Summary:
A new variant of the Qbot malware has emerged utilizing a fake Adobe installer popup to deceive law enforcement takedowns, the malware’s developers continue to experiment with new builds, observed in email campaigns since mid-December.

Despite previous efforts to disrupt its infrastructure, the Qakbot developers persist in refining their malware, indicating ongoing activity within the cybercriminal ecosystem. The new variants employ advanced obfuscation methods, to hide their malicious payloads, making it challenging for traditional antivirus software to detect and mitigate the threat effectively. Furthermore, the malware has been observed to perform checks for the presence of endpoint protection software and virtualized environments. If detected, it enters an infinite loop to evade detection and analysis.

Analyst Comments:
Security researchers from Sophos, are close monitoring Qakbot’s development to stay ahead of the evolving threats. By reverse engineering new samples and updating detection rules, they aim to provide timely protection and insights to other security vendors and organizations. Despite limited activity following previous takedowns, the resurgence of Qbot underscores the persistent threat posed by such malware. Any attempt by threat actors to revive or adapt it requires continued vigilance and scrutiny from the cybersecurity community.

Suggested Corrections:
To mitigate Qakbot malware, organizations should focus on user education to recognize phishing attempts, employ robust email filtering to block malicious attachments and links, deploy advanced endpoint protection with behavior-based detection, implement, network segmentation, maintain proactive patch management, and utilize end point detection tools. By taking these measures organizations can enhance their defenses against Qakbot and reduce the risk of infection and potential damage to their systems and data.

Link(s):
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-uses-fake-adobe-installer-popup-for-evasion/