Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hackers Distributing Malware Via Weaponized PDF & MS Word Version of New Zealand Terror Suspect’s Manifesto

Cyber Criminals launching a new malware via weaponized PDF & MS Word Version of New Zealand terror suspect’s manifesto.

Researchers noticed 8chan, an imageboard website composed of user-created boards contains several posts that link to a manifesto, allegedly authored by the terror suspect of New Zealand terror attack.

These Manifesto contain several version of PDF and Word Documents and these documents were circulated in the underground forums since the document has gone viral on the internet.

In this case, attackers taking advantage of this manifesto propaganda to distribute a trojanized version of the manifesto Titled ‘The Great Replacement’,

Pages from the Weaponized Manifesto.

The Weaponized version of the manifesto resembles content from the original manifesto with several other future.

According to Blue Hexagon Research, “The metadata from the original manifesto states the author as the name of the alleged suspect who has been arrested in connection with the terror attack, whereas the author info in the weaponized trojan says it was created by the author ‘Maori’ (a name for the indigenous people of New Zealand). “

Weaponised PDF & MS Word Version

Once users click the malformed PDF & MS word version, an obfuscated VBA script gets executed and download the next stage of payload.-‘Haka.exe’.

The second stage of the payload is a PE file that is limited to overwriting the Master Boot Record (MBR) with a message displayed to force restart the system.

After the successful execution, the system gets restarted and displays the following massage.

Based on the attack scenario, there is no motivation behind this malware other than being disruptive. but this incident can be abused by other sophisticated malware by leveraging these weaponized documents.

Learn: Complete Malware Analysis Course- Advance Malware Analyst Bundle

You can follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook for daily Cybersecurity updates also you can take the Best Cybersecurity courses online to keep your self-updated.

Also Read:

Hackers Launching Weaponized Word Document to Push Emotet & Qakbot Malware

OceanLotus(APT32) Threat Actor Group Deliver KerrDown Malware Via Word Document and RAR Archive

Hackers Delivering Redaman Banking Malware Disguising as a PDF Document

New Marap Malware Targeting Financial Institutions Via Microsoft Office and PDF Documents

Beware !! Hackers Deliver FlawedAmmyy RAT via Weaponized Microsoft Word and PDF Documents

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