Through the analysis of over 3.9 million posts on underground hacker and malware forums, a new report illustrates the most common malware and threats being discussed.

Over a period of one year between May 2018 and May 2019, Recorded Future’s Insikt Group monitored and compiled underground forum discussions to generate a data set showing the most commonly discussed malware and malware categories.

Ransomware most discussed

According to the data compiled by the  Insikt Group, Ransomware was the most discussed malware category, followed by Crypters, and Trojans.

Out of all of the ransomware topics and sales posts, the now defunct GandCrab was the most discussed individual ransomware family. The rest of the discussion included well known ransomware families such as Ryuk, WannaCry, CryptoLocker, and Petya, with many of them no longer being distributed.

Recorded Future also noticed that approximately 50% of the ransomware mentions were for for lower-level generic ransomware being sold or discussed. In BleepingComputer’s experience, these ransomware infections are typically HiddenTear variants, Jigsaw Ransomware variants, or other noname ransomware infections built using C#.

“Approximately 50% of the mentions on underground forums in the past year were discussions and sales posts on generic, lower-level ransomware that do not have names or branding.”

While ransomware dominated the discussion, the report notes that GandCrab was the only ransomware family to make it into the top 10 discussed malware.

“Additionally, while “ransomware” was the top malware category mentioned on underground forums in the last year, it is worth noting that only one of the top 10 specific malware strains mentioned, GandCrab, is a ransomware strain.”

Of the top 10 malware strains discussed, five of them were for Remote Access Trojans, or RATS, such as njRAT, SpyNote, DarkComet, Imminent Monitor, and WARZONE RAT. The rest were two information stealers named Predator the Thief and AZORult, the RDP brute forcer called NLBrute, and a forum spamming tool called XRumer.

Old tools still churning out victims

Discussions showed that attackers are still using malware and attack methods that have been around for years and that should be easily blocked. These tools and methods, though, continue to be discussed as they are still generating victims for the attackers.

“The top 10 graphs also included malware that had been around for over three years, like Gh0st RAT, in addition to malware that is usually detectable with antivirus software or thwarted with good password hygiene. For example, RDPBrute (and its variants) will brute-force usernames and passwords on IPs with open RDP ports to gain initial access on a machine. This tool could be easily thwarted with difficult passwords,or by turning off RDP entirely. However, forum members continue to use this tool (and others) regardless, suggesting that they have been able to successfully infect victim hosts with the above malware. “

For example, the Gh0st RAT has been available for over three years and should be easily detected, yet it is in the top 3 most discussed malware by Chinese speaking users in hacker forums.

Furthermore, tools to perform Remote Desktop Services brute force password attacks are also commonly discussed even though it is widely suggested that organizations place RDP computers behind a VPN or at least change the port it listens on.

This continued discussion and use of well known malware and attack methods indicates that organizations and consumers can do better in how they perform proper security practices and procedures.

Bleeping Computer^® is a community of individuals of all ages who are here to learn new information, to help each other, and to help their fellow peers. With that in mind, we ask that all members please follow these simple rules in order to create an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable.

The rules are as follows:

• All information and instructions given within these forums is to be used at your own risk. By following or using any of this information you give up the right to hold BleepingComputer.com liable for any damages.
• All the forums are categorized by topics.  Please post your questions or messages in the appropriate forum.
• Answers to many of the questions you may have can be found in the Tutorials Section, Glossary, or from other posts on the message boards.  Please use the search functions, at the top right of each page, to find your answers.  If you are still having problems, feel free to post your question.
• All help must be provided in the forums or on our Discord Server. We do not allow support to be provided or requested via personal message, email, or remote desktop control programs (Logmein, TeamViewer, etc).
• If a topic is posted in a forum that is not appropriate for the question, the staff has the right to move that topic to another better suited forum.
• The posting of any copyrighted material on our web site is strictly prohibited.
• Posting links in order to generate affiliate commissions is not permitted at BleepingComputer.com. Any posts that are deemed to be posted in order to generate affiliate commissions, regardless of the product being promoted, will be deleted. If a user continues to create affiliate SPAM posts, they will be banned.
• Posting links to non-Bleeping Computer malware removal guides is NOT permitted with the exception of security vendors who sometimes release specialized tools and instructional documentation. This is because it is impractical for BleepingComputer to monitor and review all such guides for accuracy, no matter how accurate those guides may, in fact, be.
• There will be no  use of profanity on our message boards.  This will not be tolerated and can lead to immediate suspension.
• When posting, please use proper grammar. Refrain from ‘text-message’ style substitutions of words like ‘u’ for ‘you’, and ‘ur’ for ‘your’. This is a multi-national forum, and some of our non-english speaking members must use translation software which is confused by abbreviations. Most of our volunteer members are very busy helping as many people as they can, and a post that is hard to read will often be overlooked.
• There will be no racial, ethnic, gender based insults or any other personal discriminations.  This will not be tolerated and can lead to immediate suspension.
• There will be no posts meant to offend or hurt any other member, in a manner which is offensive or inflammatory. This includes flaming or instigating arguments.
• Spamming is not permitted; please keep all your posts as constructive as possible.
• Pornography, warez, or any other illegal transactions may NOT be linked in any shape or form.
• If you have questions regarding homework, we will only help you with general concepts. If you are looking for a complete solution or answer, we will most likely just delete your post.
• No subject matter will be allowed whose purpose is to defeat existing copyright or security measures. If a user persists and/or the activity is obviously illegal the staff reserves the right to remove such content and/or ban the user. This would also mean encouraging the use or continued use of pirated software is not permitted, and subject to the same consequences.
• If you are receiving assistance in the Virus Removal forum, you are not allowed to request assistance for the same computer at another malware removal forum. This is to prevent conflicting advice from causing issues with your computer or making it unbootable.
• This forum has the right to request alteration or deletion of any offensive post. If this is not done in a prompt manner, the Staff will delete the material themselves.
• Posts may be deleted for any reasons the forum administrators deem reasonable.
• Pictures may be posted as long as they are not explicit, offensive, or copyrighted.
• Advertisements, of any sort, are not permitted. This includes member names and links to commercial sites in Signatures, or in posts. You also may not solicit sales for Newegg through the use of promotion or coupon codes. If you would like to advertise on our site, contact us here.
• In order to reduce spam on the site, you will not be able to add a signature to your account until you reach 25 posts. Signatures are limited to 5 lines or 2000 characters; whichever comes first. If your signature is larger than the allotted size given or deemed unacceptable, you will be requested to adjust your signature. Failure to comply will result in the removal of your signature.
• Only one image per signature. Images in signatures must also be no larger than 500 pixels wide X 90 pixels high. If you have more than one image you will be requested to remove one. If this is not done in a timely manner the staff has the right to modify your signature to abide by these rules.
• Any links in signatures or profiles cannot be commercial in nature or they will be removed by BleepingComputer. You may not put links in your signature soliciting donations unless you are in certain member groups. Those member groups that are allowed will be expressly notified. If you have a personal website or off-site help resource, that is more than fine, but you can not sell products or services through your signature. Multiple links to the same site, unless for a very specific reason, are not permitted in a signature and will be removed.
• Avatars must be in good taste. This means no vulgar or violent images, pornography, or profanity. Avatars that are found to be inappropriate will be removed at the discretion of the staff.
• Linking to hate, anti-Semitic, racist, pornography, warez, or other illegal sites is not permitted.
• Links in your signature must be unobtrusive and can not use formatting so that attention is brought to them.
• Member’s display names can not be email addresses. This rule is in place to protect you from spam bots who will pick up your email address and spam you.
• Members may have only one account on this forum. There is no need to have more than one.
• Any impersonation of a user from these forums, in any mode of communication, is strictly prohibited and will result in a banning.
• Linked and locked topics are pruned regularly to reduce page clutter. If you have a question about where your topic went, please PM a Moderator or Administrator before starting a new topic asking where it went, or posting a duplicate of the original topic. We will be happy to provide you with a link to the new location, or a reason why it was locked and/or removed.

Violation of any of these rules can lead to a banning of the user from our Web Site and a deletion of their account. The consequences will be determined by the Staff on a case by case basis.

When posting you agree that the administrators and the moderators of this forum have the right to modify, delete, edit or close any topic, signature, account, or profile data at any time that they see fit. If you have any questions concerning this, please do not start a new thread, but rather private message to an administrator or moderator.

contact us