According to CAK (Kenya Communication Authority) Emotet malware has penetrated the East African country of Kenya. All public institutions, including the vulnerable banking sector, are warned that they need to be alert to any suspicious activities on their network, as Emotet targets bank – related systems through fake notifications, pretends to alert bank accounts and convinces e – mails.
We recently reported on the re – emergence of Emotet as a damaging malware in the wild on 17 November 2018, which was aimed at European computers, in particular Germany. It seems that it has entered African territory with Kenya at its crosshairs. As a result of this writing, 11 infection incidents have already been recorded in Kenya by its National Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre, most of which have been attracted by clicking on malicious genuine payment invoices and fake shipping operations.
“Typical signature – based detection can be avoided and there are several ways to maintain persistence, including auto-start registry keys and services, “explained Tom Olwero, CAK’s Director General. Even incidents have occurred in which the malware has been spread through fake Paypal transactions, with the unsuspecting user filling up a pretentious form that requires their username and password. People who fall into these schemes are in great danger with identity theft, the modus operandi of robbing user data through disappointment and using the stolen data to disguise them as the original owner.
Emotet malware can also collect information on the colleagues and acquaintances of a victim stored on the computer. This information can also be used to attack such acquaintances. Email can be used to find a circle of friends, and coworkers can be identified by shared email domains. Such information can be used to carry out highly targeted attacks on people who have a relationship with the first victim.
Kenya is not unique in any way as far as virus infiltration is concerned, as the 3rd quarter of 2018 saw a record of 3.8 million incidents of IT problems, a record increase from just 3.4 million in the 2nd quarter of 2018.
