Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Email Security

Arbor Networks: Beware of ‘Bitcoin Alarm’ Utility

Researchers at Arbor Networks are warning Windows users to beware of “Bitcoin Alarm,” a data-theft Trojan that masquerades as a legitimate utility to retrieve bitcoin price alerts.

Researchers at Arbor Networks are warning Windows users to beware of “Bitcoin Alarm,” a data-theft Trojan that masquerades as a legitimate utility to retrieve bitcoin price alerts.

The Windows desktop tool, which is being spread via spam e-mail, promises free SMS alerts on bitcoin marketplaces. However, in the background, the malware is capable of stealing log-in credentials to hijack valuable bitcoins from infected machines.

Arbor Networks researcher Kenny MacDermid said the ‘Bitcoin Alarm’ utility comes with an encrypted file that is actually the NetWiredRC remote-access Trojan.

Bitcoin Alarm

NetWiredRC is best described as a Windows backdoor that allows unauthorized access and control of an affected computer. An attacker can perform any number of different actions on an affected computer, including the download and execution of arbitrary files; keystroke logging; file deletion and even self-propagation to other computers. 

MacDermid said he received several spam messages pointing to a Web site to download the malware and decided to investigate when he discovered that it contained a script to check whether the Avast anti-virus program was installed on the machine.

“It’s a pretty solid chance that if software is checking for an antivirus engine, that it’s up to no good,” MacDermid said.

He ran several tests and came to a basic conclusion:

“This free utility is nothing more than malware with very low detection rate being spammed to anyone that might have a bitcoin sitting around.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Related: EU Bank Watchdog Warns Over Bitcoin

RelatedEuropean Bitcoin Payment Processor Hacked, $1M Stolen

RelatedAustralian Claims Huge Bitcoin Robbery

Written By

Ryan Naraine is Editor-at-Large at SecurityWeek and host of the popular Security Conversations podcast series. He is a security community engagement expert who has built programs at major global brands, including Intel Corp., Bishop Fox and GReAT. Ryan is a founding-director of the Security Tinkerers non-profit, an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, and a regular speaker at security conferences around the world.

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cloud Security

Cloud security researcher warns that stolen Microsoft signing key was more powerful and not limited to Outlook.com and Exchange Online.

Malware & Threats

The NSA and FBI warn that a Chinese state-sponsored APT called BlackTech is hacking into network edge devices and using firmware implants to silently...

Compliance

Government agencies in the United States have made progress in the implementation of the DMARC standard in response to a Department of Homeland Security...

Email Security

Many Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and ASX 100 companies have failed to properly implement the DMARC standard, exposing their customers and partners to phishing...

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant VMware on Tuesday shipped urgent updates to fix a trio of security problems in multiple software products, including a virtual machine...

Application Security

Fortinet on Monday issued an emergency patch to cover a severe vulnerability in its FortiOS SSL-VPN product, warning that hackers have already exploited the...