Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hackers Are Using MailChimp to Spread Malware

You probably know MailChimp either as an email newsletter service, or the company that seems to have adverts on every single podcast you’ve ever listened to. Hackers recently jumped on that popularity, and managed to send out emails containing malicious links to subscribers of various different companies.

The incident shows that hackers will likely use whatever distribution channels they can in an attempt to spread their malware and turn a profit.

Here’s your invoice! We appreciate your prompt payment,” one email sent by news site Business News Australia reads, and claims to be affiliated with accounting software Quickbooks.

Troy Hunt, an Australian security researcher and owner of breach notification site Have I Been Pwned?, sent Motherboard a copy of the email that he had received from a source. According to the email, it was sent by an administrator account at the news website.

The “View Invoice” button leads to a .zip file, which, according to scans on malware analysis site Virus Total, is malicious.

Companies and websites sometimes outsource their newsletter distribution to another company, to handle the infrastructure and headaches of firing out tens or hundreds of thousands of emails at a time. In this case, that was MailChimp, according to another apparent email from Business News Australia.

“This morning our MailChimp subscriber database was hacked and a fake invoice (Inoice 00317) [sic] was sent to our list,” the email reads, according to a screenshot tweeted by Hunt.

“Please disregard and delete this email. You have not been charged,” it adds. Camilla Jansen, managing editor of Business News Australia, told Motherboard in an email “We’re waiting to find out more.”

But it seems other companies have been affected too. One Twitter user uploaded an apparent screenshot of a near identical email sent to subscribers of the Sit Down Comedy Club in Brisbane’s mailing list.

Motherboard sent an email to The Sit Down Comedy Club, asking for comment, and immediately received the following, perhaps automated, reply.

“IF YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL WITH THE TITLE – Inoice 00317 from Sit Down Comedy Club Pty Ltd – PLEASE DELETE the email you received, we do not use Quickbooks. It is SPAM and do not open it,” the email reads.

“We are trying to get to the bottom of this at the moment,” it adds.

Another Twitter user uploaded a screenshot of an apparent email from Jim’s Building Inspections, also an Australia-based company. The firm blamed the issue, without any evidence, on a “known cyber terrorist.”

MailChimp told Motherboard in a statement that “Early this morning MailChimp’s normal compliance processes identified and disabled a small number of individual accounts sending fake invoices. We have investigated the situation and have found no evidence that MailChimp has been breached. The affected accounts have been disabled, and fraudulent activity has stopped.”

The company would not say what the exact issue was, but MailChimp’s statement also strong encouraged users to setup two-factor authentication, implying that the problem might have been password reuse.

Update: This article has been updated to include MailChimp’s statement, which was sent to Motherboard after publication.

 
 
Website

Latest articles

Hackers Actively Exploiting Ray AI Framework Flaw to Hack Thousands of Servers

A critical vulnerability in Ray, an open-source AI framework that is widely utilized across...

Chinese Hackers Attacking Southeast Asian Nations With Malware Packages

Cybersecurity researchers at Unit 42 have uncovered a sophisticated cyberespionage campaign orchestrated by two...

CISA Warns of Hackers Exploiting Microsoft SharePoint Server Vulnerability

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned about a critical vulnerability in Microsoft...

Microsoft Expands Edge Bounty Program to Include WebView2!

Microsoft announced that Microsoft Edge WebView2 eligibility and specific out-of-scope information are now included...

Beware of Free Android VPN Apps that Turn Your Device into Proxies

Cybersecurity experts have uncovered a cluster of Android VPN applications that covertly transform user...

ZENHAMMER – First Rowhammer Attack Impacting Zen-based AMD Platforms

Despite AMD's growing market share with Zen CPUs, Rowhammer attacks were absent due to...

Airbus to Acquire INFODAS to Strengthen its Cybersecurity Portfolio

Airbus Defence and Space plans to acquire INFODAS, a leading cybersecurity and IT solutions...
Balaji
Balaji
BALAJI is an Ex-Security Researcher (Threat Research Labs) at Comodo Cybersecurity. Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder - Cyber Security News & GBHackers On Security.

Mitigating Vulnerability Types & 0-day Threats

Mitigating Vulnerability & 0-day Threats

Alert Fatigue that helps no one as security teams need to triage 100s of vulnerabilities.

  • The problem of vulnerability fatigue today
  • Difference between CVSS-specific vulnerability vs risk-based vulnerability
  • Evaluating vulnerabilities based on the business impact/risk
  • Automation to reduce alert fatigue and enhance security posture significantly

Related Articles