Do not open Australian Government Department of Health scam files

What is "Australian Government Department of Health Email Virus"?

Cyber criminals often attempt to trick users into installing malware on their computers through spam campaigns. They send emails that contain malicious attachments or website links designed to download malicious files. Their main goal is to deceive recipients into opening the rogue file, which then installs malware.

Commonly, they disguise their emails as important, and are seemingly sent from well-known, official companies, etc. In this case, they send emails disguised as messages from the Australian Government Department of Health and include attachments designed to install a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) called NanoCore.

Cyber criminals behind this spam campaign are currently taking advantage of the COVID‑19 pandemic. They send emails claiming that there were three COVID-19 confirmed cases in the recipient's area earlier this week and that one of the patients has listed a recipient as one her/his physical contacts within the last 14 days.

The main purpose of this email is to deceive the recipient into believing the she/he must test herself/himself for COVID-19 and check the appointment details provided in the attached file. The attachment is an .iso file named "Document.iso" (its name might vary), which distributes the NanoCore RAT.

Therefore, leave this attachment unopened, since execution leads to installation of a high-risk Trojan, which provides cyber criminals with remote access to the infected system.

This RAT could be used to infect the computer with other malware (e.g., ransomware), steal sensitive information such as login credentials, credit card details, take screenshots, access the webcam and microphone, manage files, and perform other tasks.

In many cases, users who are tricked into installing programs such as NanoCore become victims of identity theft, lose data/access to personal accounts, suffer monetary loss, experience problems relating to online privacy, browsing safety and other serious issues.

In this case, these possible problems can be prevented by ignoring the email and leaving the file attached to it unopened.

Threat Summary:

Name	Australian Government Department Of Health spam
Threat Type	Remote Administration Trojan (RAT)
Hoax	This email is disguised as an invitation to take a mandatory test for COVID-19.
Attachment(s)	Document.iso (its name might vary).
Detection Names (Document.iso)	BitDefenderTheta (Gen:NN.ZemsilF.34108.zm0@a4UstLb), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/GenKryptik.EKBA), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-Spy.MSIL.Noon.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.C!ml), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Remote Access 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	NanoCore
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the 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.

Some examples of other spam campaigns used to distribute malware include "U.S. Department Of Treasury Email Virus", "Chorus Union Email Virus" and "U.S. Small Business Administration Email Virus". These emails are often disguised as important, official, etc.

Generally, cyber criminals behind them attempt to trick recipients into opening a malicious file designed to infect the computer with malware. In most cases, they spread malware that installs other software of this kind, steals sensitive information, or mines cryptocurrency. In any case, you should study all emails before opening any links or attached files.

How did "Australian Government Department of Health Email Virus" infect my computer?

In this particular case, malware (NanoCore RAT) is distributed through a malicious .iso file (email attachment) named "Document.iso". Spam campaigns are commonly used to spread malware.

Some more examples of files that cyber criminals attach to emails include Microsoft Office documents, archive files (ZIP, RAR), executable files (.exe), JavaScript files, PDF documents. None of these files can do any damage as long as recipients keep them unopened.

If recipients do open a malicious MS Office document, they are asked for permission to enable editing/content (macros commands).

If a malicious document receives such permission, it can then install malware. Note that this applies to malicious documents that are opened with Microsoft Office versions 2010 or later. Older versions not include the Protected View mode and infect systems automatically (without even asking permission to enable macros commands).

How to avoid installation of malware

Do not open emails received from unknown, suspicious addresses, especially if they seem irrelevant or contains attachments/website links. Software should NOT be downloaded or installed through third party downloaders, installers, unofficial websites, Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule), and other channels of this kind.

Commonly, these channels are used to distribute malware. The safest way to download files and programs is using official websites and direct links. Installed software must be activated and updated with tools that are provided by official developers. Third party activation/update tools should never be used.

Additionally, it is illegal to activate licensed software with unofficial ('cracking') tools. Regularly scan the operating system for threats with a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware suite. Keep this software up to date.

If you have already opened "Australian Government Department of Health Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Australian Government Department of Health Email Virus" email message:

Subject: Action Required: Department of Health Invitation (COVID-19 Contact Tracing)

 

Dear Recipient,

 

My colleague have contacted you earlier but there was no response from you.

 

There were three COVID-19 confirmed cases in your area earlier this week and one of the patients has listed you as one of her physical contacts within the last 14 days.

 

In line with the contact tracing modalities and within the laws on which we operate at the Department of Health, we strongly advice that you submit yourself for COVID-19 testing.

 

The necessary details of your appointment with the Department of Health are contained in the attached document.

 

Read through the guidelines properly and ensure that you submit yourself for testing as failure to do so will result in arrest and prosecution.

 

If you have any questions concerning this email, feel free to contact me anytime.

 

Regards.

Greg Hunt MP

Department of Health
GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Malicious attachment distributed via "Australian Government Department of Health Email Virus" spam campaign detected as a threat by multiple engines in Virustotal:

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 Australian Government Department Of Health 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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