Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus

What is "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus"?

"Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" is the name of a spam campaign, designed by cyber criminals to proliferate a malicious program, a keystroke logger called Hawkeye. 

The main purpose of the email issued by this campaign is to trick people into opening the attached file, which infects computers with the aforementioned malware. We strongly recommend that you ignore this email and leave the attachment unopened.

This spam campaign is presented as an email relating to Xerox Color Workstation. It states that a document (.doc file) was scanned using Xerox Color and encourages recipients to open it - exactly the opposite of what should be done with the attached Microsoft Office (Word) document, which is called "Declaration_Report.doc".

Once opened, it asks users to disable Protected View mode (to enable macros commands). Allowing macro commands will lead to download and installation of Hawkeye, a malicious program that records keystrokes and steals various data from messaging applications, web browsers, email clients, and other programs.

It can record each key pressed, and thus cyber criminals use Hawkeye to steal passwords, logins, and other details that could be used to hack various accounts. In summary, having a computer infected with this malware might lead to privacy issues, financial loss, and other serious problems.

Therefore, do not open the attachment spread by the "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" spam campaign.

Threat Summary:

Name	Xerox Color Workstation spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware.
Hoax	Criminals pose as employees from the Xerox corporation and encourage users to open malicious attachments.
Attachment(s)	Declaration_Reports.doc (the file format and name might vary depending on the campaign variant)
Detection Names (Declaration_Reports.doc)	Avast (Other:Malware-gen [Trj]), BitDefender (Trojan.Agent.DWJC), ESET-NOD32 (Win32/Exploit.CVE-2017-11882.AGH), Kaspersky (HEUR:Exploit.RTF.Oleink.gen), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Payload	Hawkeye keylogger
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.

"Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" is not the only spam campaign used by cyber criminals who attempt to spread malicious software. Other similar campaigns are "Upgrade Your Edition Of Microsoft Word Email Virus", "Maersk Email Virus", and "Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Email Virus".

Emails of this type usually contain files that are designed to cause download and installation of high-risk computer infections such as Adwind, Pony, FormBook, AZORult, and so on.

How did "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" infect my computer?

Like most spam campaigns of this type, "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" can do no damage unless the file (MS Word document) attached to it is opened. Furthermore, after opening it, users must give permission to enable editing (macros commands). Once this is done, the attachment starts downloading and then installing the malicious program.

Other examples of files that cyber criminals use as attachments are JavaScript, executable (.exe and other) or archive files such as ZIP, RAR, and PDF documents. To cause any damage, the file must first be opened (regardless of the file format).

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not open files attached to emails without inspecting them first. If the attachment is presented in an irrelevant/suspicious email sent from an unknown address, it should not be opened. Avoid using third party downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule etc.) and other such tools to download or install software.

The best way to do this is by using official websites/tools. Do not use unofficial, third party software updaters. The only trustworthy way to update software is using official tools or implemented functions that are provided by official software developers. Tools that supposedly activate paid software free of charge are illegal and often cause installation of malware.

These tools should not be used. Ensure that you have reputable anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed on the computer.

These tools can detect and eliminate threats before any damage is done. If you have already opened "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware .

Text presented in the "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" email message:

Please open the attached document. It was scanned and sent to you using a Xerox Color.
Number of Images: 1 Attachment File Type: DOC
Device Name: Color 550 Device Location:
For more information on Xerox products and solutions, please visit http://www.xerox.com/ 

Malicious attachment ("Declaration_Reports.doc") distributed via "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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.

Quick menu:

• What is Xerox Color Workstation 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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