• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks

 | 

PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda

 | 

Qantas data breach impacted 5.7 million individuals

 | 

DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

 | 

Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

 | 

Iranian group Pay2Key.I2P ramps Up ransomware attacks against Israel and US with incentives for affiliates

 | 

Hackers weaponize Shellter red teaming tool to spread infostealers

 | 

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

 | 

Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

 | 

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Malware
  • The Necurs botnet is back spreading a downloader with new interesting features

The Necurs botnet is back spreading a downloader with new interesting features

Pierluigi Paganini October 18, 2017

The Necurs botnet is spreading a new downloader that takes screenshots of the victims’ desktops and Runtime Errors back to the operators.

The Necurs botnet is back once again, the dreaded botnet was spreading a downloader that takes screenshots of the victims’ desktops and Runtime Errors back to the attackers.

“Recently we have seen a resurgence of emails sent by the Necurs botnet. The latest blast of emails is spreading a new variant of the Locky ransomware (Ransom.Locky) or Trickybot (Trojan.Trickybot).” reads the analysis published by Symantec. “What’s interesting about this new wave is that the downloader now contains new functionality to gather telemetry from victims. It can take screen grabs and send them back to a remote server. There’s also an error-reporting capability that will send back details of any errors that the downloader encounters when it tries to carry out its activities.”

The Necurs malware spread via spam campaigns or through compromised web servers, last time we read about it in January when it was being used by crooks to deliver the Locky ransomware.

Now the Necurs Botnet, one of the world’s largest malicious architecture, is spreading a  downloader with two interesting new features.

  • The first feature consists in the addition of a Powershell script that takes a screengrab of the infected user’s screen, that is uploaded to a remote server after waiting a few seconds.
  • The second addition is a built-in error reporting feature that monitors the Necurs downloader for errors and sends collected info back to Necurs botmaster.

This is the first time that a downloader implements such kind of feature. experts believe Necurs operators gather intelligence about their campaigns.

“When you consider the screen grab functionality together with the new error-reporting capability, it suggests that the Necurs attackers are actively trying to gather operational intelligence (OPINTEL) about the performance of their campaigns. ” continues Symantec.

Collected data could allow the attackers to measure the efficiency of their campaign and detect when the malicious code has infected valuable environments, such as corporate networks.

The error reporting feature allows coders to fix bugs in their software improving their success rates.

The following graph reports the spam waves observed in the last months, after a period of silence from end of 2016 and into early 2017 it appeared again in March.

The evidence collected by the researchers suggest an intensification of the activities related to the Necurs botnet.

“Necurs went through a long spell of silence from end of 2016 and into early 2017. It burst back onto the scene around March and since then, it has been cranking up its activity levels, with recent months seeing the most action so far in 2017″ concludes Symantec.

“With our data showing a resurgence in activity, and the apparent efforts to collect operational intelligence, we can expect to see continued evolution of the capabilities and a steady increase in Necurs activity levels in the coming months.”

Necurs botnet activity-2017

 

[adrotate banner=”9″] [adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini 

(Security Affairs – botnet, malware)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Cybercrime downloader malware Necurs Botnet spam

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 10, 2025
UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 10, 2025
PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks

    Cyber Crime / July 10, 2025

    PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda

    Hacking / July 10, 2025

    Qantas data breach impacted 5.7 million individuals

    Data Breach / July 10, 2025

    DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

    APT / July 10, 2025

    Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

    Data Breach / July 09, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT