New macro downloaders are using Microsoft Publisher (PUB) files and spam emails to serve up network compromise in the food and retail sectors.
According to Trend Micro, the campaign ramped up late last month with over 50 food and retail companies spammed between Nov. 20–27. Targets included food sector companies Starbucks and Taco Del Mar and retailers Harris Teeter and Save Mart Supermarkets. Trend Micro also detected attacks against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the financial sector dating to the first week in November.
Setting this campaign apart is its use of PUB files, which are not commonly associated with macro malware. Combined with socially engineered spam emails from “operations teams,” these PUB invoices appear legitimate. Once opened, they serve up malicious Microsoft Installer (MSI) files that contact command-and-control (C&C) servers to install remote access Trojans (RATs).
