Archive for author: makoadmin

Hello folks! If you have not heard yet, the security firm FireEye has had a breach of many red team assessment tools used for identification of vulnerabilities to help protect customers.

While it is not known exactly who was behind this attack, a big concern is the sharing and use of these stolen red team tools by both sophisticated and non-sophisticated actors, similar to what we saw in 2017 with the ShadowBrokers group breach of the NSA’s Equation Group.

As soon as we at Malwarebytes found out, we started investigating. However, FireEye has been incredibly transparent and released detection rules and code for the stolen tools, so that vendors across the world can protect their customers from these tools.

So, thanks to the diligence of our own threat research team, as well as the transparency and assistance of FireEye, we’ve been able to incorporate these tools into our detection databases so if they show up on your endpoints, we’ll stop them.

Security firms are a huge target for cyber criminals, from FireEye to even us at Malwarebytes.  Often our software is the first, or last line of defense against sophisticated cybercriminal efforts and even state-sponsored attacks.  Being able to compromise one of these organizations has great value for both nation states as well as commercial cybercriminals.

To that end we commend FireEye for their efforts at quickly recovering and reducing the fallout from this breach and support them in protecting both their internal data and customers moving forward, at the end of the day, we are on the same side and have to deal with the same threats.

Thanks for reading, safe surfing.

The post Malwarebytes detects leaked tools from FireEye breach appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Hello Folks! In this Videobyte, we’re talking about why hospitals are being targeted by the Ryuk ransomware, what tricks they are using to pull this off and what their motivations might be.

Ryuk ransomware is being spread to hospitals using targeted phishing emails that infect systems with the BazarLoader malware, which in turn deploys the Cobalt Strike pen-testing platform, giving attackers greater ability to compromise the network before launching the Ryuk ransomware.

The group has also been observed using the ZeroLogon vulnerability, which allows an attacker to compromise a domain controller server within seconds. That makes lateral infection of corporate endpoints very easy.

According to various law enforcement agencies, attacks are increasing against healthcare organizations:

“‘CISA, FBI, and HHS have credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to US hospitals and healthcare providers. CISA, FBI, and HHS are sharing this information to provide warning to healthcare providers to ensure that they take timely and reasonable precautions to protect their networks from these threats,” the advisory states.’”

At the same time, ransomware attacks have been increasing more in the second half of 2020 than the first half, according to a report by Check Point.

The United States saw nearly a 100% increase in ransomware attacks in Q3 compared to Q2.

Overall, this makes for an alarming trend of targeted ransomware attacks that utilize high sophistication and professional tools for attack.  We need to all be on our guard right now.

Links:

• Global Surges in Ransomware Attacks – CheckPoint
• Ransomware threat surge, Ryuk attacks about 20 orgs per week – BleepingComputer
• BazarBackdoor: TrickBot gang’s new stealthy network-hacking malware – BleepingComputer
• Hacking group is targeting US hospitals with Ryuk ransomware – BleepingComputer

The post VideoBytes: Ryuk Ransomware Targeting US Hospitals appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

It may not be tax season in your part of the world right now but you’ll no doubt be pleased to know a prolific tax scammer is on their way to jail for 20 years. If you’re annoyed by tax scam missives, or had the misfortune to hand money over, this is probably satisfying news.

Between 2013 and 2016, Hitesh Patel ran a particularly sophisticated operation. His tax ring called from centers in India, splitting their time between pretending to be the IRS and the US Immigration Services.

Breaking down the scam

Tax scammers typically threaten to revoke a victim’s visa status unless fictitious amounts of money are paid. The scams can range from crude cons, to sophisticated techniques where documents or devices are stolen, and fake websites created.  Those websites then claim to be official Government pages with all the victim’s (stolen) data on them. If the victim doesn’t pay the fake “fine”, they’re threatened with false deportation and imprisonment.

We can assume the fictional USCIS officers would’ve made similar, tax-centric immigration style threats to potential victims. However they did it, money from victims found its way into an elaborate fraud network. Victims are told to wire funds or purchase reloadable cards. US based “runners” then set about liquidating/laundering the money in its newfound forms. Reloadable cards are popular, and a great target for scammers generally. See endnote 50 on this article about how workers get paid for more details.

Between 2013 and 2016, the people at the heart of this scam made millions from their victims. 24 of 60 people charged involved in the scam have been found guilty. The guy at the top pleaded guilty to a wide variety of crimes, including access device fraud, money laundering, impersonation of a federal officer/employee, general conspiracy to commit identification fraud, and wire fraud conspiracy.

Avoiding the tax scammers

As above, be very cautious around claims of immigration fraud or money owed no matter what reasons are given. Contact relevant immigration authorities directly using known/trusted details or go through your immigration adviser, should you have one.

• For more general tax tips related to 2020, we’ve got you covered.
• If you need examples of tax scam mails, you’re in luck.
• Tax scams also wrap themselves in fake tech support calls, of which we have an example.

Avoid missives in your mailbox mentioning mystery refunds, late payments, or “unlock fees” to re-access your online account. Take a similar approach should the tax organisation you deal with be suddenly asking for your login details. There’s no good reason at all why they’d be asking for these details.

Additional lockdowns

Many government tax services offer online portals, and a fair few of those permit additional security protocols. UKGOV’s HMRC portal, for example, is happy for you to use 2FA to keep details secure. Scammers tend to know this and will rely on potential victims using text-based 2FA. This method is vulnerable to “SIM swap” attacks, where scammers trick support staff into porting your mobile number to their own SIM. This means the next time a 2FA code is sent, it’ll go to the fraudster and not the potential victim.

If you’re using an authentication app instead of text codes, this is no longer a problem. Even if someone has grabbed your logins by some other method, they won’t be able to do anything with them. You can go change everything without the imminent threat of someone checking out the nitty-gritty of your account.

If 2FA isn’t available at all, then you’ll need to follow the usual best practices regarding passwords. Perhaps ask the relevant organisation when 2FA may be implemented. Not ideal, but it’s something proactive to get on with while you wait for them to fill the 2FA void.

Forewarned is forearmed

As you may be aware, tax season is almost upon us in many places. Whether it begins in January, April, or another month altogether? It’s worth digging into the online portion of your tax services. See what’s secure, what isn’t, and where the organisation you deal with could perhaps stand to make some improvements.

Scammers are out there making big bucks, and they don’t care who gets crushed in their dash for cash. It’s inevitable that plenty more groups are gearing up for tax time in the few weeks’ quiet before the storm. Start laying down some plans and ground-rules now.

It’s just possible you may help keep both yourself and others safe when the scam wave breaks.

The post Get a head start on defending against tax scams appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Education in the United States faced a crisis this year. The looming threat of the coronavirus—which spreads easily in highly-populated, enclosed rooms—forced schools across the country to develop new strategies for education.

The dramatic stress of this transition is known. Teachers are working more hours than ever and parents are pulled between their jobs and 24/7 childcare. But perhaps for the first time, Malwarebytes has revealed how this transition has stressed the cybersecurity posture of schools and school districts.

Our full report, “Lessons in cybersecurity: How education coped in the shift to distance learning,” shows how schools across the United States are suffering, sometimes through inaction of their own.

Nearly half of all schools did not change anything about their cybersecurity preparations in transitioning to distance learning. The end result is that schools have faced a number of cybersecurity and IT issues that are dramatically increasing IT workload and putting undue strain on teachers’ lives. Some schools have even suffered cyberattacks that have delayed their distance learning plans for a day. More individuals learned that a colleague suffered a malware attack on a school-owned device.

Our report also reveals that cyberattacks do not just threaten the safety of teachers, students, and administrators, though—they also dramatically impact students’ perceptions of schools. Malwarebytes found that many students themselves said a cyberattack would significantly impact their decision to either apply to a school or transfer to that school. Cyberattacks also significantly impacted these students’ trust in their own schools.

Crucially, our report shows that the more cybersecurity best practices that a school put into place, the fewer cybersecurity and IT issues they suffered.

For all of these findings, we went straight to the source.

We conducted two, parallel surveys, the first of which targeted IT decision-makers at schools across the United States. The second survey targeted students enrolled in K–12; students working on obtaining a bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree, or attending trade school; and students enrolled in any post-graduate program.

Key takeaways

• 50.7 percent of IT decision-makers said that no one—not students, teachers, staff, or guests (including parents)—were required to enroll in cybersecurity training before the new school year began
• 46.7 percent of IT decision-makers said their schools developed “no additional requirements”—no distanced learning policy read-throughs, no cybersecurity training, no antivirus tool installations—for the students, faculty, or staff who connected to the school’s network
• 46.2 percentof students said their schools suffered a cyberattack
• 61 percent of students said a cyberattack resulted in a significant or strong impact on their trust in their school
• Schools that engaged in a variety of cybersecurity best practices before transitioning to a distance learning model reported zero school-wide cyberattacks, and zero instruction days lost because of a cyberattack
  • 63.6 percent of these schools said they suffered “sustained, excess IT workload” compared to the 72.0 percent of all respondents
  • 18.2 percent of these schools said “teachers or students have suffered a Zoom-bombing attack” compared to the 29.3 percent of all respondents
• With distance learning in full swing, concerns remain with device shortages:
  • 28 percent of IT respondents said their schools are missing laptops, computers or tablets for teachers
  • 40 percent are missing those tools for parents and students
  • 38.7 percent worry that teachers or students are too quickly using up the data on school-provided WiFi hotspots

Study hard

Though we’re halfway through the school year, it is never too late to improve a school’s cybersecurity. In fact, there are several best practices that a school can implement to protect itself from a cybersecurity incident. Not only that, but some of those same practices can help a school’s faculty focus on what matters most—educating students.

Cybersecurity, it turns out, is a lot like school. You’ve got to do your homework. 

To learn more about the increasing risks uncovered in today’s distance learning environment, and about tips and advice that all schools can act on during 2021, read our full report:

Lessons in cybersecurity: How education coped in the shift to distance learning

The post 50 percent of schools did not prepare for secure distance learning, Labs report reveals appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

This week on Lock and Code, we discuss the top security headlines generated right here on Labs and around the Internet. In addition, we talk to Doug Levin, founder of the K12 cybersecurity resource center and advisor to the K12 Security Information Exchange, about how schools can plan for a cybersecure 2021.

Education faced a crisis in the US this year, as the looming threat of the coronavirus forced schools across the country to develop new strategies for teaching. At Malwarebytes, we wanted to discover how these shifts impacted education cybersecurity.

Revealed for the first time in our newest report published today, “Lessons in cybersecurity: How schools coped in the shift to distance learning,” what we found concerned us.

Tune in to hear about how schools fared in transitioning to distance learning models, what cybersecurity precautions they did not adopt, and how they can prepare for the second half of the school year, on the latest episode of Lock and Code, with host David Ruiz.

You can also find us on the Apple iTunes store, Google Play Music, and Spotify, plus whatever preferred podcast platform you use.

We cover our own research on:

• Spam roundup for November
• Germans targeted by return of banking Trojan
• Baltimore schools struck by Ransomware
• Deep learning: what the future holds
• Facebook scams, and how to avoid them
• VideoBytes: is it goodbye for Maze Ransomware?

Other cybersecurity news

• Investment fund leaves files wide open to all (Source: The Register)
• Three years jail time for hacker told to leave Nintendo alone (Source: Justice(dot)Gov)
• How to keep healthcare safe from Ransomware (Source: Help Net Security)
• MacOS users under fire from updated malware (Source: ZDnet)
• Hunger relief org scammed out of close to a million dollars (Source: The Non Profit Times)

Stay safe, everyone!

The post Lock and Code S1Ep21: Lesson planning your school’s cybersecurity with Doug Levin appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

There it is again—that annoying message that pops up when your email client informs you that a file is too big to attach. Those of us that are confronted with this problem on a regular basis—and those of us that want to attach files that could get picked up by anti-malware scanners along the way—have probably resorted to using file-sharing sites to help solve this issue. But is file-sharing secure?

How do file-sharing sites work?

The procedure for such file-sharing sites is simple enough. You upload the file, copy the download link, and send that link to the person you want to have the file. Some sites offer you a range of options to prevent your files from falling in the wrong hands like encryption, password protection, and others.

Closely related and more than a few times used for the same purpose are cloud storage sites. These could be ideal to backup those files you can’t do without should your hard-drive fail. Personally, I prefer a physical hard drive to backup my more personal files, but I would have no reservations about storing my installers and configuration files online.

Follow the money

It’s not hard to imagine that it will cost money to run such a site. So, when this service is provided to you for free you would be wise to ask yourself how they pay the bills. As in many other online services, when they are offered for free there is a good chance that your data are used to pay the bills.

But there are other means for these sites to earn revenue:

• Advertising: Sometimes it’s easy to see how the bills are paid. It is hard to find the controls between the advertisements, though.

• Web push notifications: A special form of advertising that can be very annoying. Often used in conjunction with regular advertising. Depending on the advertising network these can vary from slightly annoying to downright malicious.

• Altered files: The file you download is not the same as the file that was uploaded. This can be very embarrassing. You don’t want to send your business relations a link that gets them infected with adware or some potentially unwanted program.
• Not the requested file at all: Some file-sharing sites simply replace the requested files with malware. This often happens on sites that are notorious for sharing cracks and keygens. Sometimes they don’t replace all the files to give the visitor the idea that he could “get lucky.”
• Some sites require you to register and provide an email address, social media account, or to install a program that enables the usage of the site. All these options could result in additional advertising.

• Some file sharing sites offer free accounts for small files but will ask a fee if you want to store bigger files. Or they will offer an improved user experience for paid users, for example higher speeds, simultaneous uploads, or an ad-free site. This seems like a fair deal and a good alternative for the users that only need this occasionally.

Inform yourself beforehand

To keep your data and computer secure, before you decide on which site to use for sharing files or storing online for yourself, follow these pointers:

• Look at reviews about the site and skip the ones that are all good

Even with an outstanding product people will find flaws and complain about them. If you can’t find any negative reviews, there is a good chance these will be barred or removed, or in some cases buried by good reviews posted by the people running the site.

• Check out the security options you can use as a free user.

The more the better, obviously. Look for encryption, limited number of downloads, password protection, or anything else you would like to see. There are many providers out there and it’s worth looking for the one that is ideal for you.

• Try the service out yourself before sending someone else a file.

Upload a file and then download it again, preferably from a different computer and other IP address. Sites may treat the uploader different from other downloaders. Don’t embarrass yourself by using an untested service and getting someone you know infected.

Finally, when you download something uploaded by another user, there are some pointers to minimize the privacy and security risks involved:

• Make sure to click the correct button on the site. PUPs love using those big green buttons that tell you to “start here” when in fact that’s not where you want to go at all.
• Check the file extension, does the filetype match with what you are expecting? When you were promised an mp3 and get a file with the .exe extension that should raise all kinds of alarms? In fact, executable files are best avoided entirely unless you know and trust the sender.
• Check the file size. A movie with a size of 8 MB is not likely to be what it claims to be.
• Scan the downloaded file with a trusted antimalware solution before running it.
• Should you decide to run a file, read the installation or download screens carefully. Sometimes there are additional surprises announced in small print.

So, what’s the end verdict on file-sharing?

We feel it’s not our place to make recommendations about which ones are the best, but we feel it is our duty to make you aware of the risks and pitfalls that are very common in this area, most of which you can spot easily by doing a test round or two.

Basic services for limited use are available for free if you are willing to look for them. With an ad blocker or Browser Guard you can navigate the sites that would normally be full of advertisements a lot easier.

Further, web push notifications can easily be controlled and managed form within the browser. If you want to know how, you should read our blogpost about web push notifications.

Also, a quick inspection of the downloaded file can save you some occasional grief as well.

All in all, we think it is possible to share files or use online storage for non-professional purposes without paying for these services. For more regular and professional usage there are many paid options available. The only thing we do want to warn about is downloading desirable files from “unknown” sources. Sites offering cracks, keygens, movies, music, and other desirable files do have a bad reputation for a reason.

Stay safe everyone!

The post File-sharing and cloud storage sites: How safe are they? appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Hello Folks! In this Videobyte we’re talking about Maze ransomware and whether or not its shutting down, and what that means for the cybercrime world.

The notorious Maze ransomware group, known for its corporate targeting and data leaking extortion schemes is, apparently, shutting down operations.

Rumors began months ago that Maze was shutting down, as many affiliates who helped distribute Maze have been spotted switching to a different, new ransomware family called Egregor.

Then, on November 1, the group behind Maze released a statement claiming that it was closing its doors. The author also went on a rant about how the future will entirely be lived online and Maze ransomware attacks were meant to help prepare companies by forcing them to increase their security.

Typical rhetoric among delusional criminals who want to see their effort as beneficial rather than something which hurts lives.

We will have to wait and see if Maze is truly gone. After all, we thought Ryuk had vanished earlier this year, only to see it return. At the same time, the affiliate shift to Egregor ransomware is somewhat like the shift away from GandCrab to Sodinokibi in 2018-2019.

Unfortunately, history has shown us that when a crime group decides to close their doors, it’s rarely because they have seen the error in their ways and it’s more often due to a new, more powerful threat that these actors would prefer to use.

Links:

• Maze ransomware is shutting down its cybercrime operation – BleepingComputer
• Maze ransomware shuts down operations, denies creating cartel – BleepingComputer

The post VideoBytes: Is it goodbye forever to Maze ransomware? appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Scams can be found anywhere, and Facebook is no exception. And, with the holiday season just around the corner, and the world still weathering a pandemic, it pays to know what Facebook scams you, those close to you, and those you have professional relationships with could potentially encounter.

We’ll look at those that pose a notable risk to either your banking account or your personal information in this two-part series.

“How do I scam thee, let me count the ways“

Plain, ol’ data mining schemes

According to Vade Secure, a company specializing in email defense, Facebook ranks second in its list of most impersonated brands in phishing campaigns, which it details more in its annual Phishers’ Favorites Q1 2020 report.

Facebook phishing campaigns can take many forms—including Facebook apps and SMS messages—and can come via many avenues. It could be a link on Messenger from a connection or stranger, an email asking you to verify your “legal ownership” of your Facebook account, or a simple public post designed to either entice or scare recipients to act, which usually involves the handing over of data.

Take, for example, a campaign where recipients are told their account has been reported for abuse, thus in violation of Facebook’s standards. This is then coupled with a link to a page that tells users to enter their credentials to prove that the account in question is theirs.

One thing to keep in mind is that when it comes to phishing campaigns on Facebook, it doesn’t matter whether it first appeared 10 years ago or 10 days ago. We see similarities in past and present campaigns because phishers find them effective against users as they continue to fall for the same tricks.

Here’s a tip: If you find it difficult to spot a phishing attempt, a password manager could help you by not automatically pre-filling credentials on sites you know it’s supposed to pre-fill. Once this happens, report this to your password manager support team so they can investigate. Meanwhile, avoid manually entering information to the site that your password manager refuses to pre-fill, as it might likely be a phishing page.

Scam ad campaigns

Although this may sound new to the average consumer, those who have established an online business presence on Facebook are quite familiar with scam ad campaigns.

Scam ads are, essentially, false or fake ads designed to reel people in to con them out of their money. This type of campaign has made Facebook their home by hijacking business, community, or “public figure” accounts and buying ad campaigns to run.

Hackers and fraudsters particularly target Facebook accounts that can run ads as everything is already set up for them to use and abuse. And while some cybercriminals deliberately create and leave Facebook accounts to “mature” over time—we’re talking about years here—before they get sold, most scammers just couldn’t wait that long.

Why do they do this? Because Facebook’s system is on the lookout for scammery involving new accounts. Leaving accounts to mature is a way to circumvent the system.

Running scam ads can net fraudsters huge sums of money, even if they only run for a few hours before getting shut down. In fact, a few hours are all they need to see a return on their investment of time and effort.

Last year, Henry Lau, co-founder of Privolta, a company that specializes in privacy focused ads, had his Facebook ads account compromised by hackers via a third-party, who then used it to run a 13-second video campaign of a red toy wagon that was seen by Facebook users in Australia, North America, and Mexico. Interested users who clicked it were taken to a sale site with card skimmer code embedded in it.

Although Facebook had raised a red flag on his account when the fraudsters set a campaign budget of 10,000 USD, the social network didn’t notify Lau and allowed the campaign to play out anyway. Wilson said that Facebook’s model is “approve first, ask questions later”.

On the radar: After compromising and installing ransomware on the systems of Campari Group, a well-known Italian beverage maker, the Ragnar Locker ransomware group took to Facebook’s ad campaigns to further pressure the company. The account the group used to run the ad campaign belongs to a deejay based in Chicago. Read more about it in this KrebsOnSecurity post.

Live stream and music festival scam

The current pandemic has pretty much made every form of contact with the outside world virtual—including attending concerts. Yes, live stream concerts are indeed a thing today, but unfortunately, concert tickets scams that have plagued such music gatherings have evolved with the times, too.

There are several types of this scam that have been observed in the wild. According to Celebrity Access, fraudsters have set up several Facebook pages with a list of fake live streaming events to come. This, apparently, is a front for a phishing campaign as those who are interested in attending these streams would have to register with their PII.

Another flavor of the live stream scam involves fake donation links. Since local musicians have migrated their live performance events online, cybercriminals have bombarded their official pages with fraudulent links in the hope of directing stream attendees to a site where fans are asked for “donations”. This was what happened to Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums featuring Carmen Getit, popular mainstays in the Bay Area music scene, when they announced a Saturday live stream in April.

Several music festivals in the UK were also victims of scammers who employ similar tactics. Kevin Tate, the Festival & Events UK editor, has uncovered nearly a hundred fraudulent links to legitimate events, such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the Love Saves the Day Festival in Bristol, and the Noisily Festival. These links, Tate said, were created a few days before the event, and charges interested parties with varying amounts to view content that is, essentially, free.

Fake concert ads are also pushed out via ad campaigns on Facebook.

PayPal fund transfer scam

Facebook Messenger is no stranger to messages containing a copious level of fakery. From across the pond, county police in North West England issued a warning in August about a spate of messages sent via Facebook from accounts that were believed to have been hijacked by hackers.

According to detectives, once scammers take over a legitimate Facebook account, they then proceed to contact friends and family of the account owner, asking them to receive payment from a buyer for an item—usually a camera, based on collected reports—they have purportedly sold on eBay.

They then claim they couldn’t receive the payment themselves because their PayPal account isn’t working, or they don’t have one. They instruct the family or friend that once they receive the cash into their own PayPal account, they are to transfer it to their own bank account before forwarding it to an account controlled by the fraudster.

After the family member or friend arranges a money transfer from their bank account to the scammer’s, the scammer then reverses the PayPal transaction. So no money reaches the family member or friend’s PayPal account, and they have just knowingly given part of their savings to fraudsters.

In part 2, we’ll be moving forward with our list and include tips on how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from these Facebook scams, too. Until then: eyes open, and stay safe!

The post The many ways you can be scammed on Facebook, part I appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Deep learning is one of the most advanced forms of machine learning, and is showing new developments in many industries. In this article, we’ll explain the concept and give some examples of the latest and greatest ways it’s being used.

What is deep learning?

There have been many attempts at creating a definition of deep learning.

As we’ve explained in the past, machine learning can be considered as a sort of offspring of artificial intelligence. In the same way, you can view deep learning as a further evaluated type of machine learning.

According to Wikipedia:  Deep learning (also known as deep structured learning) is part of a broader family of machine learning methods based on artificial neural networks with representation learning. Learning can be supervised, semi-supervised or unsupervised.

While that definition does give us some clues on what we are looking at, it deserves an explanation of some of the terms used.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are computerized networks that mimic the behavior of biological communication nodes. What makes biological neural networks different from other artificial networks is that they are dynamic and analog. That not only makes them more flexible, but it also makes them harder to mimic in an artificial neural network.

Representation learning or feature learning is a set of techniques that allows a system to automatically discover the representations needed for feature detection or classification from raw data. In other words, representation learning is a way to extract features from unlabeled data by training a neural network

How is deep learning more advanced?

Basic machine learning methods are becoming better at what they were designed for at an impressive speed. But they still need human guidance from time to time. For example, when users notice that the algorithm has accepted a false statement as true. In such a case, the predictions made by the algorithm become worthless and the situation needs to be corrected.

Deep learning uses multiple layers which allows an algorithm to determine on its own if a prediction is accurate or not. As we all know, you can sometimes reach an accurate conclusion based on false facts. A deep learning model will typically be designed to analyze data with a logic structure and do that in a way that’s very similar to how a human would draw conclusions. This layered approach results in a method that is far more capable of self-regulated learning, much like the human brain.

The obvious warning here is that not every human brain is capable of following the rules of logic and while we perfect the mimicry, we may introduce the same weaknesses that exist in biological brains. Of course, deep learning machines are capable of processing a lot more input than humans can at this point, which is why big data and deep learning often go hand in hand.

Examples of deep learning

Machine learning and, more specifically, deep learning already have proven their worth in some use cases and we can expect more improvements in these fields.

Optimizing

Traffic analysis: Predictions about which roads and motorways are acting as a bottleneck and how the flow can be optimized with a minimum of investments. For example, whether it will prove to be useful to add an extra lane to that highway or whether it will just create the same problem a few miles further ahead.

Transportation automation: In transport, the shortest route is not always the fastest. A delivery route can be optimized by time of arrival at certain delivery addresses, which is something that can be done by deep learning.

Finding cures: Deep learning neural networks can help in structuring and speeding up drug design. Researchers have enhanced deep learning for drug discovery by combining data from a variety of sources.

Market analysis: Combining machine learning with your data can provide insight into which leads prove to give you the highest success rate. However, given that you need a relatively big dataset, this may not be interesting for smaller organizations lest it may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies.

Recognizing

Speech recognition: Apps that listen to voice commands can learn to understand their user better over time. This can help to overcome the returning annoyance about voice assistants that misunderstand or not understand the user at all.

Gesture recognition: One of the latest additions in the area of machine learning deals with recognizing gestures. The signals that are emitted from sensors are able to detect emotions by energy, time delay, and frequency shift.

Deepfakes: For good or bad, further analysis of facial expressions and voice patterns can provide the data for the next step in creating more convincing deepfakes. By better understanding human behavior, it will become easier to mimic and provide more convincing results.

Specializing

Smartphone cameras: These small cameras have to make up for the limitations set by their size in order to come close to the picture quality made by dedicated cameras. Machine learning algorithms do several things to improve and enhance the smartphone’s picture quality.

Targeted advertising: To minimize the number of advertisements the public have to watch, and to optimize the effectiveness of those advertisements, deep learning can be used to provide targeted advertising and make sure the aim is at the most suitable demographic for your product.

These are just some examples. You can probably come up with more if you look around you and see how software has taken over a lot of tasks that required human brains in the past.

The use of machine learning has also made things possible that were impossible before. For example, Google built a system to guard the rainforest. The company built a solution based on an open source platform for machine learning that uses audio to detect sounds of chainsaws and logging trucks to understand if any if an illegal activity is occurring. The machine learning solution takes into account various artificial intelligence techniques to ensure it is correctly detecting any destruction taking place.

The cybersecurity industry

We’ve already talked at length in another blog about how artificial intelligence and machine learning may impact cybersecurity. Some of these changes are already taking form and others are well on their way to being developed, but as we move forward there are bound to be changes. Especially in an industry that is involved in an arms race that entices both sides to stay one step ahead of the other.

The post Deep learning: An explanation and a peek into the future appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.

Today we’re rounding up some of the interesting pieces of spam currently in circulation, taking in everything from housing deals to mysteriously free slices of cash. You may have seen some of these already. Hopefully we can help make up your mind about whatever’s lurking in your mailbox.

A full house of spam

Whether by accident or design, you may see spam land in your inbox reminiscent of multiple unrelated scams. It’s quite something when you don’t know if you’re looking at something ransom/blackmail related, or dating, or stolen passwords/data, or a combination of all three.

The title of the email is itself somewhat disturbing at first glance:

I am watching you every day let’s talk here [URL] I live next to you, you recognize me from the photo) after entering, I look forward to meeting you

From the getgo, we have a big stalker vibe going on. It’s a neighbour, and they’re going to…invite themselves in? What are they doing in your house? Why do they want to come in? Have they been watching you? I’ve seen many of those “I have your password and stole your files” mails that open with a line similar to “I’m watching you”. Admittedly, those claim to be watching through a webcam and not your bedroom window, but it’s still enough to set the old panic bells ringing.

Then things get very weird.

Do you like houses? Our spammer does

The tone shifts from vaguely menacing, to “rich intimate fantasies”. It’s also no longer happening in your own home, but one of several random properties close to you. If you ever wanted to meet up with a totally random stranger from the internet, in a dreamlike luxury bungalow which belongs to neither yourself or the message sender, then this is definitely the mail for you.

At this point, you may be asking yourself why you have a bunch of property tips next to what sounds like murderous dating spam. The answer is that spammers are trying to get around blocks/filters. There’s not much point spending time and effort spamming, if nobody ever sees it. If they can make use of valid services and piggyback into your mailbox, they’ll do that instead. Mail services may think twice about stopping messages coming from what are legitimate sources, even if the contents are somewhat dubious.

Skipping the security fence

There’s many ways to attempt a bypass. Splitting Bitcoin addresses and writing in languages other than English, using images, avoiding certain words or hiding the text, or piggybacking on other services. Here, they’re likely trying to take advantage of a legitimate site’s service to blast through detection. The property website in question offers the ability to send property recommendations with no need for sign up. It didn’t work for us in testing so either it only works sometimes, the site owners have switched it off, or the scammers haven’t used it at all. They’re merely imitating it to make it look as though it’s the real thing.

The spam links lead to a number of explicit sites. Whether or not you say you’re over/under 18, you’ll still be taken to graphic pornography games or adult dating websites.

A somewhat innovative method to get round spam traps, but I’m not sure what kind of success rate we’re talking about. Any process which goes from “potentially threatening”, to “houses for sale”, with a splash of “randomly taken to explicit pornography games” can’t have that big a target audience.

Users of Malwarebytes will find they’re protected from the sites linked from the initial mails, and also further clickthroughs/redirections:

adultgames(dot)fun
mojzz(dot)playtillcum(dot)com
mojzz(dot)dateworlds(dot)net
milffinder(dot)com
h90348it(dot)beget(dot)tech  
liksss(dot)beget(dot)tech

The case of the unfriendly 419 spam

Another day, another attempt to part you from money. This 419 style missive takes the form of someone, er, telling you off. A lot. It reads as though you’re halfway through some shadowy, clandestine operation. Did I mention you’re being told off? Because that happens. A lot.

Some salient extracts:

Sometimes, I do wonder if you are really, really with your senses. How Could you keep trusting people and at the end you will lose your hard Earned money, or are you being deceived by their big names? They Impersonate on many offices, claiming to be Governors, Directors/Chairman of one Office or the other.

Their game plan is only just to extort your hard Earned money. Now, the question is how long you will continue to be Deceived? Sometimes, they will issue you fake check, introduce you to fake Diplomatic delivery, UN-existing online banking and they will also fake wire transfer of Your fund with Payment Stop Order and even send you fake ATM cards etc.

If this doesn’t feel like someone winning your confidence, you’d be right. It gets worse:

Anyway, by the virtue of my position I have been following this Transaction from inception and all your efforts towards realizing the Fund. More often than not, I sit down and laugh at your ignorance and That of those who claim they are assisting you, it is very unfortunate That at the end you loose.

Please I beseech you to stop pursuit of shadows and being Deceived. Feel free to contact me immediately as you receive this mail so that I can Explain to you the modus-operandi guiding the release of your Payment. Do not panic, be rest assured that this arrangement will be Guided by your Embassy here in Nigeria.

I do wonder what the success rate is for this one.

Lazy phishers and bad phishing pages

This is possibly the laziest or worst phish page I’ve ever seen. It starts off reasonably enough for a scam, claiming to be from a bank manager telling you there’s vast sums of unclaimed funds.

The main hook of the mail reads as follows:

As the regional Bank Manager of BOA BANK. It is my duty to send a financial report to my head office at the end of each year On the course of the 2019 year report, We discovered an excess profit of Eight Million Us Dollars, Which we have kept in SUSPENSE ACCOUNT without any beneficiary. As an officer of the bank I can not be directly connected to this Fund for Security Reasons, that is why I am contacting you for us to work together to get the said Fund. into your bank account for INVESTMENT in your Country The percentage Ratio is thus: 30% for you, 70% for me and my colleagues.

All you have to do to get the cash is fill out a form. The wheels almost immediately come off when you look at the bottom and see “Create your own Google form”.

When a phish goes off the rails

That doesn’t sound massively encouraging for a bank. All the same, it could be enough to grab some details from the unwary. That’s what I’d normally say, only for clicking the link and seeing this, the top entry for “Most depressing phish attempt in this or any other decade”:

Filling in an “Untitled form”, with an “Untitled question” containing precisely one option to select called “Option 1” and no text entry to go with it? Phenomenal and astounding, can’t see how that is going to work.

While it’s a spectacular bit of embarrassment for the scammers, it’s wonderful news for potential victims. Some serious miracle working will have to take place to part them from their money. We’ll take this as a win.

And finally…

Just a gentle reminder that fake mails claiming to be from PayPal are still doing the rounds. As per the older missives, the mail claims to be from a intl-paypal(dot)com address (it isn’t), and wants you to restore access to your account. The phishing site the mail linked to was already offline as we received it. It reads as follows:

Dear Customer,

Your account has just closed temporarily, because there is suspicious activity on your account. To avoid unwanted things, we took action to close your account temporarily. Immediate update and re-activate your account.

As part of this process, your old security info will be deleted and your contact email

Click the button below to finish update and active your info.

As always, follow the same process for the older spam runs: block, report, and delete.

Never a day goes by without a terrific volume of spam and phishing knocking at your doorstep. With any luck, we’ve given you a few pointers on who to turn away.

Stay safe, everyone!

The post November spam roundup: Stalkers, property tips, porn, stern words and PayPal appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs.