As already mentioned in the previous blog post about Flame, the volume of its code and functionality are so great that it will take several months for a complete analysis. We’re planning on continually disclosing in our publications the most important and interesting details of its functionality as we reveal them.

At the moment we are receiving many inquiries about how to check systems for a Flame infection. Of course the simplest answer, for us, is to advise to use Kaspersky Lab Antivirus or Internet Security. We successfully detect and delete all possible modifications of the main module and extra components of Flame.

However, for those who want to carry out a detailed check themselves, at the end of this article we will give the necessary recommendations and advice.

MSSECMGR.OCX

The main module of Flame is a DLL file called mssecmgr.ocx. We’ve discovered two modifications of this module. Most of the infected machines contained its “big” version, 6 Mb in size, and carrying and deploying additional modules. The smaller version’s size is only 900 Kb and contains no additional modules. After installation, the small module connects to one of the C&C servers and tries to download and install the remaining components from there.

Mssecmgr may be called different names on actual infected machines, depending on the method of infection and the current internal state of the malware (installation, replication, upgrade), e.g., wavesup3.drv, ~zff042.ocx, msdclr64.ocx, etc.

Complete analysis of the mssecmgr module will follow in our upcoming blog posts.

The first activation of this file is initiated by one of the external features - either Windows WMI tools using a MOF file if the MS10-061 exploit is used, or using a BAT file:

s1 = new ActiveXObject("Wscript.Shell");
s1.Run("%SYSTEMROOT%\\system32\\rundll32.exe msdclr64.ocx,DDEnumCallback");
(source code of MOF file, svchostevt.mof)

The story of the Foncy SMS Trojan started during the fall of 2011. This piece of malware was one of the first SMS Trojans targeting users outside Russia and China. Potential victims were from various countries in Europe, North America and Africa. In the middle of January 2012 Foncy was updated: it started to spread together with an IRC bot and a root exploit. But the end of the Foncy story was very close because in February two suspected authors of this malware were arrested in Paris: you can read the story here in French and here in English. Since then we haven’t found any new modifications of this piece of malware.

So, Foncy is dead. And what is Mania? Mania is an SMS Trojan which currently only targets users of Android from France and its code is very similar to the code of the Foncy malware. The first sample of Mania (Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.Mania) was found approximately at the same time when the Foncy IRC bot was discovered (during the first half of January). After that new variants of Mania appeared in February, March, April and May.

We haven’t found any traces of Mania on Android Market Google Play. It seems that it is spread via file sharing web sites as popular legitimate applications such as PhoneLocator Pro, BlackList Pro, Enhanced SMS and Caller ID, CoPilot Live Europe, Settings Profiles Full, Advanced Call Blocker and Kaspersky Mobile Security.

Duqu and Stuxnet raised the stakes in the cyber battles being fought in the Middle East – but now we’ve found what might be the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed. The ‘Flame’ cyber espionage worm came to the attention of our experts at Kaspersky Lab after the UN’s International Telecommunication Union came to us for help in finding an unknown piece of malware which was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. While searching for that code – nicknamed Wiper – we discovered a new malware codenamed Worm.Win32.Flame.

Flame shares many characteristics with notorious cyber weapons Duqu and Stuxnet: while its features are different, the geography and careful targeting of attacks coupled with the usage of specific software vulnerabilities seems to put it alongside those familiar ‘super-weapons’ currently deployed in the Middle East by unknown perpetrators. Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered. It’s big and incredibly sophisticated. It pretty much redefines the notion of cyberwar and cyberespionage.

For the full low-down on this advanced threat, read on…

General Questions

What exactly is Flame? A worm? A backdoor? What does it do?

Flame is a sophisticated attack toolkit, which is a lot more complex than Duqu. It is a backdoor, a Trojan, and it has worm-like features, allowing it to replicate in a local network and on removable media if it is commanded so by its master.

The initial point of entry of Flame is unknown - we suspect it is deployed through targeted attacks; however, we haven’t seen the original vector of how it spreads. We have some suspicions about possible use of the MS10-033 vulnerability, but we cannot confirm this now.

Once a system is infected, Flame begins a complex set of operations, including sniffing the network traffic, taking screenshots, recording audio conversations, intercepting the keyboard, and so on. All this data is available to the operators through the link to Flame’s command-and-control servers.

Later, the operators can choose to upload further modules, which expand Flame’s functionality. There are about 20 modules in total and the purpose of most of them is still being investigated.

It seems that development of the main module of SpyEye stopped with last autumn’s version 1.3.48 – and this is now the dominant strain of SpyEye malware.

SpyEye distribution by versions for the period since 1 January 2012*
* Others (7%) includes: 1.2.50, 1.2.58, 1.2.71, 1.2.80, 1.2.82, 1.2.93, 1.3.5, 1.3.9, 1.3.25, 1.3.26, 1.3.30, 1.3.32, 1.3.37, 1.3.41, 1.3.44.

But just because the authors are not developing this platform further, it doesn’t mean that SpyEye is no longer getting new functions. The core code allows anyone to create and attach their own plugins (DLL libraries). I’ve been analyzing SpyEye samples since the start of the year, and I’ve counted 35 different plugins. Below you can see a table with those plugins and the corresponding number of samples in which they were included:

It is quite rare to analyze a malicious file written in the form of a cross-platform browser plugin. It is, however, even rarer to come across plugins created using cross-browser engines. In this post, we will look into a Facebook worm that was written using the Crossrider system – a system still in beta testing.

Image source: http://crossrider.com

    Carolina Dieckmann, a famous Brazilian actress, recently became the victim of cyber attacks that allowed cybercriminals to steal personal property - nude pictures of her- from her computer. Many pictures or maybe all of them got leaked to the Internet. This incident has served as a good incentive for the Brazilian government to have new cybercrime laws in the country (the current law to fight cybercrime in Brazil was approved back in the 40’s of XX century). As a result of this incident, a new cybercrime law that carries a punishment of up to 2 years in prison for such crimes has finally been proposed for consideration. This is a good and right move! A press article in Portuguese can be