New Malware Installs When Victims Download Pirates

Share post:

A newly discovered malware called Vigilante is installed when victims download and run what they believe to be counterfeit software or games.

Once inside the system, the malware reports the file name that has been executed to an attacker-controlled server, along with the IP address of the victim’s computer.

Towards the end, Vigilante modifies the victims’ computers so that they can no longer access thepiratebay.com and 1,000 other pirate sites.

Specifically, the malware updates Hosts, a file that pairs one or more domain addresses to different IP addresses.

By assigning the domains to the local host, the malware ensures that the computer can no longer access the pages, and the only way to reverse the block is to edit the Hosts file to remove the entries.

Many of the trojanized executables are digitally signed using a fake code-designing tool.

The signatures consist of a series of randomly generated 18-character uppercase and lowercase letters. The validity of the certificate began on the day of availability of the files and ends in 2039.

Properties of the executable files do not match the filename.

The good thing is that Vigilante is not good at perpetuating itself, which means that it has no way to stay installed. Users who have been infected just need to edit their Hosts file to get disinfected.

For more information, read the original story in Arstechnica.

Featured Tech Jobs

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Related articles

Cyber Security Today, Week in Review for Friday, December 1, 2023

This episode features a discussion on ransomware, the latest explanation from Okta of a support hack and a survey of infosec pros whose firms w

Cyber Security Today, Dec. 1, 2023 podcast – More on Booking.com compromises

This episode reports on the sanctioning of the Sinbad crypto mixe

All Okta customer support users had their email addresses copied

Identity and access provider Okta now says the threat actor who accessed its customer help desk system last month got the names and email addresses of all contacts of organizations that use its support system. Originally, the company said that, after an investigation, it determined only one per cent of the contacts from its 18,000

Failure of technology to detect attacks is a prime cause of breaches: Survey

Despite the money being poured into cybersecurity by IT departments, the leading cause of breaches of security controls was the failure of technology to detect an attack, a new survey from Trellix suggests. Forty-two per cent of respondents to the international survey of infosec leaders whose organization had suffered a recent cyber attack said their

Become a member

New, Relevant Tech Stories. Our article selection is done by industry professionals. Our writers summarize them to give you the key takeaways