Email-Based Malware: New Botnet For Intruders In Dallas
There is a new notorious botnet campaign activity that is spreading malware through phishing emails. This is a dangerous malware that will seize your computer's control to send spam emails with the intention of defrauding unsuspecting victims. The Botnet is being used to deliver ransomware via malspam campaigns. The spam sent by this Botnet often appears to entice users into opening a zip file attachment to get access to a computer network. We provide an insight into the Botnet and why you should be concerned with its spread.
What Is a Botnet?
Cyber attackers have the upper hand in delivering malware when they get access to your computer’s network. A botnet is a connection of internet-connected devices compromised by a cyber-terrorist. The Botnet creates leeway for attackers and cyber-criminal groups to break into targeted systems. The attackers take advantage of a botnet’s collective computing power to send large volumes of spam or spy on organizations.
Botnets have been responsible for hacking, spamming and malware, and thus remain favorite tools for cybercriminals. Their efficiency in delivering a DDoS attack on a large scale makes them the most dangerous threat to your business. Cybercriminals use these tools to send millions of spam emails, pull websites down for ransom, or harm victims financially.
In most cases, these botnets are created by malicious actors who infect connected devices with malware and use a control server or command to manage them. Once a malicious actor has compromised a device on a network, he puts all the vulnerable devices on that network to be infected. Whenever there is a botnet attack, the consequences can be devastating. For example, a botnet can shut down a portion of the internet or systems such as Twitter.
How Botnet Operates
Botnets will take advantage of unsecured internet of things devices to install malware that will attack the DYN servers. The Botnet will target different organizations with different motives seeking to hack into your financial department. If your protective measures such as the email filter or firewall fail to block the Botnet's malicious email attachment, then a user has to recognize the threat and avoid it.
One of the latest botnets that are rapidly spreading email-based malware is the Phorpiex Botnet. The Botnet can spew spam at high volume in delivering malware via phishing emails. For example, an email can be sent to your computer with subject lines based around bank details and invoices, then ask the user to enable content to see the document. Once you fall prey and enable content, you allow malicious macros and URLs to attack your system.
This Botnet has been spreading via email phishing campaign targeting businesses with destructive cyber-attacks. The malware has the potential of being used as the basis for future intrusions by other hackers. If you have machines that fall victim to the Botnet, the malware will provide a backdoor that allows cyber-attackers to steal valuable information from the business. The Botnet will also allow attackers to access the system and spread additional malware, opening the door for other attackers to strike.
Why It Is Difficult to Stop the Botnet
There is a greater challenge in shutting down the Botnet since people are continuously purchasing insecure devices. Also, the widespread availability of these botnets and the difficulty of tracing them down makes it extremely difficult to stop them. The Phorpiex is a prolific botnet where malicious emails come from different sources from infected machines around the world. However, you can conduct a managed IT service to help in preventing the Botnet from infecting your business and threatening important client data.
How to Protect Botnet
The best way of protecting against botnet malware is to be aware of documents from untrusted or unknown sources. Educating your employees to be vigilant is a possible way of protecting yourself against the Botnet since users are the weakest link in your organization's security posture. The malware and phishing email attacks will always look to breach defenses and cause damage. Therefore, look towards being proactive in detecting and responding to any unusual behavior quickly and in a scalable manner.
Secondly, you can protect against the Botnet by allowing the security team visibility into user behavior to monitor and detect any abnormal behavior. This is an advanced malware that will require being proactive and taking steps to remediate the attack before harming your business. For example, you can disable macros on your system since they make it easy to be attacked.
Another recommendation is to ensure the operating system and software in your organization are patched and up to date. Updating your software can help stop the malware from attacking since most cyber-attacks use the already available vulnerabilities to patch.
If you are interested in different ways of dealing with this Botnet, getting a Managed Detection and Response service can help you stay ahead of your attackers. The experience of MDRs and their dedication to protecting your organization will help deal with the attacks. The MDR will observe and block any activity emanating from the Phorpiex Botnet before it has touched a traditional endpoint.
In essence, you have an opportunity to block this threat from affecting your organization through the use of monitoring, detection, and response services. The MRDs can monitor and help detect the threats before it manifests, such as the Phorpiex Botnet and respond appropriately. If you are focused on a defense-in-depth approach to cybersecurity, then detecting and blocking the threat before it reaches user endpoint can be the best way of protecting yourself from the Botnet.
Bottom Line
Recently, there has been an increase in exploits spreading the Phorpiex Botnet to IoT devices that is difficult to control. The Phorpiex Botnet is a prolific malware showing no signs of slowing down as cyber terrorists launch campaigns against businesses and financial institutions. This new Botnet can deliver ransomware in high volumes through phishing emails with threats leveraging techniques to achieve access to a business’s network.
The Botnet sends out spam email messages with malicious zip files targeting users of a network or machine. If you fall into the trap and opens any of the malicious attachments, you expose yourself to the risk of attack. The ransomware will start encrypting files on an affected endpoint and steal your valuable data. You can prevent and limit the effects of any ransomware infection in your organization by following practices around backing up endpoints.
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