Koobface is the name of a harmful computer virus that made its first appearance in the cyber-world in December 2008. It became one of the most devastating internet viruses in 2009. After being quiescent for years, it re-emerged in year 2013, causing havoc across the world.
Social Engineering & phishing are the best used propagation medium used for this Virus to spread.
Name: | Koobface |
Category: | Malware |
Type: | Virus |
Targeted OS: | Windows, Mac OS, Linux |
Targeted Browser: | Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari |
The old computer viruses & worms are as dangerous today as they were at their outset. Some could even make a come-back after being dormant for years & that too a horrific one!
Koobface Malware (often known as Virus or worm) ranks amongst such viruses that uses social networking sites & spam e-mail campaigns to infect the system & steal data.
The behavioral analysis of Koobface Virus has revealed that it can impact e-mails, VOIP (such as Skype, Team Speak, Ventrilo) & social networking sites running on Microsoft, Linux & Mac Systems.
First surfaced to lime-light in December 2008, Koobface Virus is known for creeping into a large number systems across the globe. This devious virus re-emerged in year 2013 after being dormant for years, causing twice the harm in just 3 months if compared to all the attacks reported in year 2009.
Major countries such as the United States, Australia & Europe have been on the target of Koobface Virus. The most recent attack of Koobface was reported in year 2016 in United States.
According to a report by FBI, the cyber-criminals exploited social media to commit over 18,712 crimes online, leading to an overall loss of $66.4 Millions.
Koobface spreads its infection in many delivery methods such as spam e-mail campaigns, private messaging on social media networks, clicking on/visiting malicious websites & unreliable software download/updates sites.
Reports by cyber-security analysts revealed that Koobface Virus proliferate the networks of major social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Gmail to steals sensitive information, financial data & login credentials of the victims.
The threat begins with arrival of some automated messages or e-mails with weird & enticing titles such as – Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The Street, My friend catched you on hidden camera, You were seen on our secret camera, Examiners Caught Downloading Grades From The Internet, Funny Moments, I saw your silly face in that movie, check it! & so on.
A mere click on these spam e-mails & messages could invite & install this menacing virus on your system.
Once the virus has entered your system, it spreads rapidly, rendering the system performance slow & sluggish.
An executable file named tinyproxy.exe is dumped onto the system. The file hijacks your system & allows it automatic operation, making it exposed to other malign infections.
Koobface may not delete the files, but perform some Execution errors that might happen while you start computer or any program.
Common Errors that you may experience are mentioned below-
Few of the Koobface files detected by the security analysts include- Fbtre6.exe, Mstre6.exe, Freddy35.exe, Websrvx.exe, Captcha6.exe, Bolivar28.exe, Ld05.exe, Ld11.exe and Ld12.exe.
Apart from performing execution errors, Koobface tracks & records data on victim’s computer such as-
Classified as a bot, Koobface Virus allows the infected systems to connect back to the C&C (Control & Command Server) & transmits the stolen data. The stolen can be used to gain illicit access to your accounts, leading to financial losses & identity theft. The cyber-criminals can send malicious files/download links to the contacts of the hijacked accounts, thus leading to a wide-spread propagation of infection.
As the number of infected systems increases, cyber-criminals form a robot network which is known as “botnet”.
By using the botnet, cyber-criminals –
The chief methods used for the propagation of this virus include social engineering & phishing. The cyber-criminals send hundreds of thousands of deceptive e-mails with enticing subject-lines, hence encouraging the users to open it. These e-mails contain malicious attachments, links & files. A mere click on such e-mails installs Virus on to their systems.
Other spreading techniques employed by hackers for the propagation of Koobface includes-
To restart the system to Safe Mode with Networking, if already switched ON then follow the below steps:
5 Click on the username and enter the password (if any).
Hits: 139
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