Skeeyah Trojan

The Skeeyah trojan has information stealing and anti-remediation capabilities. It first appeared in 2015 but reappeared in April 2017 with new capabilities. The reason for the update is currently unknown.

Threat ID:: CC-1695
Category:: Spyware, Trojan
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:: Download, Email spam
Published:: 11 October 2017 12:00 AM

Report a cyber attack: call 0300 303 5222 or email [email protected]

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Summary

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows- All Versions

Threat details

The reason for the update is currently unknown. It is thought to be used by cyber criminal groups and has links to malware-for-hire services.

The information stealer component presents a financial and potential brand damage impact.

Analysis
The trojan writes itself to: %ProgramData%\Windows Search 5.3.10\{random filename}.exe (for Windows Vista and above) or %Program Files%\Common Files\Windows Search 5.3.10{random filename}.exe (for Windows XP and below).

Dropped Files:

%Application Data%\11 The Notorious B.I.G. - Everyday Struggle.flac
%User Temp% {random characters}.tmp\stripers.dll
%ProgramData%\Windows Search 5.3.10\desktop.ini (for Windows Vista and above)
%Program Files%\Common Files\Windows Search 5.3.10\desktop.ini (for Windows XP and below)

Recent variants of Skeeyah have been delivered by emails, suspicious links, popup ads, malicious websites and free downloads. Malicious files are likely to be stored in the following locations:

%APPDATA%
%LOCALAPPDATA%
%USERPROFILE%
%WINDIR%
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%
%PROGRAMFILES%

In some instances the malware can disable antivirus/anti-malware programs installed on the compromised computer. The system’s restore points are also subject to compromise. The characteristics also include the ability to changing default user settings, deleting system files, corrupting the registry, erasing user’s data, hijacking web browsers, and installing more malware threats. In particular, the corruption of the registry means that the trojan can re-infect the system.

Remediation advice

To prevent and detect a Trojan infection, ensure that:

Remediation steps

Type	Step
	A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails. All operating systems, antivirus and other security products are kept up to date. All day to day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts. Strong password policies are in place and password reuse is discouraged. Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity. User accounts accessed from infected machines should be reset on a clean computer

Type

Step

A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails.
All operating systems, antivirus and other security products are kept up to date.
All day to day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts.
Strong password policies are in place and password reuse is discouraged.
Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity.
User accounts accessed from infected machines should be reset on a clean computer

Last edited: 17 February 2020 11:39 am