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Malspam 2016-09-09 (.hta in .dzip) - campaign: "Order confirmation"

Low
Published: Fri Sep 09 2016 (09/09/2016, 00:00:00 UTC)
Source: CIRCL
Vendor/Project: tlp
Product: white

Description

Malspam 2016-09-09 (.hta in .dzip) - campaign: "Order confirmation"

AI-Powered Analysis

AILast updated: 07/02/2025, 19:27:30 UTC

Technical Analysis

The provided information describes a malspam campaign dated September 9, 2016, involving malicious spam emails that deliver a payload using a .hta (HTML Application) file encapsulated within a .dzip archive. The campaign is titled "Order confirmation," which suggests that the emails are crafted to appear as legitimate order confirmation messages, a common social engineering tactic to entice recipients to open the attachment. The .hta file format is an executable HTML application that can run scripts on Windows systems, often used by attackers to execute malicious code once opened. The use of a .dzip archive is less common and may be intended to bypass email security filters that scan for more typical archive formats like .zip or .rar. Although the severity is marked as low and no known exploits in the wild are reported, the campaign still represents a malware threat vector leveraging social engineering and file format obfuscation to deliver malicious payloads. The lack of detailed technical indicators and affected versions limits the depth of analysis, but the threat level of 3 (on an unspecified scale) indicates a moderate concern. This type of attack typically aims to compromise user systems by executing scripts that could download additional malware, steal information, or establish persistence.

Potential Impact

For European organizations, this malspam campaign poses a risk primarily through user interaction, as successful exploitation requires the recipient to open the malicious .hta file within the .dzip archive. If executed, the malware could lead to unauthorized access, data theft, or system compromise. While the campaign's severity is low, organizations with less mature email filtering and user awareness programs could be more vulnerable. The impact could be more significant in sectors with high volumes of order-related communications, such as retail, logistics, and manufacturing, where employees might be more inclined to trust and open order confirmation emails. Additionally, any compromise could lead to lateral movement within networks, potentially affecting confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. Given the age of the campaign (2016), the threat may be less relevant today, but similar tactics remain common, so awareness and defenses against such malspam remain important.

Mitigation Recommendations

To mitigate this threat, European organizations should implement advanced email filtering solutions capable of detecting and quarantining suspicious attachments, especially uncommon archive formats like .dzip and executable file types such as .hta. User awareness training should emphasize the risks of opening unexpected attachments, even if they appear to be legitimate order confirmations. Endpoint protection platforms should be configured to detect and block execution of .hta files from email attachments. Network monitoring for unusual outbound connections can help identify potential malware activity post-infection. Additionally, organizations should enforce policies to restrict execution of scripts and applications from user directories and email downloads. Regular updates and patching of email clients and operating systems reduce the risk of exploitation through known vulnerabilities. Finally, incident response plans should include procedures for malspam campaigns to quickly isolate and remediate infected systems.

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Technical Details

Threat Level
3
Analysis
0
Original Timestamp
1473425232

Threat ID: 682acdbdbbaf20d303f0b7f4

Added to database: 5/19/2025, 6:20:45 AM

Last enriched: 7/2/2025, 7:27:30 PM

Last updated: 8/18/2025, 11:53:41 PM

Views: 11

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