Remote Access Trojans
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Troy was a city in the far northwest of the region known in late Classical antiquity as Asia Minor, now known as Anatolia in modern Turkey, just south of the southwest mouth of the Dardanelles strait and northwest of Mount Ida. The present-day location is known as Hisarlik. It was the setting o…
Full Answer
What is remote access trojan (RAT)?
A Remote Access Trojan (RAT) is a type of malware that lets a hacker take control of your computer. The spying activities that the hacker may carry out once that RAT is installed vary from exploring your files system, watching activities on the screen,...
How can I avoid remote access trojans?
While it perhaps sounds simple or obvious, the best way to avoid Remote Access Trojans is to avoid downloading files from untrustworthy sources. Do not open email attachments from people you don’t know (or even from people you do know if the message seems off or suspicious in some way), and do not download files from strange websites.
What is Poison Ivy remote access trojan?
Poison Ivy – Remote Access Trojan that has been used frequently in many high profile intrusion cases. The tool has a Graphical User Interface, or GUI, that allows the hacker to perform malicious tasks against a victim machine over an encrypted connection. Poison Ivy consists of two components, the server and the client.
What is remote access toolkit malware?
This type of malware is designed to allow a hacker to remotely control a target machine, providing a level of access similar to that a remote system administrator. In fact, some RATs are derived from or based upon legitimate remote administration toolkits.
What can a hacker do with a RAT?
What is intrusion detection?
How does a RAT toolkit work?
How to get rid of a RAT?
Can antivirus be used to get rid of a RAT?
Can a hacker use your internet address?
Can a Remote Access Trojan be installed to BIOS?
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What can a Remote Access Trojan do?
Remote access trojans (RATs) are malware designed to allow an attacker to remotely control an infected computer. Once the RAT is running on a compromised system, the attacker can send commands to it and receive data back in response.
Is Remote Access Trojan illegal?
Law enforcement officials say that simply possessing a remote-access tool isn't illegal. In fact, remote-access tools are often used for IT support purposes in corporate environments.
Which is the best Remote Access Trojan?
Blackshades is a Trojan which is widely used by hackers to gain access to any system remotely. This tool frequently attacks the Windows-based operating system for access.
How is Remote Access Trojan delivered?
A remote access Trojan (RAT) is a malware program that includes a back door for administrative control over the target computer. RATs are usually downloaded invisibly with a user-requested program -- such as a game -- or sent as an email attachment.
Is using a RAT illegal?
Although gaining access to another person's system is illegal in most countries, law-enforcement agencies and some companies have been using Remote Access Trojan (RAT)–like intrusion tools for years.
Is someone using my computer remotely?
Open your Task Manager or Activity Monitor. These utilities can help you determine what is currently running on your computer. Windows – Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Mac – Open the Applications folder in Finder, double-click the Utilities folder, and then double-click Activity Monitor.
What is smart RAT switch?
RAT infected Android devices can be remotely zombified by the perpetrator, allowing virtually unlimited access to photos, data and messages on the device. The Dendroid RAT provides full access to infected devices' camera and microphone, and can place calls or listen in on a user's phone conversations or text messages.
What can NanoCore do?
NanoCore can provide the threat actor with information such as computer name and OS of the affected system. It also opens a backdoor that allows the threat actors to access the webcam and microphone, view the desktop, create internet message windows and offers other options.
What is orcus RAT?
Orcus is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT). Programs of this type are used to remotely access or control computers. Generally, these tools can be used by anyone legitimately, however, in many cases, cyber criminals use them for malicious purposes.
How can I find a hidden virus on my computer?
You can also head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security on Windows 10, or Settings > Privacy and Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security on Windows 11. To perform an anti-malware scan, click “Virus & threat protection.” Click “Quick Scan” to scan your system for malware.
What was the first remote access Trojan?
The oldest RAT was first developed in 1996 [10], however legitimate remote access tools were first created in 1989 [11]. Since then, the number of RATs has grown rapidly. The first phase was marked by home-made RATs. In these years, everyone made their own RAT, however these did not prosper and were not heavily used.
Is TeamViewer a RAT?
The JS script then launches the malware, which installs a version of TeamViewer, a remote administration tool (RAT), modified by the attackers. As in earlier attacks, the attackers use a malicious DLL library to hide the graphical user interface in order to control the infected system without the user's knowledge.
Can iphones get RAT virus?
So someone would need direct physical access to your iOS device and a computer to install a RAT exploit into it. Even if you accessed a web site or email with a RAT package hidden in it, it cannot execute or do anything on a normal iOS installation.
Which of the following is a remote Trojan?
Troya is a remote Trojan that works remotely for its creator.
What are the variant of remote access Trojan?
There are a large number of Remote Access Trojans. Some are more well-known than others. SubSeven, Back Orifice, ProRat, Turkojan, and Poison-Ivy are established programs. Others, such as CyberGate, DarkComet, Optix, Shark, and VorteX Rat have a smaller distribution and utilization.
How would users recognize if ones computer is infected?
Signs of an infection include your computer acting strangely, glitching and running abnormally slow. Installing and routinely updating antivirus software can prevent virus and malware infections, as can following cautious best practices.
Can a Remote Access Trojan be installed to BIOS?
Access to the BIOS has been known to the world’s hackers since 2015. Many believe that the NSA was planting RATs and trackers on BIOS even earlier.
How is a Remote Access Trojan RAT different from a regular Trojan horse?
A Trojan is a virus that gets onto a victim computer by passing itself off as a legitimate piece of software. A RAT is a Trojan that the hacker can...
What is the Sakula Remote Access Trojan RAT?
Sakula is a RAT that is used to intrude on IT systems serving government departments and agencies, healthcare facilities, and other large organizat...
What is RAT software?
RAT can also stand for remote administration tool, which is software giving a user full control of a tech device remotely. With it, the user can ac...
What’s the difference between the RAT computer virus and RAT software?
As for functions, there is no difference between the two. Yet, while remote administration tool is for legit usage, RAT connotes malicious and crim...
What are the popular remote access applications?
The common remote desktop tools include but are not limited to TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Chrome Remote Desktop, ConnectWise Control, Splashtop Business...
Top five remote access trojans - Infosec Resources
Sources. October 2018’s Most Wanted Malware: For The First Time, Remote Access Trojan Reaches Top 10 Threats, Check Point; FlawedAmmyy Malware Information, Trend Micro; QuasarRAT, GitHub; androrat, GitHub; RATs Come to Android: It’s Scary, But You’re (Probably) Safe, PC Magazine
[Tutorial] What’s Remote Access Trojan & How to Detect/Remove It?
Remote Access Trojan Examples. Since spam RAT comes into being, there have existing lots of types of it.. 1. Back Orifice. Back Orifice (BO) rootkit is one of the best-known examples of a RAT. It was made by a hacker group named the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) to show the security deficiencies of Microsoft’s Windows 9X series of operating systems (OS).
How to protect yourself from remote access trojans?
Just like protecting yourself from other network malware threats, for remote access trojan protection, in general, you need to avoid downloading unknown items; keep antimalware and firewall up to date, change your usernames and passwords regularly; (for administrative perspective) block unused ports, turn off unused services, and monitor outgoing traffic.
What is a RAT trojan?
RAT trojan is typically installed on a computer without its owner’s knowledge and often as a trojan horse or payload. For example, it is usually downloaded invisibly with an email attachment, torrent files, weblinks, or a user-desired program like a game. While targeted attacks by a motivated attacker may deceive desired targets into installing RAT ...
What Does a RAT Virus Do?
Since a remote access trojan enables administrative control , it is able to do almost everything on the victim machine.
How does RAT malware work?
Once get into the victim’s machine, RAT malware will hide its harmful operations from either the victim or the antivirus or firewall and use the infected host to spread itself to other vulnerable computers to build a botnet.
Why do RATs use a randomized filename?
It is kind of difficult. RATs are covert by nature and may make use of a randomized filename or file path structure to try to prevent identification of itself. Commonly, a RAT worm virus does not show up in the lists of running programs or tasks and its actions are similar to those of legal programs.
How to check if my computer is safe?
Open the command prompt better as administrator, type “ system.ini ”, and press Enter. Then, a notepad will pop up showing you a few details of your system. Take a look at the drivers section, if it looks brief as what the below picture shows, you are safe. if there are some other odd characters, there may be some remote devices accessing your system via some of your network ports.
Is Sub 7 a trojan horse?
Typically, Sub 7 allows undetected and unauthorized access. So, it is usually regarded as a trojan horse by the security industry. Sub7 worked on the Windows 9x and Windows NT family of OSes, up to and including Windows 8.1. Sub7 has not been maintained since 2014. 4.
What is remote access trojan?
Like most other forms of malware, Remote Access Trojans are often attached to files appearing to be legitimate, like emails or software bundles. However, what makes Remote Access Trojans particularly insidious is they can often mimic above-board remote access programs.
What happens if you install remote access Trojans?
If hackers manage to install Remote Access Trojans in important infrastructural areas—such as power stations, traffic control systems, or telephone networks—they can wreak havoc across neighborhoods, cities, and even entire nations.
What Is RAT Software?
One malicious example of remote access technology is a Remote Access Trojan (RAT), a form of malware allowing a hacker to control your device remotely. Once a RAT program is connected to your computer, the hacker can examine the local files, acquire login credentials and other personal information, or use the connection to download viruses you could unwittingly spread along to others.
How does Snort intrusion detection work?
The intrusion detection mode operates by applying threat intelligence policies to the data it collects, and Snort has predefined rules available on their website, where you can also download policies generated by the Snort user community. You can also create your own policies or tweak the ones Snort provides. These include both anomaly- and signature-based policies, making the application’s scope fairly broad and inclusive. Snort’s base policies can flag several potential security threats, including OS fingerprinting, SMB probes, and stealth port scanning.
What is the best way to detect malware?
The best option, especially for larger organizations, is to employ an intrusion detection system, which can be host-based or network-based. Host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDSs), which are installed on a specific device, monitor log files and application data for signs of malicious activity; network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDSs), on the other hand, track network traffic in real time, on the lookout for suspicious behavior. When used together, HIDSs and NIDSs create a security information and event management (SIEM) system. SIEM is an incredibly beneficial part of a strong security regimen and can help to block software intrusions which have slipped past firewalls, antivirus software, and other security countermeasures.
What was the Russian attack on Georgia?
An example of this occurred in 2008, when Russia used a coordinated campaign of physical and cyber warfare to seize territory from the neighboring Republic of Georgia. The Russian government did this using distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks which cut off internet coverage across Georgia, combined with APTs and RATs allowing the government to both collect intelligence about and disrupt Georgian military operations and hardware. News agencies across Georgia were also targeted, many of which had their websites either taken down or radically altered.
How do remote access Trojans evade live data analysis?
One way in which Remote Access Trojans can evade the live data analysis NIDSs provide is by dividing the command messaging sent through the malware across multiple data packets. NIDSs like Zeek, which focus more on application layers, are better able to detect split command messaging by running analyses across multiple data packets. This is one advantage Zeek has over Snort.
Why are remote access Trojans important?
Remote Access Trojans fulfill an important function for hackers. Most attack vectors, like phishing, are ideal for delivering a payload to a machine but don’t provide the hacker with the ability to explore and interact with the target environment. RATs are designed to create a foothold on the target machine that provides the hacker with the necessary level of control over their target machine.
What is the next step in a phishing attack?
Once a hacker has gained initial access to a target machine, expanding and solidifying that foothold is the next logical step. In the case of a phishing attack, this involves using malware to take advantage of the access provided by the email.
What is ICS malware?
Malware targeting industrial control systems (ICS) is nothing new, with big names like Stuxnet and Industroyer designed to cause physical damage. However, some ICS-focused malware is targeted at controlling critical infrastructure.
Do remote access Trojans exist?
Many different Remote Access Trojans exist, and some hackers will modify existing ones or develop their own to be better suited to their preferences. Different RATs are also designed for different purposes, especially with RATs geared specifically to each potential target (desktop versus mobile, Windows versus Apple and so on).
How does RAT malware work?
RAT malware works clandestinely. Hackers use the C&C server to establish connectivity and get remote, administrative control over the victim’s computer. RATs can be very dangerous if they go unnoticed. However, applying appropriate security controls and best practices can prevent hackers from compromising your computer.
What is Blackshades hacking?
Blackshades is an off-the-peg hacking tool that propagates the RAT by sending out links to infected web pages or/and social media contacts of the infected user. Upon successful installation, hackers install botnet functions that get the victim’s machine to launch Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. In addition, the infected computer can also act as a proxy server to route hacker traffic and hide other hacking activities.
How do RATs differ from keyloggers?
However, RATs differ from keyloggers in that they give attackers unauthorized remote access to a victim’s computer through a special setup of communication protocols, which are configured during the initial infection of the infected machine.
How is the RAT installed on my computer?
RAT is often similar to other malware infection vectors. Hackers use various techniques to install a RAT on your computer. These techniques and methods are listed below:
How does a RAT work on my computer?
In the aftermath of a successful installation, RAT establishes a direct connectivity to the command-and-control (C&C) server, which is owned by the hackers, by using the predefined open TCP port of the compromised computer. The C&C server creates a remote communication on the victim’s machine. The RAT also has the ability to connect with one or more C&C servers run by the intruders.
What is the beast malware?
Beast. Beast is another type of malware that mostly attacks Windows operating systems. It was developed in 2002 and is still in use to a large extent. Until recently, it attacked a series of operating systems ranging from Windows 95 to Windows 10.
Why is it difficult to avoid a RAT?
It is sometimes difficult to avoid a RAT because the attackers use a binder to link a RAT with legitimate executable programs, which hampers the detector from finding it. Though RATs don’t show up in running processes, using a task manager to look for unfamiliar or unknown processes is a good practice.
When was remote access first used?
The oldest legitimate remote access software was built in the late 1980s, when tools such as NetSupport appeared. Soon after that, in 1996, their first malicious counterparts were created. NokNok and D.I.R.T. were among the first, followed by NetBus, Back Orifice and SubSeven.
What was the Gh0st attack?
Gh0st is notorious for its part in the GhostNet Operation uncovered in 2009, which targeted political, economic, and media organizations in more than 100 countries. The attackers quietly infiltrated computer systems connected to embassies and government offices. Even Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centers in India, London, and New York City were hacked. According to several research papers, the malware collected information, encrypted it, and sent it to the command-and-control server.
What tools did RAT authors use in the 2000s?
In the 2000s, RAT authors were not naive kids who wanted to see how far they could go. Most of them were familiar with tools such as NetBus, SubSeven or Back Orifice, and they knew exactly what they were doing.
Who created NetBus?
Yet, they were “innovative and disruptive,” Valeros says. NetBus, for instance, was created by Carl-Fredrik Neikter in 1998, and its name, translated from Swedish, means “NetPrank.”
Who was the law professor that was targeted by NetBus?
In 1999, someone downloaded NetBus and targeted Magnus Eriksson, a law professor at Lund University in Sweden. The attacker planted 12,000 pornographic images on his computer, 3,500 of which featured child pornography. The system administrators discovered them, and the law professor lost his job.
Is NetBus a legit tool?
The developer claimed he didn’t want NetBus to be used maliciously, saying it was “a legit remote admin tool,” security researcher Seth Kulakow wrote in a paper he published with the SANS Institute. “However, if you didn’t already figure it out, it is still a very nice tool to use for the other purpose,” Kulakow wrote.
What is a remote access Trojan?
Remote Access Trojan – A program that will allow a remote user, likely an attacker, to connect to a victim’s machine and perform harmful actions to the computer’s operating system. A Remote Access Trojan, or RAT, may allow the attacker to perform such tasks as uploading or downloading files and stealing a user’s credentials.
What is poison ivy server?
Poison Ivy Server– A server executable, or payload, is created and then distributed to one or more victims. Once the victim executes the payload, the malware will infect their machine and they will connect to the computer running the Poison Ivy software.
Is poison ivy malware?
Poison Ivy is an extremely dangerous piece of malware that will allow attackers to maintain a persistent connection on a victim’s machine through an encrypted connection. There have been several high profile cases where Poison Ivy was used as an attack tool during an intrusion, including the attack against RSA’s (a division of EMC Corporation) network in 2011.
What can a hacker do with a RAT?
A hacker with a RAT can command power stations, telephone networks, nuclear facilities, or gas pipelines. RATs not only represent a corporate network security risk, but they can also enable belligerent nations to cripple an enemy country.
What is intrusion detection?
Intrusion detection systems are important tools for blocking software intrusion that can evade detection by antivirus software and firewall utilities. The SolarWinds Security Event Manager is a Host-based Intrusion Detection System. However, there is a section of the tool that works as a Network-based Intrusion Detection System. This is the Snort Log Analyzer. You can read more about Snort below, however, you should know here that it is a widely used packet sniffer. By employing Snort as a data collector to feed into the Snort Log Analyzer, you get both real-time and historic data analysis out of the Security Event Manager.
How does a RAT toolkit work?
Other elements propagate the RAT by sending out links to infected web pages. These are sent to the social media contacts of an infected user.
How to get rid of a RAT?
Sometimes, the only solution to rid your computer of a RAT is to wipe out all of your software and reinstall the operating system. RAT prevention systems are rare because the RAT software can only be identified once it is operating on your system.
Can antivirus be used to get rid of a RAT?
Antivirus systems don’t do very well against RATs. Often the infection of a computer or network goes undetected for years. The obfuscation methods used by parallel programs to cloak the RAT procedures make them very difficult to spot. Persistence modules that use rootkit techniques mean that RATs are very difficult to get rid of. Sometimes, the only solution to rid your computer of a RAT is to wipe out all of your software and reinstall the operating system.
Can a hacker use your internet address?
The hacker might also be using your internet address as a front for illegal activities, impersonating you, and attacking other computers. Viruses downloaded through RAT will infect other computers, while also causing damage to your system by erasing or encryption essential software.
Can a Remote Access Trojan be installed to BIOS?
Access to the BIOS has been known to the world’s hackers since 2015. Many believe that the NSA was planting RATs and trackers on BIOS even earlier.
