There is a new form of malware that you and your staff need to know about to protect your small business. That's because it's gaining in popularity among cybercriminals around the world. They are known as 'Racoon Stealer' malware. It is noteworthy not for its complexity but rather for its extreme ease of use. Worse, the malware's designers have been marketing it aggressively both inside and out of the Dark Web, driving rampant adoption rates.
The New Trojan Virus
Racoon Stealer first began in the wild in April of 2019. It's a Trojan virus that's relatively simple in its construction, but quite adept at collecting password information and sending it back to whoever launched it.
The Senior Director of Threat Hunting at Cybereason, Assaf Dahan, had this to say about the emerging threat:
"Raccoon, like other information stealers, poses significant risks to individuals and organizations alike. The stolen data is sold to the highest bidder in the underground community and used in many ways--identity theft, financial theft, or even as an entry vector to penetrate an organization and carry out a larger attack."
Raccoon's group provides its criminal user base with more tools such as an easy-to-use backend, hosting, and dedicated 'round the clock support, all for $200 a month. The data that this little piece of code can obtain can easily generate high amounts of income for the hacker. That makes it a fantastic investment for the criminal underground, which explains the malware's explosive growth and spread.
In any case, be sure your IT staff is aware, and be on your guard. It looks like Raccoon is here to stay.
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