Remove the Remcos RAT from your computer

What is "Hydrotech Email Virus"?

Discovered by My Online Security, "Hydrotech Email Virus" is a scam that is presented as an official message (invoice) from HYDROTECH. The main purpose of this scam is to trick people into opening the included attachments, which are designed to download and install the Remcos RAT (remote access tool).

Cyber criminals use these tools to generate revenue by stealing personal details, downloading and installing malicious programs, and so on. We strongly recommend that you leave files attached to "Hydrotech Email Virus" message and other similar spam campaigns (scams) unopened.

Hydrotech is the name of a legitimate company, a provider of industrial components and engineered systems. It has nothing to do with this bogus email. In many cases, cyber criminals use names of legitimate or well-known companies to disguise scam emails as official messages.

In this particular case, scammers present "Hydrotech Email Virus" as a message regarding an invoice. Recipients are asked to confirm some details, which are provided in the attached files, however, these infect computers with a remote access tool called Remcos.

This software is a legitimate tool that allows people to control systems remotely, however, cyber criminals often misuse these tools to generate revenue. If installed, Remcos might be used to steal personal information, such as passwords, private data, and other sensitive details. Additionally, it could be used to monitor the computer screen in real-time and download files.

Therefore, cyber criminals might use Remcos to infect computers with malicious programs such as ransomware. In summary, this RAT can lead to financial and data loss, privacy issues, computer infections, and so on. For these reasons, do not trust the "Hydrotech Email Virus" scam or any other spam campaigns of this kind.

Threat Summary:

Name	Hydrotech spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password-stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware
Hoax	This email is presented as a request to confirm details in attached invoice
Attachment(s)	.zip, .rtf and .doc files are disguised as invoices
Detection Names (.rtf file)	Avast (Win32:ShellCode [Expl]), BitDefender (Trojan.GenericKD.32065877), ESET-NOD32 (Probably A Variant Of Win32/Exploit.CVE-2017-11882.A), Kaspersky (HEUR:Exploit.MSOffice.Generic), 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	Remcos RAT (remote access tool)
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.

There are many different scam emails online. Some other examples include "Maritime Email Virus", "Managing Director Email Virus", and "Xerox Color Workstation Email Virus". Cyber criminals send them to trick people into installing unwanted, often malicious software.

Examples of malicious programs that are distributed through similar spam campaigns include Adwind, Pony, FormBook, and AZORult.

How did "Hydrotech Email Virus" infect my computer?

This scam can cause damage only if the attached files are opened. There are three file attachments: 1) ZIP; 2) .rtf, and; 3) .doc. If opened, Microsoft Word documents generally demand permission to disable "Protected View" mode (in effect, to enable editing). If allowed, they start downloading and then installing malicious programs.

In this case, they cause installation of Remcos. The ZIP file might contain another MS Word (or other) document, executable, or other file, that, if opened, will lead to installation of an identical remote access tool.

Typically, scammers attach files such as Microsoft Office or PDF documents, JavaScript file or executable (.exe), archives (ZIP, RAR, and so on), etc. Note that it is impossible for the attached files to infect systems if they remain unopened.

How to avoid installation of malware?

To keep operating systems safe, ignore irrelevant emails sent from unknown addresses and contain attachments or web links. Typically, they are scams used to infect computers with malicious, unwanted programs. All files and programs should be downloaded from official, trustworthy websites.

Do not use sources such as Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule, etc.), unofficial pages, and so on. Keep the operating system and installed software up-to-date, however, use implemented functions or tools provided by official developers, and not other, unofficial fake updaters. If programs require payment, do activate them with 'cracking' tools.

First, these tools are illegal. Second, they are often designed by cyber criminals to infect computers with malware. Additionally, any computer is safer with anti-virus or anti-spyware software installed. If you have already opened "Hydrotech Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Hydrotech Email Virus" email message:

Dear Sir

As per Mr.Hesham Bakir instructions, please confirm beneficiary name and account number so we make payment.

Is it same detail attached invoice?

Best Regards,

Basem Shaban

Mechanical Service Engineer

HYDROTECH | 2 EMTIDAD ABD ELHAMID BADAWY | MASAKEN SHERATON | CAIRO | EGYPT

e-mail : Battia@hydrotech-eg.com

Mob : + 201205801580

TEL : +20222686200 / +20223316667

FAX : +20222687365

Malicious attachments distributed via "Hydrotech Email Virus" spam campaign:

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▼ 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 Hydrotech 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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