Social Networks Were Used To Target Employees and Spread Malware in Google Malware Case
The Financial Times in the UK today reported that social networks were used by attackers to target employees at Google, Adobe, and possibly other companies, in last month’s targeted malware attacks. In the incident, attackers got targeted malware onto the computers of Google employees, and used it to break into the company’s networks and steal sensitive corporate data. The attackers, allegedly from a group in China suspected of working with the Chinese government, used social networks to gain information about the friends of targeted employees. They then sent spoofed emails and initiated Instant Messaging conversations with the targeted employees, and sent malicious software to those targets. The malware exploited vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s IE 6 web browser, and installed itself on the employees’ computers.
The use of social networks to perform advanced reconnaissance by hostile attackers isn’t new, but it’s becoming more and more clear that cyber-criminals are getting much more sophisticated in their targeting and pre-planning of attacks.
These recent events are causing concern in the financial services industry, where malware such as the Zeus trojan, is getting onto the computers of finance and accounting professionals at companies, and is allowing cyber-thieves to hijack online banking sessions and transfer hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars from corporate coffers.