New Ursnif Banking Malware Campaign Steals Credit Card, Banking, and Payment Information

Avast Threat Labs researchers obtained information on possible victims of Ursnif malware.

Ursnif is a banking trojan and a variant of the Gozi malware observed being spread through various automated exploit kits, Spearphishing attachments, and malicious links. Ursnif is associated primarily with data theft, but variants also include components (backdoors, spyware, file injectors, etc.)

Ursnif, the Bank Trojan Evolved

Ursnif malware began life in 2007 as a banking Trojan but has evolved over the years and has remained a constant and persistent threat.

One of its features is being called “last-minute persistence,” and it is a tricky way of installing the malware payload least likely to get detected, using the moments right before the machine shuts down and right when the machine turns on to execute its commands.

Another Ursnif upgrade is its sophisticated dropping process, using phishing techniques to entice user involvement in the least suspicious way possible, and then using another lesser bank bot as the shell in which Ursnif hides until it’s safe to come out.

If the malware senses it is in a sandbox or other environment where it can be studied, Ursnif will not be deployed. The advanced bot can also steal more than bank information, it can also access certain emails and browsers and can reach its virtual fingers into cryptocurrency wallets.

The banking malware often spread using native-language email lures. Among many countries around the globe, Ursnif malware has significantly impacted Italy.

Avast researchers found usernames, passwords, credit card, banking, and payment information that appears to have been stolen from Ursnif victims by the malware operators.

There was also evidence of over 100 Italian banks targeted in the information obtained and over 1,700 stolen credentials for a single payment processor.

The research team have taken the initiative to share this information with the payment processors and banks they could identify. The team has also shared this with financial services information sharing groups such as CERTFin Italy.

“With this information, these companies and institutions are taking steps to protect their customers and help them recover from the impact of Ursnif.”, Avast says. “Avast believes strongly in information sharing to protect everyone on the internet and this is an example of how Avast Threat Labs research can help protect not just our customers but everyone on the internet”.

You can follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook for daily Cybersecurity, and hacking news updates.