Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    IBM Discovers QakBot Trojan Locking Out Active Directory Users

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    June 2, 2017
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Banking Trojan 2

      The QakBot financial Trojan has been active since at least 2011 stealing information from banks and end users around the world, but now the attacks have taken a new twist. The QakBot attacks are locking out Microsoft Active Directory (AD) system users, according to research from IBM’s X-Force team.

      “The X-Force Incident Response and Intelligence Services [IRIS] team observed a spike in the QakBot-related AD lockouts over the past several weeks,” Michael Oppenheim, global research lead, IBM X-Force IRIS, told eWEEK.

      X-Force has seen AD lockout attacks in the past, which can occur in different ways, from malware assisting in the lockouts to threat actors attempting to utilize stolen credentials and accidentally locking out accounts, Oppenheim said. With QakBot, IBM X-Force researchers found that the malware is attempting to spread through an infected network, utilizing the credentials of the affected machine and user, which in part is triggering the AD lockout issues.

      “The Active Directory lockouts are a side effect of how QakBot attempts to spread throughout the network, by trying to reuse infected machines and their accounts, or brute forcing other user name and password combos to attempt to spread to other machines,” he said. “The QakBot malware’s main purpose is to take over the bank accounts of the business and possibly those of infected employees who browse their online banking at work.”

      The QakBot malware implements what is known as “man in the browser” functionality that allows injected malicious code to be inserted into online banking sessions. Oppenheim explained that instead of keeping them inside its configuration file, QakBot fetches the malicious scripts on the fly from the domain it controls.

      Oppenheim emphasized that QakBot is not actually infiltrating Active Directory itself.

      “However, if there are poor credential best practices or if the malware can guess the admin password, then it essentially has the escalated privileges it needs to conduct other operations,” he said.

      The QakBot malware infects networks in much the same way as any other form of malware. Oppenheim noted that QakBot malware may come through infected websites or via email attachments. That said, he added that the majority of QakBot infections observed by X-Force started via a spearphishing email.

      Mitigation

      There are several different actions that organizations and end users can take to limit the risk of QakBot infecting their networks. At the most basic level, Oppenheim suggests best practices for web browsing hygiene, including disabling online ads and filtering macro execution in files that come via email, to help keep users safer. 

      “To mitigate QakBot activity on the network, companies should make sure that domain accounts are configured with least privilege required to perform job tasks,” he said. “Another key is to enforce complex password schemes across the network for all users. This will stop and prevent most brute force attempts from malware.”

      To help reduce the risk of directory lockouts, Oppenheim said organizations can also opt to creating a Domain Admin account for safety purposes. 

      “This special emergency account can work when network users are being locked out, and allow security staff to recover service and determine the source of the lockouts,” he said.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×