Qakbot Malware Taken Down

Uploaded on 2023-09-08 in GOVERNMENT-Law Enforcement, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

The FBI and the us Justice Department haveannounced a multinational operation to disrupt and dismantle the malware and botnet known as Qakbot.

The action, which took place in the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Latvia, and the United Kingdom, represents one of the largest US-led disruptions of a botnet infrastructure used by cyber criminals to commit ransomware, financial fraud, and other cyber-enabled criminal activity.

Qakbot which is sometimes referred to as Qbot, is multinational hacking and ransomware operation, affecting 700,000 computers around the world, including financial institutions, government contractors and medical device manufacturers.

Once infected, the victims’ computer became part of Qakbot’s larger botnet operation, infecting even more victims. In operation since 2008 by Eastern European cyber criminals, Qakbot is the most commonly detected malware, with 11% of corporate networks affected worldwide.

Qakbot is a multi-purpose malware, akin to a Swiss Army knife, that allows cybercriminals to directly steal data (credentials to financial accounts, payment cards, etc) from PCs, while also serving as an initial access platform to infect victims’ networks with additional malware and ransomware.

Qakbot is mostly distributed by phishing emails and is highly adaptive and flexible, allowing it to bypass security measures. It uses file types including OneNote, PDF , HTML, ZIP, LNK and more to infect machines. Here are some relevant statistics compiled by Check Point Research:

Since March 2023, Check Point Research has observed a decrease in Qbot attacks worldwide and in the US.

In the US, the percentage of impacted organisations by Qbot decreased by 62% in August compared to March. In August, the number of impacted organisations by Qbot reached 2.1% while globally it impacted 4.9% of organisations; a 52% decrease compared to March.

The most impacted Region by Qbot is Latin America, with 22.3% impacted organisations during 2023, followed by Africa with 22.2% impacted organisations and APAC with 12%

The Education and Research sectors have suffered the most in 2023 from Qbot attacks, with 23% impacted organisations. Followed by Government/Military with 18% impacted organisations and Healthcare with 14%.

So far in 2023, 45% of ransomware attacks were against US organistaions with Manufacturing, Retail and Software were the most targeted industries by ransomware.

“We have been tracking Qakbot for a while and this takedown operation is an important step in disrupting a major cyber crime operation. We applaud the FBI and its partners and will continue to monitor the long term impact with cyber criminals" according to Sergey Shykevich, Threat Intelligence Manager at Check Point Research:

It remains to be seen whether it was a decisive takedown or whether the operators will bounce back, and it remains vital to maintain phishing awareness, keep up-to-date with security patches and use effective anti-ransomware solutions.

FBI CheckPoint: CISA: Image: Pavel Murarev

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