A new SEO poisoning campaign brings the malware Batloader and Atera Agent to the systems of people looking for productivity tool downloads like Zoom, TeamViewer and Visual Studio.
These malware campaigns rely on the compromise of legitimate websites to install malicious files or URLs that redirect users to websites that host malware disguised as legitimate apps.
When downloading and running the software installers, users unknowingly infect themselves with malware and remote access software.
In this campaign, the threat actors do search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to actual compromised websites in search results for prominent applications.
Target keywords include Zoom, Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, TeamViewer, among others.
As soon as the victim clicks on the search engine link, they are taken to the compromised page, which contains a Traffic Direction System (TDS). This scans for different attributes of a visitor and uses this information to decide whether they will be taken to the legitimate website or redirected to a new malicious page controlled by the attacker.
Should a visitor be redirected, the malicious page displays a fake forum discussion where a fake user asks how to get a particular app, and another fake user provides a download link.
Clicking on the download link causes the site to create a packaged malware installer that contains both legitimate software and malware.
Once the downloaded program is executed, it executes two sets of infection chains that install malware payloads on the device.
Analysts have observed that some of the techniques used in this campaign match the contents of the Conti playbooks that a disgruntled threat actor leaked in August 2021.
For more information, read the original story in BleepingComputer