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June 12, 2013

Kaspersky Labs Studies NetTraveler Group

By Robbie Pleasant, TMCnet Contributor

While surfing the net may be all well and fun, a NetTraveler is something you don’t want to encounter. This is a family of malicious programs, which has compromised hundreds of high-profile victims around the world. A new report from Kaspersky Labs has revealed some important information about the malware, which has hit many vital sectors and institutions.



Those infected by NetTraveler tend to be hit through spear-phishing e-mails with malicious Microsoft (News - Alert) Office attachments. The e-mails have topics such as “Army Cyber Security Policy 2013.doc” or “Freedom of Speech.doc,” making it seem like they’re important. When opened, the attachment exploits vulnerabilities to infect the computers, compromising the computers and the data within them.

The e-mails tend to be targeted at establishments such as government institutions, military contractors, activists, the oil and gas industry, and those involved in space exploration, nanotechnology, nuclear power and much more. Basically, if you’re big, you’re a target.

Kaspersky Labs has managed to find infection logs from the command and control servers (C&C). Said servers installed more malware on the infected computers, as well as stole data such as file system listings, keylogs, and important files and documents.

NetTraveler has infected and stolen valuable data from 350 victims in 40 countries. The most-hit country was Mongolia, with Russia and India following up behind it. China was the sixth-most struck, with Germany at number ten.

Given the high profile targets it strikes, and the information it steals, the NetTraveler group stands as a prime example of why proper virus and malware protection is vital. Even if you’re just a cog in a machine, or work on your own, it’s important to keep your data safe, but if you’re in a position of responsibility or authority, it’s even more important to remain safe. It’s not enough to have an antivirus program, firewall and pop-up blocker; it also takes some human intelligence to avoid downloading a malicious file. Those who make and distribute these viruses can be clever, so we must be even clever still.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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