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Microsoft Defender Antivirus, the built-in endpoint protection solution on Windows 10, blocks this threat using behavior-based, machine learning-powered protections. Geographic distribution of Adrozek encounters from May to September 2020.Įffectively protecting against rampant, persistent campaigns like this that incorporate multiple components, polymorphism, and evolved malware behavior requires advanced, behavior-based detection and visibility across the whole attack chain rather than specific components. As this campaign is ongoing, this infrastructure is bound to expand even further.įigure 2. In total, from May to September 2020, we recorded hundreds of thousands of encounters of the Adrozek malware across the globe, with heavy concentration in Europe and in South Asia and Southeast Asia. We tracked 159 unique domains, each hosting an average of 17,300 unique URLs, which in turn host more than 15,300 unique, polymorphic malware samples on average. Such a sustained, far-reaching campaign requires an expansive, dynamic attacker infrastructure. In addition, the malware maintains persistence and exfiltrates website credentials, exposing affected devices to additional risks. However, the fact that this campaign utilizes a piece of malware that affects multiple browsers is an indication of how this threat type continues to be increasingly sophisticated. Comparison of search results pages on an affected machine and one with Adrozek running.Ĭybercriminals abusing affiliate programs is not new-browser modifiers are some of the oldest types of threats. The attackers earn through affiliate advertising programs, which pay by amount of traffic referred to sponsored affiliated pages.įigure 1. The intended effect is for users, searching for certain keywords, to inadvertently click on these malware-inserted ads, which lead to affiliated pages. If not detected and blocked, Adrozek adds browser extensions, modifies a specific DLL per target browser, and changes browser settings to insert additional, unauthorized ads into web pages, often on top of legitimate ads from search engines. We call this family of browser modifiers Adrozek. The threat affects multiple browsers-Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Yandex Browser, and Mozilla Firefox-exposing the attackers’ intent to reach as many Internet users as possible. The malware is designed to inject ads into search engine results pages.
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At its peak in August, the threat was observed on over 30,000 devices every day.


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