Sneaky Windows stealer targets 300+ apps, gives crims an AI profiler to maximize profits

Summary

EXCLUSIVE A Windows information-stealer targeting more than 300 applications comes equipped with a novel surveillance tool: an AI profiler that ranks infected victims so crooks know who to target first.Varonis Threat Labs spotted the new stealer and remote access trojan (RAT), called Dolphin X, for sale on a cybercrime forum, and shared their research exclusively with The Register. The ad for the malware claims it can target upwards of 300 applications and has the ability to bypass browser passwords and steal enterprise credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, .env files, SSH keys, cloud tokens, and DevOps secrets. Dolphin X also promises users a super-sneaky surveillance feature called the AI Profiler. It scores infected users by app usage, browsing history, and installed software, and sends the cybercriminals a daily summary that ranks victims’ based on the likely payoff from an attack.“There's two things that stand out,” Daniel Kelley, a senior threat researcher with Varonis, told The Register. “The first thing is the AI profiler. That's something I've never seen before. And then it’s also the breadth of applications that it steals - and it’s not even just applications. It’s everything, you name it: it will steal files, or credentials, cryptocurrencies. It’s probably one of the biggest stealers I’ve ever seen, and covers the biggest attack surface.” A malware vendor using the alias “Kontraktnik” posted Dolphin X for sale, promising: “You can use it as a stealer, as an HVNC [Hidden Virtual Network Computing], as a DDoS botnet, as a loader.” The crimeware currently only runs under Windows, but “we are working on Debian,” Kontraktnik claimed, adding that the malware also only supports English and Russian. It’s probably one of the biggest stealers I’ve ever seen, and covers the biggest attack surface Kelley suspects the developer is Russian-speaking, and told us that the stealer includes an option not to infect any users in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) co...