New Variant of Banking Trojan Discovered Targeting Mexico

In a recent discovery, cybersecurity researchers from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 have uncovered a new variant of the stealthy banking Trojan known as Mispadu Stealer. This infostealer is specifically designed to target regions and URLs associated with Mexico, posing a significant threat to users in the region. 

The researchers stumbled upon this new variant while conducting investigations into attacks exploiting the Windows SmartScreen bypass vulnerability CVE-2023-36025. This vulnerability has been a prime target for cybercriminals looking to bypass security measures and infiltrate systems. However, it was addressed by Microsoft in November 2023. 

Essentially, attackers exploit a flaw in Windows SmartScreen, a security feature designed to warn users about potentially harmful downloads. By crafting internet shortcut files (.URL) or hyperlinks that point to malicious content, they can evade SmartScreen’s defenses. This evasion tactic hinges on including a parameter that points to a network share rather than a standard URL. Inside the manipulated.URL file is a link leading to a network share controlled by the threat actor, housing a dangerous executable file. 

Since August 2022, Mispadu has been behind numerous spam campaigns, resulting i

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