Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus

What is Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus?

Similar to HSBC, Barclays Secured Message, Electronic Intuit, and many others, "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" is another spam email campaign used to distribute the TrickBot trojan. Distributed email messages essentially state that a customer is not satisfied by services provided.

To resolve the issue, users are encouraged to open the attached MS Word document and read the information within. This is a scam - the opened document downloads and installs malware.

As mentioned above, proliferated messages encourage users to open a malicious MS Office attachment. To give the impression of legitimacy, cyber criminals hide behind the name of Dun & Bradstreet. Be aware, however, that Dun & Bradstreet is a legitimate company and has nothing to do with this spam campaign.

Cyber criminals often use names of legitimate companies and governmental institutions in an attempt to give the impression of legitimacy. It is much simpler to trick users into opening attachments when they are received from familiar names (email addresses).

TrickBot is a high-risk trojan designed to hijack browsers and modify visited websites so that all entered logins/passwords are recorded and saved on a remote server. In this way, cyber criminals gain access to cryptocurrency wallets, social network, bank, and other personal accounts.

These people aim to generate as much revenue as possible. Therefore, the presence of TrickBot malware might lead to serious privacy issues and significant financial loss. If you have already opened files distributed using the "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" campaign, immediately scan the system with a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite and eliminate all threats.

Threat Summary:

Name	Dun & Bradstreet spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate victim's computer and remain silent thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software cracks.
Damage	Stolen banking information, passwords, identity theft, victim's computer added to a botnet.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

TrickBot is virtually identical to dozens of other trojan-type viruses, such as FormBook, Adwind, Pony, and many others. Most are distributed using spam email campaigns. In most cases, their behavior is also similar - most collect information. Some open "backdoors" for other viruses (usually ransomware) to infiltrate the system.

In any case, trojans such as TrickBot pose a direct threat to your privacy and Internet browsing safety, and should be eliminated immediately.

How did Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus infect my computer?

As mentioned above, the "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" spam campaign deploys an MS Word document that, once opened, immediately requests that macro commands be enabled. Once macros are enabled, the attachment immediately executes a number of commands that stealthily download and install TrickBot.

This distribution is simple, but has a significant flaw. The attachment is only able to infect the system if the user opens it using MS Word. Therefore, if the file is opened using other apps (capable of reading this format), the malware will not be downloaded/installed. TrickBot targets the Windows Operating System only. Therefore, users of other platforms are safe.

How to avoid installation of malware?

To prevent this situation, be very cautious when browsing the Internet. Carefully analyze each email attachment received. Files that seem irrelevant or have been received from suspicious/unrecognizable emails should never be opened.

In addition, newer versions (2010 and above) of MS Office open newly-downloaded documents in "Protected View" mode - this prevents download and installation of malware. Therefore, we strongly advise you to avoid using older versions of the MS Office suite.

Using a legitimate anti-virus/anti-spyware suite is also paramount. The main reasons for computer infections are poor knowledge and careless behavior. The key to safety is caution. If you have already opened the "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" email letter:

Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus
Credibility Corp

Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus has received the above-referenced complaint from one of your customers regarding their dealings with you. The details of the consumer’s concern are included on the reverse. Please review this matter and advise us of your position
In the interest of time and good customer relations, please provide the DnB with written verification of your position in this matter by July 27, 2018 Your prompt response will allow DnB to be of service to you and your customer in reaching a mutually agreeable resolution. Please inform us if you have contacted your customer directly and already resolved this matter.
The Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus develops and maintains Reliability Reports on companies across the United States and Canada . This information is available to the public and is frequently used by potential customers. Your cooperation in responding to this complaint becomes a permanent part of your file with the Dun and BradStreet. Failure to promptly give attention to this matter may be reflected in the report we give to consumers about your company.
We encourage you to print this complaint (attached file), answer the questions and respond to us.
We look forward to your prompt attention to this matter.
Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus
103 JFK Parkway
Short Hills
NJ 07078

Malicious attachment distributed via "Dun & Bradstreet Email Virus" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is Dun & Bradstreet spam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

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