The FBI raised the alarm about a group of cybercriminals that you are using regular mail to send malware-laden USB drives to defense, transport and insurance companies.
The hope of criminals is that employees are “dumb” enough to enter keys into their computers, thus creating the opportunity for attacks of ransomware.
The criminal gang, operating under the name FIN7, did their best to make their packages look harmless. In some cases, they were camouflaged as if they were dispatched by the US Department of Health, with notes explaining that the units contained important information about COVID-19 guidelines.
In other cases, they were delivered as if they had been shipped by Amazon, along with a “Decorative gift box containing a fraudulent thank you letter, a fake gift card and a USB flash drive”, by the FBI warning.
This scheme has been in place for several months, as the FBI began receiving reports of this activity last August.
FIN7 is a criminal group that over the course of its career has stolen over 1 billion dollars through various hacking schemes. In the past, it has been linked to ransomware products and even They went to the trouble of creating a fake cybersecurity company to recruit computer talent for their criminal operations.
While it may seem ridiculous for someone to plug in a USB memory received in the mail, studies have shown that, in fact, this is what many people do when the opportunity presents itself.
Hence the popularity of the trick used by some attackers of leaving a malicious unit in a company parking lot in hopes that someone will catch it and out of curiosity I connected it to your laptop. In fact, in 2008, an attack on the Pentagon was launched in just this way.
So, as a tip, if you don’t know where this flash drive comes from, don’t do anything with it.
