Researchers with Google’s Threat Analysis Group revealed that YouTube creators have been targeted with password-stealing malware in phishing attacks coordinated by financial threat actors.
According to reports, the threat actors were recruited via job ads on Russian-language forums.
The threat actors use social engineering (through fake software landing pages and social media accounts) and phishing emails to infect YouTube creators with information-stealing malware that once delivered to the target’s systems steals their login credentials and browser cookies, allowing the attacker to take over the victim’s accounts in pass-the-cookie attacks.
Malware identified during the attack include an open source malware known as AdamantiumThjef, commodity Syrians such as RedLine, Vidar, Predator The Thief, Nexus Stealer, Azorult, Racoon, Grand Stealer, Vikro Stealer, Masad and Kantal, as well as leaked tools such as Sorano.
While the attackers renamed a significant number of hijacked YouTube channels to impersonate high-profile technology executives or cryptocurrency exchange companies used for live-streaming cryptocurrency scams, other hijacked channels were sold underground for between $3,000 and $4,000, depending on the number of subscribers. Google has reported the problem to the FBI for further investigation.
For more information, read the original story in Bleeping Computer.