Qakbot Malware

Qakbot — also known as Qbot and Pinkslipbot— was originally a banking trojan that was first discovered in the wild in 2008. While the malware’s primary purpose is to steal login credentials for online banking, it has also been used as a delivery mechanism for other types of malware, such as ransomware, and can act as a remote access trojan (RAT).

While Qbot has been around for several years, it has recently risen to prominence. According to Check Point’s 2023 Mid-Year Security Report, it was the most prevalent malware worldwide.

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How Does It Work?

Qakbot is primarily spread via spam and phishing email campaigns. The malware can be delivered by a malicious email in a variety of ways, including malicious links and various types of attachments. However, the malware can also be spread via other means as well, such as being dropped by Emotet. Also, once it gains a foothold within a network, Qbot may also spread itself laterally through the network to infect additional machines.

Once installed on a system, Qbot can perform various actions, including the following:

  • Collecting and exfiltrating stored user credentials and other sensitive data (emails, credit card info, etc.)
  • Brute-forcing passwords
  • Keystroke monitoring
  • Downloading and installing other malware
  • Providing backdoor access to the infected computer

Qbot’s wide range of built-in capabilities and ongoing development make it a significant threat to corporate and personal cybersecurity. By collecting past emails from infected machines, the malware can improve the believability of spam and phishing emails by masquerading as a response to a legitimate email thread. Once an attacker has compromised the credentials for a user’s online banking account, they can use backdoor access to perform transactions from an IP address that is known and trusted by the banking site.

 

How to Protect Against Qbot Malware

Qbot malware has been in operation for 15 years, demonstrating that it is a strong, actively-maintained malware variant. Its evolving capabilities also expand the risk that it poses to organizations and individuals as it improves its ability to infect systems and adds the threat of follow-on ransomware infections.

Like other malware variants, there are steps that organizations and individuals can take to manage the threat of Qbot. Some malware security best practices include the following:

  • Employee Training: Qbot malware is primarily spread via malicious emails. Training employees to properly identify phishing emails and not to open suspicious attachments can help protect against Qbot infections.
  • Email Protection: An email security solution can inspect the content of emails for malicious links and attachments. This can help to identify and block Qbot malware from reaching an employee’s inbox.
  • Endpoint Security: Qbot is a well-known malware variant, and it is distributed by or distributes other well-known malware. An endpoint security solution may identify and block the Qbot malware from being installed in the first place or may help to remediate existing infections.
  • Strong Passwords: Qbot collects passwords from various locations and attempts to brute force password hashes stolen from a computer. The use of a strong, long, random password can make it infeasible for the malware to crack compromised passwords.
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Qbot focuses on stealing passwords for financial institutions, and even strong passwords may be stolen by a keylogger. Implementing MFA for online banking sites and wherever possible makes it more difficult for an attacker to use compromised passwords to gain access to user accounts.
  • Web Security: Qbot targets financial sites and may use backdoor access to an infected computer to make trades from a trusted IP address. Web security solutions can identify and block suspicious connections to financial institutions from corporate machines.

Qakbot Detection and Protection with Check Point

Qakbot has been around for a while, and in H1 2023, it was the top malware variant in operation. However, while Qbot is a significant threat, it is one among many that companies face. To learn more about the current state of the cyber threat landscape and the malware and other threats that companies need to protect themselves against, check out Check Point’s 2023 Mid-Year Cyber Security Report.

For Qbot and other malware variants, one of the most effective defenses is an endpoint security solution. An effective endpoint security tool can identify and block malware infections as well as support the investigation and remediation of existing ones.

 

Check Point Harmony Endpoint provides strong protection against Qbot and other malware and is an integrated part of Check Point’s security platform, simplifying cybersecurity management. To learn more about Harmony Endpoint’s capabilities and how it can help your organization’s security, sign up for a free demo.

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Related Topics

Phishing
Ransomware Attack

Endpoint Protection
Next Generation Endpoint Security

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