Remcos or Remote Control and Surveillance, marketed as a legitimate software by a Germany-based firm Breaking Security for remotely managing Windows systems is now widely used in multiple malicious campaigns by threat actors. Remcos is a sophisticated remote access Trojan (RAT) that can be used to fully control and monitor any Windows computer from XP and onwards.
The current campaign utilizes social engineering technique wherein threat actors are leveraging what’s new and trending worldwide. The phishing email contains a PDF offering CoronaVirus safety measures but in reality this PDF includes executable for a REMCOS RAT dropper that runs together with a VBS file executing the malware. The malware also adds Startup registry key at “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce” for it to become persistent while the device affected has been restarted.
This Backdoor gathers the following information and sends it to its servers:
- Computer Information (OS version, computer name, system type, product name, primary adapter)
- User information (user access, user profile, user name, user domain)
- Processor information (processor revision number, processor level, processor identifier, processor architecture)
Sample Spam – Coronavirus-themed spam:
Behaviors
- Bypasses anti-virus products
- Maintains persistence on the targeted machine
- Runs as legitimate process by injecting to Windows process
- Gains admin privileges and disables user account control (UAC)
Capabilities
- Information Theft
- Backdoor commands
Impact
- Compromise system security - with backdoor capabilities that can execute malicious commands
- Violation of user privacy - gathers user credentials, logs keystroke and steals user information
Infection Routine
File Reputation
Detection/Policy/Rules | Pattern Branch/Version | Release Date |
---|---|---|
Backdoor.Win32.REMCOS.USMANEAGFE Backdoor.Win32.REMCOS.USMANEAGFG Backdoor.Win32.REMCOS.USMANEAGFM Backdoor.Win32.REMCOS.USMANEAGFN | ENT OPR 15.747.00 | March 17, 2020 |
Predictive Machine Learning
Detection | Pattern Branch/Version |
---|---|
Troj.Win32.TRX.XXPE50FFF034 | In-the-cloud |
Web Reputation
Detection/Policy/Rules | Pattern Branch/Version |
---|---|
URL Protection | In-the-cloud |
Anti Spam
Pattern Branch/Version | Release Date |
---|---|
AS Pattern 5300 | March 18, 2020 |
Solution Map - What should customers do?
Trend Micro Solution | Major Product | Latest Version | Virus Pattern | Anti-Spam Pattern | Network Pattern | Predictive Machine Learning | Web Reputation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Endpoint Security | ApexOne | 2019 | Update pattern via web console | Not Applicable | Update pattern via web console | Enable Predictive Machine Learning | Enable Web Reputation Service and update pattern via web console |
OfficeScan | XG (12.0) | Not Applicable | |||||
Worry-Free Business Security | Standard (10.0) | ||||||
Advanced (10.0) | Update pattern via web console | ||||||
Hybrid Cloud Security | Deep Security | 12.0 | Update pattern via web console | Not Applicable | Update pattern via web console | Enable Predictive Machine Learning | Enable Web Reputation Service and update pattern via web console |
Email and Gateway Security | Deep Discovery Email Inspector | 3.5 | Update pattern via web console | Update pattern via web console | Update pattern via web console | Not Applicable | Enable Web Reputation Service and update pattern via web console |
InterScan Messaging Security | 9.1 | Not Applicable | |||||
InterScan Web Security | 6.5 | ||||||
ScanMail for Microsoft Exchange | 14.0 | ||||||
Network Security | Deep Discovery Inspector | 5.5 | Update pattern via web console | Not Applicable | Update pattern via web console | Not Applicable | Enable Web Reputation Service and update pattern via web console |
Recommendations
- Make sure to always use the latest pattern available to detect the old and new variants of Remcos malware.
- Please refer to the KB article on Recommendations on how to best protect your network using Trend Micro products.
- You may also check the article on Submitting suspicious or undetected virus for file analysis to Technical Support.
- For support assistance, please contact Trend Micro Technical Support.