The digital landscape, once a serene meadow, has morphed into a battleground where attackers and security vendors engage in a perpetual arms race.
As defenses become more sophisticated, attackers adapt, devising ingenious evasion techniques to bypass security products and inflict harm.
Recently uncovered by Trellix Email Security, leverages the foundation of security - caching - to weave a web of deceit and compromise unsuspecting users.
Geofencing: Malicious content masquerades as benign in specific regions, evading detection elsewhere.
Captcha Bypass: Automated mechanisms circumvent captchas, hindering URL payload analysis.
IP Evasion: Blacklisted IPs shield attackers from scrutiny, ensuring their payloads remain hidden.
QR Code Phishing: QR code obscurity bypasses traditional email security filters, paving the way for phishing attacks.
Trellix Email Security has unraveled a novel evasion tactic that exploits caching, a mechanism employed by security products to optimize performance.
Caching involves temporarily storing the analysis results of URLs.
Upon encountering the same URL again, the cached verdict is retrieved instead of re-performing the analysis, saving valuable resources.
The attack begins with an email containing a seemingly innocuous Call to Action URL, often disguised as a OneDrive document link.
This tactic capitalizes on the inherent trust associated with Microsoft's domain.
Phase 2: The Cloaked Payload. Upon encountering the CTA URL, the security engine analyzes it and discovers a link leading to a well-established website like Google or Microsoft.
Once the URL is cached as safe, the attackers strike.
Understanding this intricate manipulation of caching mechanisms is crucial for effective mitigation.
Trellix telemetry reveals that these cache poisoning attacks are not isolated incidents.
They have targeted users across diverse industries and regions, highlighting the universality of this technique.
This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Fri, 05 Jan 2024 11:15:22 +0000