TSPY_ZBOT.ADD

This ZBOT variant was used in a spam run which takes advantage of the UK Tax Return deadline. The said spam message purports to come from HM Revenue and Customs in the UK and informs users of a certain VAT return receipt.

To get a one-glance comprehensive view of the behavior of this Spyware, refer to the Threat Diagram shown below.

This spyware may be downloaded by other malware/grayware from remote sites.

It may create registry entries under a certain registry key.

It deletes the initially executed copy of itself.

Arrival Details

This spyware may be downloaded by the following malware/grayware from remote sites:

• TSPY_FAREIT.ADI

It may be downloaded from the following remote sites:

• http://{BLOCKED}t.{BLOCKED}rara.com/6gsgXBfC.exe
• http://{BLOCKED}lycheezballz.com/sg5bp2.exe

Installation

This spyware drops the following copies of itself into the affected system:

• %Application Data%\{random folder name}\{random file name}.exe

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.)

It creates the following folders:

• %Application Data%\{random folder name}

(Note: %Application Data% is the current user's Application Data folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Application Data on Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Roaming on Windows Vista and 7.)

It adds the following mutexes to ensure that only one of its copies runs at any one time:

• Global\{GUID}
• Local\{GUID}

It injects threads into the following normal process(es):

• explorer.exe

Autostart Technique

This spyware adds the following registry entries to enable its automatic execution at every system startup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
{random file name} = "%Application Data%\{random folder name}\{random file name}.exe"

Other System Modifications

This spyware adds the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
{random}

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
WAB

It may create registry entries under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\
FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\GloballyOpenPorts\
List
{random port 1}:UDP = "{random port 1}:UDP:*:Enabled:UDP {random port 1}"

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\
FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\GloballyOpenPorts\
List
{random port 2}:TCP = "{random port 2}:TCP:*:Enabled:TCP {random port 2}"

Information Theft

This spyware gathers the following data:

• Data on cookie files (URLs)
• Email-related information such as account names, email addresses, passwords, server data, and server port
• Email information stored in the user’s Windows Address Book (WAB) file

Other Details

This spyware connects to the following URL(s) to check for an Internet connection:

• http://www.google.com

It deletes the initially executed copy of itself

NOTES:

It attempts to download its configuration file by connecting to randomly generated IP addresses.

The configuration file may contain URLs where it downloads an updated copy of itself and where it sends its gathered information. It may also contain URLs of its target online banking and finance-related sites from where it steals the information.