Web skimming is a common class of attacks generally aimed at online shoppers. The principle is quite simple: malicious code is injected into the compromised site, which collects and sends user-entered data to a cybercriminal resource. If the attack is successful, the cybercriminals gain access to shoppers’ payment information.
To make the data flow to a third-party resource less visible, fraudsters often register domains resembling the names of popular web services, and in particular, Google Analytics (google-anatytics[.]com, google-analytcsapi[.]com, google-analytc[.]com, google-anaiytlcs[.]com, google-analytics[.]top, google-analytics[.]cm, google-analytics[.]to, google-analytics-js[.]com, googlc-analytics[.]com, etc.). But attack of this kind were also found to sometimes use the authentic service.
To harvest data about visitors using Google Analytics, the site owner must configure the tracking parameters in their account on analytics.google.com, get the tracking ID (trackingId, a string like this: UA-XXXX-Y), and insert it into the web pages together with the tracking code (a special snippet of code). Several tracking codes can rub shoulders on one site, sending data about visitors to different Analytics accounts.
Recently, we identified several cases where this service was misused: attackers injected malicious code into sites, which collected all the data entered by users, and then sent it via Analytics. As a result, the attackers could access the stolen data in their Google Analytics account. We found about two dozen infected sites worldwide. The victims included stores in Europe and North and South America selling digital equipment, cosmetics, food products, spare parts etc.
The screenshot below shows how the infection looks — malicious code with the attacker’s tracking code and tracking ID:
Screenshot 1
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