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YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HACKERS ARE USING MICROSOFT CALCULATOR FOR

By Zak Islam July 25, 2022
Share

Hackers have found an unusual and unconventional method to infect PCs with
malware: distributing dangerous code with Windows Calculator.

The individuals behind the well-known QBot malware have managed to find a way to
use the program to side-load malicious code on infected systems.

Getty Images

As reported by Bleeping Computer, Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) side-loading is
when an actual DLL is spoofed, after which it is moved to a folder in order to
trick the machine’s operating system to load the doctored version as opposed to
the real DLL files.



QBot, a strain of Windows malware, was initially known as a banking trojan.
However, ransomware gangs now rely on it due to its evolution into a malware
distribution platform.

QBot has been utilizing the Windows 7 Calculator program in particular to
execute DLL side-loading attacks, according to security researcher ProxyLife.
These attacks have been infecting PCs since at least July 11, and it’s also an
effective method for carrying out malicious spam (malspam) campaigns.

Emails that contain the malware in the form of an HTML file attachment include a
ZIP archive that comes with an ISO file, which contains a .LNK file, a copy of
‘calc.exe’ (Windows Calculator), as well as two DLL files: WindowsCodecs.dll,
joined by a malicious payload (7533.dll).

Opening the ISO file eventually executes a shortcut, which upon further
investigation of the properties dialog for the files, is linked to Windows’
Calculator app. Once that shortcut has been opened, the infection infiltrates
the system with QBot malware through Command Prompt.

Due to the fact that Windows Calculator is obviously a trusted program, tricking
the system to distribute a payload through the app means security software could
fail to detect the malware itself, making it an extremely effective — and
creative — way to avoid detection.

That said, hackers can no longer use the DLL sideloading technique on Windows 10
or Windows 11, so anyone with Windows 7 should be wary of any suspicious emails
and ISO files.

Windows Calculator is not a program commonly used by threat actors to infiltrate
targets with, but when it comes to the current state of hacking and its
advancement, nothing seems to be beyond the realm of possibility. The first
appearance of QBot itself occurred more than a decade ago, and it has previously
been used for ransomware purposes.

Elsewhere, we’ve been seeing an aggressive rate of activity in the malware and
hacking space throughout 2022, such as the largest HTTPS DDoS attack in history.
Ransomware gangs themselves are also evolving, so it’s not a surprise they’re
continuously finding loopholes to benefit from.

With the alarming rise in cybercrime in general, technology giant Microsoft has
even launched a cybersecurity initiative, with the “security landscape
[becoming] increasingly challenging and complex for our customers.”

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