How to protect your PC from Petya/GoldenEye ransomware

Protect your PC from Petya/GoldenEye Ransomware

There are two ways this strain of ransomware is infecting large businesses, governments, and other entities around the world:

  • An attack via a vulnerable Windows Server Message Block (SMB) service which windows uses to share Files/Printers across networks.
  • The Microsoft PxExec tool with admin credentials from target computer.

These problems have been patched by Microsoft, but there are still users out there who have not downloaded the patches for their Windows Operating Systems so the ransomware keeps spreading.

Fight Back

To fight back and protect yourself from this global ransomware attack make sure you do the following:

1) You have Windows Automatic Updates turned on and you are up to date. If you don’t have auto update on, you can download the security update for your version of Windows HERE

2) Make sure your copy of SUPERAntiSpyware is the latest edition and is current with the latest definitions. If you own the Professional Edition, make sure Real-Time Protection is enabled.

3)Backing up your computer regularly and keeping a recent backup copy not connected to any PC. We recommend using Support.com Online Backup which we offer on our online shopping cart as an optional offer when purchasing SUPERAntiSpyware Professional.

Facebook Malware Attack

Facebook Malware Attack Warning

We’re receiving reports that Facebook is being used as a new vector for executing malware attacks, specifically as a means to distribute the Locky ransomware. While the ransomware variant is not being hosted directly on Facebook, this new version is being hosted in a peculiar way.

The attack starts by a presumably infected machine sending out a message to people in your friends list. This message is actually a SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) file that is being masqueraded as an image for you to download to view. Once the file has been downloaded and opened, the payload is delivered. Because of the way SVG files work, JavaScript can be embedded into those files and opened with a modern web browser. That JavaScript will then execute and direct the user to a website that mimics YouTube, but with a completely different URL.

Once on that site, a popup is pushed to the user asking them to download a certain extension on your machine in order to view the video. After the extension has been installed, the attackers have the ability to view and alter data regarding the websites you visit, as well as access your Facebook account in order to message all of your friends with the same SVG file.

The payload is delivered through the Nemucod downloader Trojan, which has been known to download copies of Locky on victim’s PCs.

While Google and Facebook have been made aware of this attack, it is possible that proper remediation could take time. The best course of action if you receive such a message is to ignore it, clear your conversation history with that person, and report them to Facebook as having a compromised account.

If you have already been infected by this attack, there’s not much you can do outside of removing the offending extension in Chrome by going to Menu > More Tools > Extensions and check to see if either Ubo or One extensions are listed. This is also a good time to remove any unknown extensions that are installed as well.

Remember, once you have been locked out of your system by a piece of ransomware, your options for recovery are only as good as the backups you have made. Keep your backups up-to-date, and save your data on an outside drive as frequently as possible. Once a ransomware infection has taken place, any attached drives to your network are at risk. Never keep your backup drives attached to your machine when they are not in use.

Macros and You: An old attack becomes chic again

Macros and You ?

Some of the earliest computer viruses and malware were created using macros in Microsoft Office documents. These pieces of malicious code would run once the document was opened, and the infection would happen without the user even being aware that their machine had been compromised. While these types of attacks had fallen out of favor over the years, they’ve come back in style and are more popular than ever before.

What exactly is a macro?

While you’ve probably heard the term thrown around before, most people don’t actually know what they are, or what they’re capable of. In short, macros are little snippets of code that run through your office software. Many people use macros to speed up a repetitive processes, like formatting items. Unfortunately, the same type of code that is used to perform the mundane can also be used to perform the malicious.

Due to the ease of abuse, Microsoft removed the automatic enabling of macros many years ago. This is ultimately what lead to the majority of these types of attacks going by the wayside. Because there was no longer a way to abuse this on most machines, would-be attackers changed their methods to more traditional programs, which are far easier to detect with a normal malware scanner.

With the recent surge in ransomware, new methods of delivery were needed by would-be attackers. The anti-malware engines had been able to detect many variants, and it was only getting easier. This meant that stealth was needed. What better way to do that than to bring back a tried-and-true method in Office Macros. Few people expected it due to the fact that these infection types hadn’t really been seen in years.

The basic attack is carried out like this:

1) An infected person sends you an email with the subject similar to “ATTN: Invoice Attached” that has a Word document attached.

2) The person downloads and opens the file, only to see a garbled mess of characters with a notice that says “Enable macro if the data encoding is incorrect” in big bold red letters at the top of the window

3) The unknowing victim enables macros, thereby initiating the malicious code

4) The code runs, sending out an email to your Outlook contacts (attempting to infect them), downloads whatever payload(s) it wants, then runs the ransomware (locking your files)

Because of the sharp increase in these types of attacks, Microsoft, SUPERAntiSpyware, and many other security vendors recommend that all users disable macros if they do not need to use them. While Macros should be disabled by default, it is worth double-checking your preferences in order to ensure that you are protected as best as possible.

For more information on how to disable macros in Office files, please visit this Microsoft Support article.

NOTE: This is a recommendation specifically for home users, if you are in a work environment please contact your IT department first before making any changes!

Ransomware: Revisited

Ransomware Revisited By SUPERAntiSpyware

A lot has changed in the world of ransomware since we last talked about it on this blog back in 2013. For those who are new to ransomware, this post should provide a primer of what this family of malware is and what it does. For those who are more well-versed, some of our best practices at the end of this post should help provide some extra prevention methods.

TeslaCrypt, Locky, CryptoLocker, CryptoWall, and other ransomware families are making their way around the internet at break-neck pace. If you find yourself in the unfortunate place of having fallen victim to this type of malware, you’ve essentially got two options: pay up or start from scratch. While this is not something that most people want to hear, it’s the unfortunate reality for a machine that’s been ravaged by these types of infections. Even the FBI has come out and stated that your best option at data retrieval is to pay the ransom (if you do not have proper backups)!

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a designation given to families of malware that encrypt your personal files, and then demand a ransom payment in order to be given the decryption key. The types of files that ransomware targets range from generic text files and documents, to pictures, to video games, to music, and even beyond. Unfortunately, the type of encryption that’s used is so strong, that newer versions of some ransomware are completely impenetrable.

Most ransomware families are spread by a special type of Trojan called a “dropper”. The purpose of a dropper is to run processes in the background of your machine to download and execute code from a remote server. That code then searches your computer for files of a specific type (or types), then modifies those files by scrambling them with high-end, two part encryption. After a critical mass of files have been encrypted, the ransomware will then typically create a few different unencrypted documents and/or display a dialogue on your machine telling you that you’ve been locked out of your files unless you pay the price. To add fuel to the fire, many different variants will have a timer imposed upon you for when payment is “due” to them. If you don’t pay in time, they either increase the ransom, or delete the encryption key from their server, thereby making it impossible to retrieve your files.

To make matters worse, many different ransomware variants will disable the Volume Shadow Copy Service on your machine. This service is used by Windows to perform automatic backups and create restore points. These backups are what you would typically use to “roll back” your computer to before a major change happened.

How did I get infected?

Ransomware droppers come in all different shapes and sizes, but one thing that’s true about them is once they’ve been started, it’s almost always too late. These droppers typically are files that you download from your email, other websites, or p2p servers (such as torrent sites). Unfortunately, this is changing rapidly, and we’re starting to see “drive-by” exploits occur in the wild through infected ad-streams on popular sites many people visit on a daily basis.

One of the most frustrating parts of ransomware infections are that they’re extremely difficult to clean up. Even if you run antivirus and antimalware scanners, once the damage has been done, there’s nothing that these pieces of software can do to reverse the damage. These tools, including SUPERAntiSpyware®, can remove the underlying cause of the infection (the dropper) in many instances, but the encryption itself can’t be reversed.

Some versions of ransomware will display messages saying that they are from the FBI, NSA, INTERPOL, or other law enforcement agency. They’ll accuse you of possessing illegal documents and/or visiting illegal websites. This type of scare tactic has fallen out of favor, as people have gotten wise to it. Most modern ransomware will simply display a page admitting freely that you’ve been infected and display instructions on how to pay the ransom.

If you have a home or office network, it’s also possible that your machine got infected due to sharing a network with another infected machine. Because of how these infections work, they simply spread out across the drive space they can see, encrypting whatever data that can be found, regardless if it is on the machine that was initially infected.

What about my data?

If your machine has fallen prey to a ransomware attack, there’s not a whole lot that can be done with the files that were encrypted. Creating new files without removing the underlying infection is a fool’s errand, as they will quickly become encrypted as well.

After coming to terms with the fact that your data has been encrypted, you will find yourself in the middle of an ethical quagmire. If you pay the ransom that is demanded, you will most likely get your files back; however, you’re actively giving these attackers what they want, which is your money. There’s also no guarantee that by paying, your files will be restored; however, if people didn’t get their files back by paying the ransom, why would people continue to pay? If you don’t pay the ransom, you will lose access to all of your files, some of which may be irreplaceable. This is probably one of the most difficult decisions you will make after an infection.

While we can’t tell you one way or the other to pay the ransom or not, one thing that makes it extremely easy to rebound from is the availability of recent backups. If your backups are good, it is far more palatable to format your machine and reinstall the operating system than it is to pay the ransom. There are a few older variants of ransomware that can be decrypted by special software; however, these versions aren’t found in the wild much anymore for that very reason.

How can I protect myself?

There are many different steps you can take in order to help ensure that your machine doesn’t fall victim to a ransomware attack. Below you will find some of the best practices we have to offer:

Back up your data frequently on an external hard drive AND in the cloud. One set of backups is very rarely going to provide you with 100% coverage, either due to timing differences between when you back up your data and what you’re working on, drive failures, or infection of files in your backup.

If you network computers in your home or office make sure that each machine has its own set of backups. Most ransomware infections can not only infect drives that are connected directly to the infected machine, but also the drives of machines that are connected to the same network as the infected machine.

Always disconnect physical backup drives from your machine when not in use. If you constantly have your backup drive plugged in, there’s a strong chance that the ransomware can find and encrypt files on your backup drive.

Don’t ever download from a site that tells you that something is outdated on your machine. Websites aren’t able to detect outdated software or drivers unless you give them access to your machine. If you think that you have outdated software, download the latest version directly from the publisher’s website.

Practice caution when downloading files of any kind, even if it’s something that your grandmother sent you. Many variants of ransomware will send out emails to logged-in accounts with copies of itself attached. Always make sure to save files to your machine before running them, and always scan those files with your antivirus and antimalware scanners.

Keep your antivirus and antimalware scanners up to date with both the most recent versions of the programs themselves and the most recent versions of the detection databases. You should also take this practice a step further and make sure to keep your operating system up to date as well, as many attacks rely on exploiting bugs that have already been patched.

Leave macros in Microsoft Office disabled if you do not use them regularly, and do not turn them on if you don’t. One of the most common attack vectors of ransomware is to have unknowing victims turn on macros in order to “fix” a document that appears to be corrupted. In actuality, once the macros are enabled, the dropper begins its work.

Don’t give yourself (or other users) more login power than you need. Having administrator rights to your machine is definitely something most people overlook. Unfortunately, if a ransomware infection sees that you have administrative access, it makes the computer much easier to infect.

(OPTIONAL) Use adblocking software while browsing the web, disable scripting within your web browser, disable Flash, and disable Java. Many of the drive-by attacks are distributed through infected advertisements, Javascript commands, or through the downloading of files automatically when you open the page. By turning off this vector of attack, you might limit some of your web browsing capability, but will be that much more secure against attacks.