Criminal hackers have started using a novel malware attack that infects people when their mouse hovers over a link embedded in a malicious PowerPoint file.
The method—which was used in a recent spam campaign that attempted to install a bank-fraud backdoor alternately known as Zusy, OTLARD, and Gootkit—is notable because it didn't rely on macros, visual basic scripts, or JavaScript to deliver its payload. Those methods are so widely used that many people are able to recognize them before falling victim.
Instead, the delivery technique made use of the Windows PowerShell tool, which was invoked when targets hovered over a booby-trapped hyperlink embedded in the attached PowerPoint document. Targets using newer versions of Microsoft Office would by default first receive a warning, but those dialogues can be muted when users are tricked into turning off Protected View, a mode that doesn't work when documents are being printed or edited. Targets using older versions of Office that don't offer Protected View are even more vulnerable.
"While features like macros, [object linking and embedding], and mouse hovers do have their good and legitimate uses, this technique is potent in the wrong hands," researchers from antivirus provider Trend Micro wrote in a blog post published Friday morning. "A socially engineered e-mail and mouse hover—and possibly a click if the latter is disabled—are all it would take to infect the victim."
Source: ArsTechnica
See also a report at Dodge This Security.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 13 2017, @04:29PM (1 child)
IIRC, Microsoft's browsers are no longer the majority. Or if majority, only a slim majority.
Another example of open source winning was that all of the open source browsers participated in web standardization while Microsoft actively worked against web standards in order to "microsoftize" the web. That failed.
It failed so badly that Microsoft just abandoned the IE codebase and build Edge for standards compliance. That is a great example of open source winning.
Many people may interact with the web using Edge, but it's at least standards compliant -- which Microsoft doesn't drive.
Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday June 14 2017, @12:53AM
I came to think of another aspect when you mentioned majority. It may be that majority is not the lone factor that is of importance but also how intelligent and knowledgeable the people using specific tools are. Those people will want to have those tools working.