The infamous FinSpy (or FinFisher) government spyware has managed to keep a low profile in recent years, though its use of two
Microsoft
zero-days (
CVE-2017-0199
and
CVE-2017-8759
) this year shows that it is still active.
Today, researchers from
ESET
have published
new research
which points to the spyware using a different infection method: that of trojanized versions of legitimate software such
WhatsApp
,
Skype
or
WinRAR
. While this is not a new way of infecting users, what makes it rather unique is that there is evidence suggesting the malicious apps are served via a man-in-the-middle attack at the ISP level, indicating further sophistication in the delivery of the spyware.
The research will be
presented
by
ESET
‘s Filip Kafka at
VB2017
in Madrid, in two weeks’ time. In his last-minute presentation, Filip will provide some background on FinSpy, look at the newly found samples, and at the way the malware spreads. With the addition of Filip’s paper – which we are very excited about – the VB2017
programme
is now complete.
FinSpy is not a new topic for
VB
conference regulars. At
VB2013
in Berlin,
Kaspersky Lab
researchers Sergey Golovanov and Denis Maslennikov presented a
paper
on this kind of business-to-government malware (which included the former performing a
song
‘dedicated’ to the authors of such malware). It remains a very hot topic though, and if it interests you, we encourage you to
register
for VB2017, as the talks by
Joseph Cox
(on consumer spyware) and
Claudio Guarnieri
(on attacks against human rights activists) touch on the same subject.
Registration for VB2017 remains open, but places are filling up fast –
book now
to avoid disappointment!
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