Kaspersky Lab an antivirus (security) company recently has detected and dubbed a new disk wiper malware called “StoneDrill”. This malware called "StoneDrill" is said to be Disk Wiper because it can erase everything on your hard disk.
This malware "StoneDrill", as named by the security company Kaspersky, has code similar to that used in Shamoon, a plague that appeared in 2012 and deleted information from 35,000 computers from Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned and the world’s largest oil company.
According to the security company Kaspersky, StoneDrill is equipped with modules for spying purposes and can also function as ransomware, encrypting files with the password and then asking for redemption for the victims.
It is compiled in 32 and 64 bits and can be controlled remotely by the hackers. However, the most interesting thing about this severe malware is that it is less dependent on external servers than Shamoon to do the damage.
Now, many of you might be wondering that “How are the companies attacked by StoneDrill?” As Ars Technica shows, malware is smart enough to hide from antivirus and other security mechanisms: instead of using HD to install itself on the machine, as a common pest would do, it infiltrates the RAM region associated with User’s browser and then it simply injects a module that cleans all the stored data.
But, for now, you do not have to worry so much about StoneDrill because the target seems to be a big company in Europe, linked to the petrochemical industry. However, Shamoon has hit a large corporation in Saudi Arabia, and other malware has done a nice cleanup on computers from banks in South Korea.
This malware "StoneDrill", as named by the security company Kaspersky, has code similar to that used in Shamoon, a plague that appeared in 2012 and deleted information from 35,000 computers from Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned and the world’s largest oil company.
According to the security company Kaspersky, StoneDrill is equipped with modules for spying purposes and can also function as ransomware, encrypting files with the password and then asking for redemption for the victims.
It is compiled in 32 and 64 bits and can be controlled remotely by the hackers. However, the most interesting thing about this severe malware is that it is less dependent on external servers than Shamoon to do the damage.
Now, many of you might be wondering that “How are the companies attacked by StoneDrill?” As Ars Technica shows, malware is smart enough to hide from antivirus and other security mechanisms: instead of using HD to install itself on the machine, as a common pest would do, it infiltrates the RAM region associated with User’s browser and then it simply injects a module that cleans all the stored data.
But, for now, you do not have to worry so much about StoneDrill because the target seems to be a big company in Europe, linked to the petrochemical industry. However, Shamoon has hit a large corporation in Saudi Arabia, and other malware has done a nice cleanup on computers from banks in South Korea.
Tags:
news