September 2023’s Most Wanted Malware: Remcos Wreaks Havoc in Colombia and Formbook Takes Top Spot after Qbot Shutdown

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• October 6, 2023
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Check Point Research reported on a new large-scale phishing campaign targeting more than 40 organizations in Colombia. Meanwhile there was change at the top with Formbook ranked the most prevalent malware following the collapse of Qbot in August

Our latest Global Threat Index for September 2023 saw researchers report on a new stealth phishing campaign targeted Colombian businesses, designed to discreetly deliver the Remcos Remote Access Trojan (RAT). Meanwhile, Formbook took first place as the most prevalent malware following the collapse of Qbot, and Education remains the most targeted industry.

In September, Check Point Research uncovered a significant phishing campaign that targeted more than 40 prominent companies across multiple industries in Colombia. The objective was to stealthily install the Remcos RAT on the victim’s computers. Remcos, which was the second most prevalent malware in September, is a sophisticated “Swiss Army Knife” RAT that grants full control over the infected computer and can be used in a variety of attacks. Common consequences of a Remcos infection include data theft, follow-up infections, and account takeover.

Last month also saw Qbot drop from the top malware list entirely after the FBI seized control of the botnet in August. This marks the end of a long run as the most prevalent malware, having topped the chart for most of 2023.

The campaign that we uncovered in Colombia offers a glimpse into the intricate world of evasion techniques employed by attackers. It is also a good illustration of how invasive these techniques are and why we need to employ cyber resilience to guard against a variety of attack types.

CPR also revealed that “Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal” was the most exploited vulnerability last month, impacting 47% of organizations globally, followed by “Command Injection Over HTTP” with 42% and “Zyxel ZyWALL Command Injection” on 39%.

Top malware families

*The arrows relate to the change in rank compared to the previous month.

Formbook was the most prevalent malware last month with an impact of 3% on worldwide organizations, followed by Remcos with a global impact of 2%, and Emotet with a global impact of 2%.

1. ↑ Formbook – Formbook is an Infostealer targeting the Windows OS first detected in 2016. It is marketed as Malware as a Service (MaaS) in underground hacking forums for its strong evasion techniques and relatively low price. Formbook harvests credentials from various web browsers, collects screenshots, monitors and logs keystrokes, and can download and execute files according to orders from its C&C.
2. ↑ Remcos – Remcos is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that first appeared in the wild in 2016. Remcos distributes itself through malicious Microsoft Office documents, which are attached to SPAM emails, and is designed to bypass Microsoft Windows UAC security and execute malware with high-level privileges.
3. ↑ Emotet – Emotet is an advanced, self-propagate and modular Trojan. Emotet, once employed as a banking Trojan, has recently been used as a distributor of other malware or malicious campaigns. It uses multiple methods for maintaining persistence and Evasion techniques to avoid detection. In addition, it can be spread through phishing spam emails containing malicious attachments or links.
4. ↔ Nanocore – NanoCore is a Remote Access Trojan that targets Windows operating system users and was first observed in the wild in 2013. All versions of the RAT contain basic plugins and functionalities such as screen capture, crypto currency mining, remote control of the desktop and webcam session theft.
5. ↑ CloudEye – CloudEye (AKA Guloader) is a downloader that targets the Windows platform and is used to download and install malicious programs on victim computers.
6. ↓ NJRat – NJRat is a remote accesses Trojan, targeting mainly government agencies and organizations in the Middle East. The Trojan has first emerged on 2012 and has multiple capabilities: capturing keystrokes, accessing the victim’s camera, stealing credentials stored in browsers, uploading and downloading files, performing process and file manipulations, and viewing the victim’s desktop. NJRat infects victims via phishing attacks and drive-by downloads, and propagates through infected USB keys or networked drives, with the support of Command & Control server software.
7. ↑ AgentTesla – AgentTesla is an advanced RAT functioning as a keylogger and information stealer, which is capable of monitoring and collecting the victim’s keyboard input, system keyboard, taking screenshots, and exfiltrating credentials to a variety of software installed on a victim’s machine (including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and the Microsoft Outlook email client).
8. ↑ Mirai – Mirai is an infamous Internet-of-Things (IoT) malware that tracks vulnerable IoT devices, such as web cameras, modems and routers, and turns them into bots. The botnet is used by its operators to conduct massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The Mirai botnet first surfaced in September 2016 and quickly made headlines due to some large-scale attacks including a massive DDoS attack used to knock the entire country of Liberia offline, and a DDoS attack against the Internet infrastructure firm Dyn, which provides a significant portion of the United States internet’s infrastructure.
9. ↑ Phorpiex – Phorpiex is a botnet (aka Trik) that has been active since 2010 and at its peak controlled more than a million infected hosts. It is known for distributing other malware families via spam campaigns as well as fueling large-scale spam and sextortion campaigns.
10. ↑ AsyncRat – Asyncrat is a Trojan that targets the Windows platform. This malware sends out system information about the targeted system to a remote server. It receives commands from the server to download and execute plugins, kill processes, uninstall/update itself, and capture screenshots of the infected system.

Top Attacked Industries Globally

Last month Education/Research remained in first place in the most attacked industries globally, followed by Communications and Government/Military.

1. Education/Research
2. Communications
3. Government/Military

Top exploited vulnerabilities

Last month, “Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal” was the most exploited vulnerability, impacting 47% of organizations globally, followed by “Command Injection Over HTTP” with 42% and “Zyxel ZyWALL Command Injection” on 39%.

1. ↑ Web Servers Malicious URL Directory Traversal (CVE-2010-4598,CVE-2011-2474,CVE-2014-0130,CVE-2014-0780,CVE-2015-0666,CVE-2015-4068,CVE-2015-7254,CVE-2016-4523,CVE-2016-8530,CVE-2017-11512,CVE-2018-3948,CVE-2018-3949,CVE-2019-18952,CVE-2020-5410,CVE-2020-8260) – There is a directory traversal vulnerability on different web servers. The vulnerability is due to an input validation error in a web server that does not properly sanitize the URI for the directory traversal patterns. Successful exploitation allows unauthenticated remote attackers to disclose or access arbitrary files on the vulnerable server.
2. ↔ Command Injection Over HTTP (CVE-2021-43936, CVE-2022-24086) – A command Injection over HTTP vulnerability has been reported. A remote attacker can exploit this issue by sending a specially crafted request to the victim. Successful exploitation would allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the target machine.
3. ↑ Zyxel ZyWALL Command Injection (CVE-2023-28771) – A command injection vulnerability exists in Zyxel ZyWALL. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands in the effected system.
4. ↑ WordPress portable-phpMyAdmin Plugin Authentication Bypass (CVE-2012-5469) – An authentication bypass vulnerability exists in WordPress portable-phpMyAdmin Plugin. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information and gain unauthorized access to the affected system.
5. ↓ MVPower CCTV DVR Remote Code Execution (CVE-2016-20016)- A remote code execution vulnerability exists in MVPower CCTV DVR. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
6. ↓ PHP Easter Egg Information Disclosure (CVE-2015-2051) – An information disclosure vulnerability has been reported in the PHP pages. The vulnerability is due to incorrect web server configuration. A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted URL to an affected PHP page.
7. ↓ Dasan GPON Router Authentication Bypass (CVE-2018-10561) – An authentication bypass vulnerability exists in Dasan GPON routers. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information and gain unauthorized access to the affected system.
8. ↓ PHPUnit Command Injection (CVE-2017-9841) – A command injection vulnerability exists in PHPUnit. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability would allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands in the affected system.
9. ↑ OpenSSL TLS DTLS Heartbeat Information Disclosure (CVE-2014-0160,CVE-2014-0346) – OpenSSL TLS DTLS Heartbeat Information DisclosureAn information disclosure vulnerability exists in OpenSSL. The vulnerability, aka Heartbleed, is due to an error when handling TLS/DTLS heartbeat packets. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to disclose the memory contents of a connected client or server.
10. ↑ Muieblackcat PHP Scanner – Muieblackcat is a vulnerability scanning product. Remote attackers can use Muieblackcat to detect vulnerabilities on a target server.

Top Mobile Malwares

Last month Anubis remained in the top spot as the most prevalent Mobile malware, followed by AhMyth and SpinOk.

1. Anubis – Anubis is a banking Trojan malware designed for Android mobile phones. Since it was initially detected, it has gained additional functions including Remote Access Trojan (RAT) functionality, keylogger, audio recording capabilities and various ransomware features. It has been detected on hundreds of different applications available in the Google Store.
2. AhMyth – AhMyth is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) discovered in 2017. It is distributed through Android apps that can be found on app stores and various websites. When a user installs one of these infected apps, the malware can collect sensitive information from the device and perform actions such as keylogging, taking screenshots, sending SMS messages, and activating the camera, which is usually used to steal sensitive information.
3. SpinOk – SpinOk is an Android software module that operates as spyware. It collects information about files stored on devices and is capable of transferring them to malicious threat actors. The malicious module was found present in more than 100 Android apps and downloaded more than 421,000,000 times as of May 2023.

Check Point’s Global Threat Impact Index and its ThreatCloud Map are powered by Check Point’s ThreatCloud intelligence. ThreatCloud provides real-time threat intelligence derived from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide, over networks, endpoints and mobiles. The intelligence is enriched with AI-based engines and exclusive research data from Check Point Research, the intelligence and research Arm of Check Point Software Technologies.