Skip to main content

CISA says 62,000 QNAP NAS devices have been infected with the QSnatch malware


Cyber-security agencies from the UK and the US have published today a joint security alert about QSnatch, a strain of malware that has been infecting network-attached storage (NAS) devices from Taiwanese device maker QNAP.
In alerts [ 1, 2] by the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the two agencies say that attacks with the QSnatch malware have been traced back to 2014, but attacks intensified over the last year when the number of reported infections grew from 7,000 devices in October 2019 to more than 62,000 in mid-June 2020.
Of these, CISA and the NSCS say that approximately 7,600 of the infected devices are located in the US, and around 3,900 in the UK.
“The first campaign likely began in early 2014 and continued until mid-2017, while the second started in late 2018 and was still active in late 2019,” the two agencies say.

QSnatch malware has exfiltration capabilities


CISA and the NCSC say that the two campaigns used different versions of the QSnatch malware (also tracked under the name of Derek).
The joint alert focuses on the latest version, used in the most recent campaign. According to the joint alert, this new QSnatch version comes with an enhanced and broad set of features that includes functionality for modules such as:
  • CGI password logger — This installs a fake version of the device admin login page, logging successful authentications and passing them to the legitimate login page.
  • Credential scraper
  • SSH backdoor — This allows the cyber actor to execute arbitrary code on a device.
  • Exfiltration — When run, QSnatch steals a predetermined list of files, which includes system configurations and log files. These are encrypted with the actor’s public key and sent to their infrastructure over HTTPS.
  • Webshell functionality for remote access
However, while CISA and the NCSC experts managed to analyze the current version of the QSnatch malware, they say that one mystery has still eluded them — namely how the malware initially infects devices.
Attackers could be exploiting vulnerabilities in the QNAP firmware or they could be using default passwords for the admin account — however, none of this could be verified beyond a doubt.
But once the attackers gain a foothold, CISA and the NCSC say the QSnatch malware is injected into the firmware, from where it takes full control of the device and then blocks future updates to the firmware to survive on the victim NAS.
CISA and NCSC urge companies to patch QNAP NAS devices
The joint alert says that the QSnatch group’s server infrastructure that was used in the second series of attacks is now down, but that QSnatch infections still remain active around the internet, on infected devices.
The two agencies are now urging companies and home users who use QNAP devices to follow remediation and mitigation steps listed in the Taiwanese vendor’s support page to get rid of QSnatch and prevent future infections.
Failing to remove the malware equates to allowing hackers a backdoor into company networks and direct access to NAS devices, many of which are used to store backups or sensitive files.

Originally published at https://www.zdnet.com 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ransomware's Dangerous New Trick Is Double-Encrypting Your Data

  Ransomware groups have always taken a more-is-more approach . If a victim pays a ransom and then goes back to business as usual-hit them again. Or don’t just encrypt a target’s systems; steal their data first, so you can threaten to leak it if they don’t pay up. The latest escalation? Ransomware hackers who encrypt a victim’s data twice at the same time. Double-encryption attacks have happened before, usually stemming from two separate ransomware gangs compromising the same victim at the same time. But antivirus company Emsisoft says it is aware of dozens of incidents in which the same actor or group intentionally layers two types of ransomware on top of each other. “The groups are constantly trying to work out which strategies are best , which net them the most money for the least amount of effort,” says Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow. “So in this approach you have a single actor deploying two types of ransomware. The victim decrypts their data and discovers it’s not act...
Post a Comment
Read more

Babuk ransomware is back, uses new version on corporate networks

  After announcing their exit from the ransomware business in favor of data theft extortion, the Babuk gang appears to have slipped back into their old habit of encrypting corporate networks. The criminals are currently using a new version of their file-encrypting malware and have moved the operation to a new leak site that lists a handful of victims. Gang’s still in the game The Babuk ransomware group became known at the beginning of the year but the gang says that their attacks had started in mid-October 2020, targeting companies across the world and demanding ransoms typically between $60,000 and $85,000 in bitcoin cryptocurrency. In some cases, victims were asked hundreds of thousands for data decryption. One of their most publicized victims is the Washinton DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). This attack likely pushed the threat actor into announcing its retirement from the ransomware business only to adopt another extortion model that did not include encryption....
Post a Comment
Read more

Microsoft Teams Phishing Attack Targets Office 365 Users

  Up to 50,000 Office 365 users are being targeted by a phishing campaign that purports to notify them of a “missed chat” from Microsoft Teams. Researchers are warning of a phishing campaign that pretends to be an automated message from Microsoft Teams. In reality, the attack aims to steal Office 365 recipients’ login credentials. Teams is Microsoft’s popular collaboration tool, which has particularly risen in popularity among remote workforces during the pandemic  — making it an attractive brand for attackers to impersonate. This particular campaign was sent to between 15,000 to 50,000 Office 365 users, according to researchers with Abnormal Security on Thursday. “Because Microsoft Teams is an instant-messaging service, recipients of this notification might be more apt to click on it so that they can respond quickly to whatever message they think they may have missed based on the notification,” said researchers in a Thursday analysis . The initial phishing email displays the name ...
Post a Comment
Read more