Hacker Exploit Social Security Statement Theme to Target Over 2,000 Victims with Malware

Description

A sophisticated phishing campaign has targeted over 2,000 individuals by exploiting the theme of official Social Security statements. Cybercriminals used a convincing phishing lure, mimicking legitimate communication from the Social Security Administration. The attack involved a URL directing victims to a phishing page hosted on Amazon Web Services, enhancing its perceived legitimacy. Users were tricked into downloading and executing malware, which is a .NET application loader that installs ScreenConnect, establishing a silent connection to the attacker's command-and-control server. The malware's behavior includes loading additional files and executing a primary backdoor component. The campaign's impact is significant, with a large percentage of targeted users unknowingly installing the malware.