CyberWire Daily
Bot or not? The fake CAPTCHA trick spreading Lumma malware. [Research Saturday}
Feb 15, 2025
Nati Tal, Head of Guardio Labs, dives into the dark world of online scams with his insights on the 'DeceptionAds' campaign. He reveals how fake CAPTCHAs trick users into running malicious commands, leading to Lumma malware infections. Nati discusses the deceptive tactics that cybercriminals use to exploit trust and bypass security measures. He highlights the challenges posed by ad networks that facilitate these attacks and the ongoing battle to protect users from such insidious threats, even after takedown efforts.
35:08
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Quick takeaways
- The 'DeceptionAds' campaign exploits user trust in CAPTCHA by tricking them into running harmful commands that install Lumma malware.
- Fragmented accountability within the ad network ecosystem complicates efforts to mitigate threats, allowing malicious ads to resurface quickly after takedown attempts.
Deep dives
Understanding Fake Captcha Campaigns
Fake captcha scams are designed to exploit users' familiarity with legitimate captcha challenges. By mimicking typical captcha activities that require users to prove they are human, threat actors trick individuals into executing harmful commands on their computers. When users believe they are completing a harmless task, they unknowingly execute malicious code that can install information-stealing malware like Luma Stealer. This method capitalizes on human tendencies to trust familiar online interactions, leading to widespread infections without users realizing their mistake.
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