulation failures. Check out these anti-spam tips for further information on improving your defenses against phishing and get in touch with TitanHQ for more information on SpamTitan email security and the SafeTitan security awareness training platform.