Description

According to security researchers, since May 2021, a botnet tracked as PseudoManuscrypt targeted South Korean Windows systems using the same delivery tactics of another malware dubbed CryptBot. PseudoManuscrypt is disguised as an illegal software installer, distributed through malicious sites appears on the top search when users search for illegal software programs such as Crack and Keygen. Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has first discovered the PseudoManuscrypt botnet in December 2021 in a mass-scale spyware attack campaign that infected more than 35,000 computers in 195 countries globally. In June 2021, researchers revealed PseudoManuscrypt attacks against industrial and government organizations, including entities in the military-industrial complex and research laboratories located in India, Russia, and Brazil. The main payload of the botnet has extensive and varied spying functionality which provides the hackers to remotely take full control over infected systems and allows them to steal VPN connection details, audio recordings, and capture clipboard contents system event logs. In addition, the botnet retrieves various execute files from the C2 server to execute arbitrary commands, log keypresses, and capture screenshots and videos of the screen.