Fake ‘Windows Update’ Malware Scam
Author: Mikael Markander, PC World Contributor
Fake ‘Windows Update’ Malware Scam
Mikael Markander
PC World Contributor
Editor's Note: It seems like I am updating Windows all the time. I do it several times a month. Updating Windows is an automated process that generally require little or no effort by a person. If you get anything that claims to be a Windows Update that involves several user steps it is probably a fake. DO NOT install anything until you verify the purported update.
Victor Sample
MT43News
From PC World:
Watch out for this fake ‘Windows Update’ malware scam that’s going around.
A genuine Windows Update will never ask you to perform this specific series of instructions.
This article was originally published in PC World.
Security researchers from Huntress are warning the public about a new variant of ClickFix, one of the most popular scam methods right now. In this variant, you’re hit with a full-screen browser page that claims an important security update needs to be installed via Windows Update.
During the “installation” of this fake update, a hidden malicious command is copied to your clipboard. Then, you’re asked to press a specific combination of keyboard keys in this order: Windows key + R (which opens the Run window), Ctrl + V (which pastes the malicious command into the Run window), then Enter (which runs the malicious code).
If you follow the instructions as stated, the LummaC2 and Rhadamanthys malware gets installed on your system through a system of complex exploits. That malware can then be used to steal sensitive information.
It’s unclear at the time of writing how many users have been affected by the campaign, which began in early October.
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