{
  "timestamp": "2025-02-05T23:28:07.701195",
  "model": "deepseek/deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b",
  "request": {
    "messages": [
      {
        "role": "system",
        "content": "You are a cybersecurity expert analyzing company website content and product documentation.\n            Focus on clear explanations of security features, compliance certifications, and practical user guidance."
      },
      {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "\n            Provide a comprehensive analysis of the following security-related content.\n            \n            Content to analyze:\n            Search Free Trial Get Demo Facebook Users Hit With Coinminer Malware December 21, 2017 The value of Bitcoin virtual currency just hit a new all-time high, and with it an increasing number of malware threats are targeting users to borrow their PCs CPU for use in mining the precious cryptocurrency, something we last wrote about in October here . Once executed, a significant spike in CPU resources can be seen by the user in the active processes list if they look. New Attack This Week Exploits Chrome Browser and Spams Facebook Users Here at the Cyren Security Lab weve analyzed a new attack this week which is utilizing Facebook Messenger to distribute Coinminer  malware our security cloud already previously detected and blocks, but the use of Facebook is a new distribution ploy. Based on our research, there are at least two variants of this malware being distributed through Facebook messages, with the earliest timestamp dated just a few days ago. It would appear that the malware archives are being uploaded to Facebooks servers before the links are sent out, so when a Facebook user receives a message, the download link is actually from Facebook. One aspect of this campaign is that the malware is sending messages by virtue of a malicious Chrome extension which it first installs, and thereby exploiting the Facebook messaging API. It is the malicious Chrome extension which retrieves the list of friends of the logged on Facebook user, and does the sending. Below are screenshots and more detail on what the message links look like, how the Google Chrome extension exploit happens, how the downloaded file works, and details on what the cryptominer does to the CPU. What It Looks Like Using suggestive content as bait, below is a real sample message to a Facebook group, although the spam messages are resent to all friends, including individual accounts Download link of the malware posted in a Facebook Group The downloaded archive contains a downloader malware, which is written in AutoIt and compiled as a Windows executable application. Cyren detects these downloaders as W32Agent.APS.gen!Eldorado. The use of AutoIt for the downloader means that the script can be re-obfuscated, recompiled and compressed to make the binaries unique every time the Chrome extension makes a request. How the Downloader Works Once the AutoIt is decompiled, a simple script and a little bit of modification will reveal its behavior. Excerpt of modified code of the downloader malware for readability Sample 1 1st Variant20171215 d1d380bbdc0f7ab29bfcbd7ff53208fa283334d3a680bf0a69feb91479f49289 1. Downloads config from hxxpkdhftl.thisaworkstation.spaceappconfig.php, using User-Agent string Miner 1.1. Config contains download links for malware components 1.1.1. Chrome extension component 1.1.1.1. manifest.json 1.1.1.2. background.js 1.1.1.3. jquery.min.js 1.1.2. Coin miner component 1.1.2.1. video.exe or updater.exe 2. Creates folder under APPDATA with currently logged on username as the folder name 3. Downloads malware components using download links from retrieved config file 4. Copies itself to created folder as GoogleUpdater.exe 5. Add auto-start registry entry 5.1. RegWriteHKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun, GoogleUpdater, REG_SZ, iowck    GoogleUpdater.exe 6. Terminates chome.exe process 7. Searches shortcuts for chrome and updates the target application to include the following parameters 7.1. restore-last-session enable-automation disable-infobars load-extensionAPPDATAUSERNAME 8. Runs chrome.exe with the following parameters 9. Runs the downloaded executable named updater.exe presumably the crypto miner malware Sample 2 2nd Variant20171221 884723ce8e48e64a44c6e2f590b610a48e1a97c40dfa9e1570d10b15c3425e83 1. Pings google.com in intervals of 500 secs until it sucessfully gets ping response 2. Creates registry entry HKCUSoftwareCodec as part of its installation routine 3. Sends out system information to its CC server 3.1. OS version 3.2. Installation status 3.3. Active window title 3.4. File name of executed malware 4. Creates directory APPDATAUSERNAME 5. Downloads the following 5.1. 7za.exe  dd6d7af00ef4ca89a319a230cdd094275c3a1d365807fe5b34133324bdaa0229  legitimate 7z standalone executable 5.2. Files.7z  password protected 7z archive containing malware components 5.2.1. Chrome extension component 5.2.1.1. manifest.json 5.2.1.2. background.js 2d77d8948442bd0473879b73942e7ba4830625c52d9f8a105cd8ebba8d47c727  detected by Cyren as JSKromAgent.A!Eldorado 5.2.1.3. jquery.min.js legitimate jquery from googleapis.com 5.2.2. Crypto miner component 5.2.2.1. worker.exe 0972ea3a41655968f063c91a6dbd31788b20e64ff272b27961d12c681e40b2d2  detected by Cyren as W32CoinMiner.AB 5.2.2.2. config.json 6. Extracts malware components using downloaded 7za.exe with password hardcoded in the AutoIt executable 7. Copies itself to APPDATAUSERNAMEcherry.exe 8. Finds active Chrome windows and closes them 9. Forcefully terminate chrome processes 10. Installs auto-start registry entry 10.1. RegWriteHKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun, Google Updater, REG_SZ, rjvikuwwtrob    cherry.exe 11. Executes chrome.exe with the following arguments to load its own chrome extension from the downloaded 7z archive 11.1. ShellExecutechrome.exe, enable-automation disable-infobars load-extension  rjvikuwwtrob, , , SW_MAXIMIZE 12. Searches for chrome applications shortcuts and updates them to include the above chrome parameters 13. Executes the extracted worker.exe which is a crypto miner application Chrome Extension Analysis The Chrome extension included in the malware is loaded by using the load-extension parameter. This appears to be a malicious extension opening multiple browser tabs to load different video streams, making Chrome appear to be exhausting system resources, eventually covering up the activity of the cryptominer malware, which was executed along with Chrome. Once loaded, this extension downloads a configuration file from its server hxxpplugin.yimad.redep.bidconfig. Contents of downloaded config This proceeds to download an additional chrome extension script named bgtacpy a9b5e9dc8d2de3d27278bcbee3016b59c5ca85fc2bf8d377d1f3d4efc98d6e82, which Cyren detects as JSKromAgent.B. Chrome extension downloads additional extension script from retrieved config file Config and additional Chrome extension script packet capture This additional extension script further downloads and executes another script named script.js f206c8c285ebfb8f10215524131405039882986aeddb70bde728d9e866f9a899, which detects as JSKromSpam.A!Eldorado . Chrome Extension downloads and executes additional javascript Javascript script.js Packet Capture The downloaded javascript is responsible for spamming malware download link messages to Facebook friends of the currently logged on Facebook user. The spamming script is obfuscated as shown in the code snippet Dumping the decrypted script still shows further obfuscation Further cleanup of the de-obfuscated code shows the following behavior 1. Retrieve list of friends and send out the crypto miner download links 2. A new downloader package is retrieved from the threat actors server hxxpplugin.yimad.redep.bidminezip.php?extme, which automatically generates new unique samples for every download request. The downloader package is then uploaded to Facebooks server using a randomly generated file name as shown in the code snippet below NOTE Updates as of 12262017The malware host is still alive and the archive type has changed from ZIP to 7Z. Furthermore, the new variants of the downloader component passes the miner configuration directly via command line parameters to its call to worker.exe, instead of using a configuration script. 3. After uploading the downloader package, the message with the link attachment is sent to each account on the retrieved friends list using the following code Cryptominer Analysis The downloaded cryptominer comes with a config file, which contains information on the malware authors mining account. This configuration also shows that the cryptominer is using the CryptoNight algorithm, a proof-of-work algorithm intended for use on ordinary PC CPUs. CryptoNight is the same mining algorithm used by many popular, web-based cryptominers. Once executed, a significant spike in CPU resources can be seen in the task manager or process explorer. Once in operation, the Cryptominer uses high CPU resources. The estimable John Patrick Lita and Eric Reyata from CSP-CERT have also published a detailed analysis of this Facebook spam campaign, citing an attribution to the possible criminal actor behind this scheme. A similar crypto-currency mining malware campaign called Digmine, has also been spreading via Facebook over the last week. For a primer on the current state of cryptomining as it relates to IT security, register for Cyrens upcoming webinar The Top 5 Downsides and Dangers of Cryptomining on April 5th. Try it for Free Instant Data Classification Cyren URL Category Chacker Prev Interview with a Botnet Hunter Business Email Compromise Imposter Attacks Are Not Going Away Next Company Partners Resources Investor Relations Products Freeware Demo Solutions Contact Us Privacy Management Service by Data443\n            \n            Your analysis should cover:\n            1. Key security features and their benefits to users\n            2. Compliance certifications and regulatory adherence\n            3. User-focused security recommendations\n            4. Technical security implementation details\n            5. Data protection measures\n            6. Best practices for end users\n            "
      }
    ],
    "model": "deepseek/deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b"
  },
  "response": {
    "content": "**Comprehensive Analysis of the Facebook Coinminer Malware Attack**\n\n**1. Key Security Features and Benefits:**\n- **Cyren Security Lab Detection:** The malware is detected and blocked by Cyren, providing users with an added layer of protection against these specific threats.\n- **Detailed Threat Analysis:** The report offers a thorough breakdown of the attack, allowing users to understand the mechanisms and take informed precautions.\n\n**2. Compliance and Regulatory Adherence:**\n- While specific certifications aren't mentioned, Cyren likely adheres to industry standards, ensuring robust security measures are in place.\n\n**3. User-Focused Security Recommendations:**\n- **Vigilance with Links:** Users should avoid opening unsolicited links, even from friends.\n- **Browser Extension Checks:** Regularly review Chrome extensions to identify and remove malicious ones.\n- **Security Tools:** Install and maintain anti-malware software, firewalls, and ensure regular system scans.\n- **Monitor Resources:** Keep an eye on CPU usage spikes, which could indicate malicious activity.\n\n**4. Technical Security Implementation:**\n- **Malware Techniques:** The malware uses AutoIt and Chrome extensions to propagate, modifies system files, and alters registry entries for persistence.\n- **Monitoring:** IT professionals should watch for unusual processes and network traffic indicative of command and control communications.\n\n**5. Data Protection Measures:**\n- **Backups:** Regular data backups ensure that critical information isn't lost in case of an attack.\n- **Privacy Practices:** Though focused on resource usage, safeguarding data remains essential to prevent unintended exposure.\n\n**6. Best Practices for End Users:**\n- **Education:** Stay informed about phishing tactics and the importance of safe browsing habits.\n- **Updates:** Regularly update software and browsers to patch vulnerabilities.\n- **Ad-Blockers:** Consider using ad-blockers to mitigate potential vectors for malicious scripts.\n\nBy adhering to these recommendations, users can enhance their security posture and reduce the risk of falling victim to such attacks.",
    "usage": {
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      "completion_tokens": 832,
      "total_tokens": 3050
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    "model": "deepseek/deepseek-r1-distill-llama-70b"
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}