Increased Activity in Google Ads Distributing Information Stealers

THE THREAT

On January 18th, 2023, eSentire Threat Intelligence identified multiple reports, both externally and internally, containing information on an ongoing increase in Google advertisements being abused to distribute malware.

One notable campaign is leveraging pay-per-click advertising to deliver popular software such as Slack, 7zip, Open Broadcasting Studio (OBS), and VLC media player. Drive by social-engineering attacks remains a popular vector for various malware loaders. Threats such as BATLOADER [3], IcedID [5] (See Figure 1 Below), Vidar, and other popular information stealers use several delivery methods, including malvertising and fake software downloads from TRU’s observations. This type of increased risk is likely to continue until Google addresses the lack of regulation in malicious content.

Providing your users with a dedicated software center and maintaining a software inventory to ensure the appropriate versions are being used is a good defence against malicious software downloads of this nature.

What we're doing about it

• eSentire has conducted global threat hunts for Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) associated with recent malvertising campaigns
• eSentire has detections available regarding the above-mentioned information stealers such as BATLOADER, IcedID, Vidar Stealer.
• The eSentire Threat Intelligence team is actively tracking this threat for additional details and detection opportunities

What you should do about it

• Raise awareness of malware masquerading as legitimate applications, and include relevant examples within your Phishing and Security Awareness Training (PSAT) program to educate your employees on how to protect themselves against similar cyber threats. Remember – an effective PSAT program emphasizes building cyber resilience by increasing risk awareness, rather than trying to turn everyone into security experts.
  • Inspect URLs to ensure they are not ‘typosquatted’. A common technique for typosquatting is shown in the screenshot below. Threat actors will register domains that use slight variations of known and authentic domains.
  • Ensure employees have access to a dedicated software center to download corporate approved software.
• Protect endpoints against malware.
  • Ensure antivirus signatures are up-to-date.
  • Use a Next-Gen AV (NGAV) or Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) product to detect and contain threats.

Additional information

In late December 2022, the FBI pushed an advisory [2] indicating threat actors are using search engine advertisements to promote websites distributing ransomware or stealing login credentials for financial institutions and crypto exchanges. This trend is continuing into 2023 and adapting to distribute information stealers.

Google search engine can be abused in various ways to distribute malware. There are three primary methods: Cracked software ads, SEO Poisoning, and Pay –per- Click ads. The current campaign is leveraging pay-per-click advertising to deliver popular software such as 7zip, Open Broadcasting Studio (OBS), Slack (See Figure 1 below), and VLC media player.

Drive by social-engineering attacks remains a popular vector for various malware loaders. Threats such as BATLOADER, IcedID, Vidar, and other popular stealers use several delivery methods, including malvertising and fake software downloads from TRU’s observations.

eSentire Threat Intelligence team has observed and disrupted two incidents earlier this week that utilized Google ads to deliver malware (Vidar Stealer & IcedID leading to Cobalt Strike). Additionally, public reporting shows that both Aurora Stealer & Rhadamanthys Stealer are utilizing the same technique.

References:

[1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-push-malware-via-google-search-ads-for-vlc-7-zip-ccleaner/
[2] FBI warns of search engine ads pushing malware, phishing
[3] https://www.esentire.com/blog/recent-batloader-activity-observed-in-december-2022
[4] https://www.esentire.com/security-advisories/increase-in-redline-stealer-observations
[5] https://twitter.com/malware_traffic/status/1615785311736315915