

In late 2021, it was seen targeting a sandbox escape vulnerability in the Chrome browser family, for example.

Microsoft edge viruses software#
In the past, Magnitude has made extensive use of Flash and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, but as the software landscape has changed it has had to adapt.
Microsoft edge viruses update#
Magnitude is regularly updated with fresh attacks, and the fake Edge update appears to have been added in the last few weeks. Magniber encrypts the user's files and demands a ransom.appx file downloads Magniber ransomware from the Internet. The "update" is actually a malicious Windows Application package (.appx) file.In this case, the exploit determines the best attack is a fake Microsoft Edge update.Based on information from Magnigate, the exploit kit chooses an attack from its collection.If the user fits the attackers' criteria, Magnigate redirects them to the Magnitude exploit kit landing page.Magnigate runs IP address and browser checks to determine if the user will be attacked.The malicious advert redirects them to a "gate", known as Magnigate.A user visits an ad-heavy website and encounters a malicious ad.The fake Edge update attack flows like this: Although Magnitude has been used to target different geographies and deliver different kinds of ransomware in the past, these days it is strictly focussed on installing Magniber ransomware on targets in South Korea.
Microsoft edge viruses install#
The Magnitude exploit kit uses a grab-bag of social engineering lures and exploits to attack web users and install ransomware on their computers. The Magnitude exploit kit offers users ransomware dressed up as Microsoft Edge Last week, Malwarebytes' Threat Intelligence worked with nao_sec researchers to investigate a recently-discovered update to the Magnitude Exploit Kit that was duping users with a fake Microsoft Edge browser update.

But with Adobe's media player a year into its long overdue retirement, criminals have had to look elsewhere for a convincing cover story, and where better than perhaps the most frequently updated software of them all, the web browser? Browsers have an almost frenetic update schedule, and many users understand that installing regular updates is a normal and important part of their everyday use. Flash provided just the right kind of patsy: It was famous for its security holes, and new updates were released almost every month. A convincingly-branded message that tells users they need to update their out of date software taps into all the good security messaging users have soaked up, it gives them a reason to install strange software from the Internet, and it carries exactly the right mixture of implied threat and urgency that social engineers like.įor years, fake Flash updates were a fixture of web-based malware campaigns. Applying software updates promptly is arguably the single most useful thing you can do to keep yourself secure online, and vendors, experts, pundits, and blogs like ours, never let users forget it!Īnd because it's good advice that's easy to follow, cybercriminals like to use fake software updates to con users.įake software updates have been a go-to tactic for getting users to download malware for many years. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last twenty years, you've probably heard the one about "keeping your software up to date".
