Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube hit by Linux/Moose Malware

By   ISBuzz Team
Writer , Information Security Buzz | Jun 01, 2015 07:00 pm PST

ESET uncovers new threat attacking routers, performing fraud on social networks and stealing network traffic.

ESET researchers caught Linux/Moose, a malware family primarily targeting Linux-based consumer routers, but also known to infect other Linux-based embedded systems. Once infected, the compromised devices are used to steal unencrypted network traffic and offer proxying services for the botnet operator. You can read more on this phenomenon in an in-depth security research paper titled ‘Dissecting Linux/Moose’ now available on ESET Ireland’s blog.

In practice, these malicious capabilities are used to steal HTTP cookies to perform fraudulent actions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other sites, which include generating non-legitimate follows, views and likes.”

Linux/Moose is a novelty when you consider that most embedded threats these days are used to perform DDoS attacks,”explains Olivier Bilodeau, Malware Researcher at ESET.

What’s more, according to ESET researchers, this type of malware has the capabilities to reroute DNS traffic, which enables man-in-the-middle attacks from across the Internet. Moreover, the threat displays out-of-the-ordinary network penetration capabilities compared to other router-based malware. Moose also has DNS hijacking capabilities and will kill the processes of other malware families competing for the limited resources offered by the infected embedded system.

Considering the rudimentary techniques of Moose employed to gain access to other devices, it seems unfortunate that the security of embedded devices doesn’t seem to be taken more seriously by vendors. We hope that our efforts will help to better understand how the malicious actors are targeting their devices,” concludes Bilodeau.

About ESET

ESETESET®, the pioneer of proactive protection and the maker of the award-winning ESET NOD32® technology, is a global provider of security solutions for businesses and consumers. For over 26 years, the Company continues to lead the industry in proactive threat detection. By obtaining the 80th VB100 award in June 2013, ESET NOD32 technology holds the record number of Virus Bulletin “VB100” Awards, and has never missed a single “In-the-Wild” worm or virus since the inception of testing in 1998. In addition, ESET NOD32 technology holds the longest consecutive string of the VB100 awards of any AV vendor. ESET has also received a number of accolades from AV-Comparatives, AV-TEST and other testing organizations and reviews. ESET NOD32® Antivirus, ESET Smart Security®, ESET Cyber Security® (solution for Mac), ESET® Mobile Security and IT Security for Business are trusted by millions of global users and are among the most recommended security solutions in the world.

The Company has global headquarters in Bratislava (Slovakia), with regional distribution centers in San Diego (U.S.), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Singapore; with offices in Jena (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic) and Sao Paulo (Brazil). ESET has malware research centers in Bratislava, San Diego, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Prague, Košice (Slovakia), Krakow (Poland), Montreal (Canada), Moscow (Russia) and an extensive partner network for more than 180 countries. More information is available from the ESET Press Center.

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