“P2PInfect” worm expands with miners, ransomware and rootkits

A previously benign Linux botnet has been updated to include a suite of malicious exploit components.

The unimaginatively named “P2PInfect” is a worm that uses the Redis in-memory database application to spread across networks in a peer-to-peer, worm-like fashion, creating a botnet in the process. When it was first discovered about a year ago, it had yet to cause any real damage, and it has used this fact to its advantage to be stealthy, causing very little fuss in the networks it has recently infected.

But that's no longer the case. According to Cado Security, updates to the P2PInfect infection have been rolling out worldwide, including new rootkits, cryptominers, and even ransomware.

“We sat there for the last year scratching our heads and thinking, 'Why?'” Al Carchrie, R&D Principal Solutions Engineer at Cado Security, recalls of first seeing the harmless botnet. “It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we noticed something had changed: the botnet seemed to have limbs.”

The beginning of PRPInfect

On first impression, the researchers found that there were some things about P2PInfect that they could explain, and some things that they couldn't.

First, as a known issue, P2PInfect targeted misconfigured Redis integration servers that were accessible from the internet. Once on the network, the malware took advantage of Redis's leader-follower topology, where a designated “leader” node handles the primary copy of some data and spreads that copy to a network of follower nodes. The program used this mechanism to spread among Redis nodes across the network.

This seemed like a good way to establish command and control (C2) and potentially spread second stage malware, although at the time this quasi-botnet was largely unused.

But the researchers noted that the appearance of the word “miner” in P2PInfect's code is perhaps a potential indication of what's to come, but nothing more.

“Our guess is that they were initially trying to spread it as a botnet, perhaps to gather a significant amount of people so that when they put their plan into action they would be more effective because there would be a significant number of hosts out there,” Kirkley said.

That prediction has now become a reality.

Trends in P2PInfect

P2PInfect was updated with a user-mode rootkit and its “miner” binary was activated. Since then, the malware has exploited victims to mine approximately 71 Monero coins (worth approximately 10,000).

What's interesting is the new ransomware component that targets a variety of file formats, including .xls, .py, .sql, etc. While scary in theory, this aspect of P2PInfect seems to be the one that has received the least consideration.

First, the ransomware looks for specific file extensions, but in Linux, files don't necessarily have to have an extension.

More importantly, Redis does not store data on disk by default; its entire value proposition is in in-memory storage. It can be configured to store data in files, but those files have the .rdb extension, which is not what the ransomware is looking for. “Given that, it's unclear what the ransomware actually demands as a ransom,” Cado wrote.

what will you do

From Carchrie's perspective, P2PInfect infections appear to be most concentrated in East Asia.

However, Redis is widely used by businesses around the world: the open source version has been used by over 4 billion Docker pulls, and nearly 10,000 organizations, including British Airways and MGM Resorts, use the enterprise product.

As a result, organizations need to be careful to ensure their servers are properly secured from external threats, exposed only to trusted users, placed behind a firewall, properly configured, etc., he warned.

Finding malware that is completely dormant isn't that easy, but now that P2PInfect is active, it should leave plenty of easily detectable traces: “Cryptocurrency mining will eat up as much CPU as possible, and ransomware will go after files on disk, so disk usage will start to spike as well. That's what you'll be looking for,” he says.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/p2pinfect-worm-miner-ransomware-rootkit The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos