Hackers Use Excel Add-Ins as Initial Penetration Vector

Cisco Talos analysts say that hackers are now using Excel add-ins to infiltrate victims’ systems and networks. After Microsoft began blocking VBA macros in Office documents downloaded from the Internet (marked as Mark Of The Web), attackers had to rethink their attack chains: for example, now hackers are increasingly using Excel add-in files (.XLL) as… Continue reading Hackers Use Excel Add-Ins as Initial Penetration Vector

Microsoft patches 117 vulnerabilities, including 9 zero-day vulnerabilities

As part of July Patch Tuesday, Microsoft fixed (released patches) for 117 vulnerabilities, of which 13 were classified as critical. That is, the July set of patches is twice as large as the May and June “Patch Tuesday” combined. This time, bugs were fixed in products such as Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Excel, Microsoft Exchange Server,… Continue reading Microsoft patches 117 vulnerabilities, including 9 zero-day vulnerabilities

Hackers use .NET library for creating malicious Excel files

Researchers at NVISO Labs noticed that the Epic Manchego group uses unusual Excel files for attacks, created specifically to bypass defense mechanisms. The fact is that these files are not created through Microsoft Office – the hackers use the .NET library EPPlus. Typically, this library is used by application developers, for example, to add features… Continue reading Hackers use .NET library for creating malicious Excel files