Digital Security Experts Warn Against Lucifer Malware That Attacks Windows

Digital security experts warn against Lucifer malware that attacks Windows

Machines with bad and outdated passwords can be susceptible to malware

The digital security company Unit 42 recently released a document warning of a new format of malware that they dubbed Lucifer. The malicious program affects Windows PCs and is a kind of variation on older ransomware. It can be used to mine cryptocurrencies using your computer, or to facilitate DDoS attacks * against websites.

” Lucifer is quite powerful in its capabilities. It is not only able to use XMRig to take over Monero mining, but it is also capable of commanding and controlling (C2) operations and propagating itself through exploiting multiple vulnerabilities and using brute force against credentials. In addition, he uses EternalBlue, EternalRomance, and DoublePulsar backdoors against vulnerable targets for infections on a local network. “

The name Lucifer was given by Unit 42, but that is not what the malware creator calls the program. Its original name is Satan DDoS, but Unit 42 decided to change the name so as not to confuse it with another malware, the Satan Ransomware. So, to maintain the diabolic theme, the chosen name was Lucifer.

Digital security experts warn against Lucifer malware that attacks Windows

Although the malware itself can do a lot of damage, it affects vulnerabilities that have already been fixed, so whoever keeps their Windows system up to date doesn’t have to worry too much. The malware also tries to take over systems using “brute force” against credentials, which is a far-fetched way of saying that it tries to guess your username and password automatically. In this case, a strong password can protect you, since the first attempts of this type of malware are always weak usernames and passwords like “admin” and “1234”, respectively.

* DDoS is an abbreviation for distributed denial of service. We call this process when hackers use bots to simulate an immense number of accesses to the same website in order to overload their servers and bring it down.

👇 More in NUpgrade

Digital security experts warn against Lucifer malware that attacks Windows