Malware Spread Through LinkedIn Attachments | Avast

Malware Spread Through LinkedIn Attachments | Avast
Avast Security News Team, 26 July 2019

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An espionage ring is targeting key infrastructure and government services with malware-infected files sent as LinkedIn message attachments, SC Magazine reported. The fraudulent LinkedIn messages from the group APT34 supposedly come from a member of Cambridge University offering business opportunities. The targeted victim is told the attachment is an application form to fill out and send back. Once the target opens it, though, a new strain of malware called TONEDEAF downloads onto the victim’s system and creates a “backdoor” – a secret portal into the system for the hacker to use remotely. 
Researchers have identified two other new families of malware used in the campaign: VALUEVAULT, a tool used to steal login credentials, and LONGWATCH, a keylogger that records and keeps everything the user types. APT34 has been an active cyber espionage group since 2014 and has historically used phishing campaigns centered on academic or professional career themes. “LinkedIn is the perfect place to find targets in the professional world,” commented Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons. “Malware is not that common there, so victims have more confidence in the content they receive on the platform. At the same time, all the victims’ professional information is right there, which makes it easier for cybercriminals to target a specific company or industry.”
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