Sophos details delivery method of financial malware Gootkit
Sophos has published new research, “Gootloader Expands Its Payload Delivery Options,” that details how the delivery method for the six-year-old Gootkit financial malware has been developed into a complex and stealthy delivery system for a wide range of malware, including ransomware. Sophos researchers have named the platform, “Gootloader.” Gootloader is actively delivering malicious payloads through tightly targeted operations in the U.S., Germany and South Korea. Previous campaigns also targeted internet users in France.
The Gootloader infection chain begins with sophisticated social engineering techniques that involve hacked websites, malicious downloads, and manipulated search engine optimization (SEO). When someone types a question into a search engine such as Google, the hacked websites appear among the top results. To ensure targets from the right geographies are captured, the adversaries rewrite website code “on the go” so that website visitors who fall outside the desired countries are shown benign web content, while those from the right location are shown a page featuring a fake discussion forum on the topic they’ve queried. The fake websites are visually identical regardless of whether they are in English, German or Korean.