2019-01-22: Emotet->TrickBot
2019-01-22: Emotet->TrickBot
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The provided information references a known malware campaign involving Emotet and TrickBot, two prominent banking Trojan families that have been active in cybercrime operations. Emotet initially functions as a modular malware primarily used to distribute other payloads, including TrickBot, which is a sophisticated banking Trojan designed to steal financial information and credentials. The notation "Emotet->TrickBot" indicates that Emotet is being used as a delivery mechanism to deploy TrickBot onto compromised systems. This infection chain typically begins with Emotet gaining initial access through phishing emails or malicious attachments, followed by the deployment of TrickBot to conduct further malicious activities such as credential theft, lateral movement, and potentially ransomware deployment. The technical details mention a specific TrickBot version (1057) and a component named "core-parser.dll," which is likely part of TrickBot's modular architecture used to parse and extract sensitive data. The threat level is indicated as medium with a certainty of 50%, suggesting moderate confidence in the intelligence. No specific affected versions or patches are listed, and no known exploits in the wild are reported, implying that the threat relies on social engineering and malware delivery rather than exploiting software vulnerabilities. The tags associate the threat with banking malware and OSINT sources, highlighting its relevance to financial sector security. Overall, this threat represents a persistent and evolving malware campaign leveraging Emotet's distribution capabilities to propagate TrickBot infections, posing significant risks to organizations handling sensitive financial data.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the Emotet-TrickBot infection chain poses substantial risks, particularly to financial institutions, enterprises with online banking operations, and organizations with remote workforce setups. The impact includes potential theft of banking credentials, unauthorized access to corporate networks, data exfiltration, and disruption of business operations. TrickBot's modular nature allows attackers to deploy additional payloads such as ransomware, increasing the severity of incidents. The infection can lead to financial losses, reputational damage, regulatory penalties under GDPR for data breaches, and operational downtime. Given Europe's stringent data protection regulations and the critical role of financial services in the economy, successful infections could have cascading effects on trust and compliance. Moreover, TrickBot's capability for lateral movement within networks can compromise multiple systems, amplifying the scope of impact. The medium threat level suggests that while the campaign is active, exploitation requires user interaction (e.g., phishing), which means awareness and preventive controls can reduce risk. However, the persistent nature of Emotet as a delivery platform means organizations must remain vigilant against evolving tactics.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate the Emotet-TrickBot threat effectively, European organizations should implement a multi-layered defense strategy beyond generic advice: 1) Enhance email security by deploying advanced anti-phishing solutions that use machine learning to detect and quarantine malicious attachments and links. 2) Implement strict attachment handling policies, including sandboxing and blocking macros or executable content in emails. 3) Conduct regular and targeted user awareness training focused on recognizing phishing attempts and social engineering tactics specific to Emotet and TrickBot campaigns. 4) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capable of identifying behavioral indicators of Emotet and TrickBot infections, such as unusual DLL loads (e.g., core-parser.dll) and network communication patterns. 5) Enforce network segmentation to limit lateral movement opportunities for malware once inside the network. 6) Maintain up-to-date backups with offline copies to enable recovery in case of ransomware deployment following TrickBot infection. 7) Monitor threat intelligence feeds and collaborate with information sharing groups like CIRCL to stay informed about emerging variants and indicators of compromise. 8) Apply the principle of least privilege to restrict user permissions, reducing the potential impact of credential theft. 9) Harden remote access infrastructure with multi-factor authentication and strict access controls to prevent exploitation of stolen credentials. These targeted measures address the specific tactics used by Emotet and TrickBot and help reduce infection likelihood and impact.
Affected Countries
Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland
2019-01-22: Emotet->TrickBot
Description
2019-01-22: Emotet->TrickBot
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
The provided information references a known malware campaign involving Emotet and TrickBot, two prominent banking Trojan families that have been active in cybercrime operations. Emotet initially functions as a modular malware primarily used to distribute other payloads, including TrickBot, which is a sophisticated banking Trojan designed to steal financial information and credentials. The notation "Emotet->TrickBot" indicates that Emotet is being used as a delivery mechanism to deploy TrickBot onto compromised systems. This infection chain typically begins with Emotet gaining initial access through phishing emails or malicious attachments, followed by the deployment of TrickBot to conduct further malicious activities such as credential theft, lateral movement, and potentially ransomware deployment. The technical details mention a specific TrickBot version (1057) and a component named "core-parser.dll," which is likely part of TrickBot's modular architecture used to parse and extract sensitive data. The threat level is indicated as medium with a certainty of 50%, suggesting moderate confidence in the intelligence. No specific affected versions or patches are listed, and no known exploits in the wild are reported, implying that the threat relies on social engineering and malware delivery rather than exploiting software vulnerabilities. The tags associate the threat with banking malware and OSINT sources, highlighting its relevance to financial sector security. Overall, this threat represents a persistent and evolving malware campaign leveraging Emotet's distribution capabilities to propagate TrickBot infections, posing significant risks to organizations handling sensitive financial data.
Potential Impact
For European organizations, the Emotet-TrickBot infection chain poses substantial risks, particularly to financial institutions, enterprises with online banking operations, and organizations with remote workforce setups. The impact includes potential theft of banking credentials, unauthorized access to corporate networks, data exfiltration, and disruption of business operations. TrickBot's modular nature allows attackers to deploy additional payloads such as ransomware, increasing the severity of incidents. The infection can lead to financial losses, reputational damage, regulatory penalties under GDPR for data breaches, and operational downtime. Given Europe's stringent data protection regulations and the critical role of financial services in the economy, successful infections could have cascading effects on trust and compliance. Moreover, TrickBot's capability for lateral movement within networks can compromise multiple systems, amplifying the scope of impact. The medium threat level suggests that while the campaign is active, exploitation requires user interaction (e.g., phishing), which means awareness and preventive controls can reduce risk. However, the persistent nature of Emotet as a delivery platform means organizations must remain vigilant against evolving tactics.
Mitigation Recommendations
To mitigate the Emotet-TrickBot threat effectively, European organizations should implement a multi-layered defense strategy beyond generic advice: 1) Enhance email security by deploying advanced anti-phishing solutions that use machine learning to detect and quarantine malicious attachments and links. 2) Implement strict attachment handling policies, including sandboxing and blocking macros or executable content in emails. 3) Conduct regular and targeted user awareness training focused on recognizing phishing attempts and social engineering tactics specific to Emotet and TrickBot campaigns. 4) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capable of identifying behavioral indicators of Emotet and TrickBot infections, such as unusual DLL loads (e.g., core-parser.dll) and network communication patterns. 5) Enforce network segmentation to limit lateral movement opportunities for malware once inside the network. 6) Maintain up-to-date backups with offline copies to enable recovery in case of ransomware deployment following TrickBot infection. 7) Monitor threat intelligence feeds and collaborate with information sharing groups like CIRCL to stay informed about emerging variants and indicators of compromise. 8) Apply the principle of least privilege to restrict user permissions, reducing the potential impact of credential theft. 9) Harden remote access infrastructure with multi-factor authentication and strict access controls to prevent exploitation of stolen credentials. These targeted measures address the specific tactics used by Emotet and TrickBot and help reduce infection likelihood and impact.
Affected Countries
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Technical Details
- Threat Level
- 2
- Analysis
- 0
- Original Timestamp
- 1621849996
Threat ID: 682acdbdbbaf20d303f0bf5b
Added to database: 5/19/2025, 6:20:45 AM
Last enriched: 7/2/2025, 10:40:06 AM
Last updated: 8/14/2025, 1:02:51 PM
Views: 16
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