AVrecon: The Malware That Has Been Flying Under the Radar for Two Years

Researchers at Black Lotus Labs have recently discovered a malware variant that has been flying under the radar for two years: AVrecon. The team, which is part of Lumen Technologies, has been tracking the malware and has found that it has been targeting SOHO routers.
The team followed AVrecon for 28 days to get a snapshot of its activity. The scale of the malware was enormous: 70,000 IP addresses were communicating with the cybercriminals’ command-and-control center. Of these, more than 40,000 were active for more than two days within that period, in a botnet network that had spread all over the world. The targets were SOHO routers, which are deployed by smaller companies or individuals working from home.
The malware has managed to hide itself for a long time. This was possible because the criminals did not opt for commonly known applications of botnets. Normally, these groups often choose to install a crypto miner or to carry out DDoS attacks via other people’s networks. However, these stand out quite quickly. Instead, Black Lotus Labs believes the criminals are targeting fraudulent clicks on ads and password spraying. In the first case, parties such as Google and Facebook are fooled and the criminals generate their income with advertising revenue. With password spraying, the malware searches for crackable cloud services by testing all kinds of passwords.

Vulnerable SOHO Routers

A SOHO router is often vulnerable because users do not always update its software and have little insight into what is happening on such a device. We’ve seen a similar exploit of this blind spot where criminals stole other people’s internet bandwidth.

Operation of AVrecon

In the blog, the researchers go into depth about the precise functioning of the malware, although the perpetrators themselves cannot yet be revealed. As soon as the AVrecon malware enters a network, it first starts looking for its own presence. If AVrecon is already running somewhere, the new entrant self-destructs. It also gathers information about the device and network, then builds a C2 channel that allows it to become part of the global botnet.
The map shows that the botnet is active worldwide, with the US and the UK as the center of gravity. This fact will also have played a role in the malware flying under the radar. After all, it would have been much more noticeable if, with these numbers of infections, it had established itself very locally.

Advice for Protection

According to Black Lotus Labs, those who have Lumen Connected Security will now be provided with protection. However, it argues that organizations and individuals should watch out for easy-to-crack passwords and ensure that their SOHO routers are always up to date with the latest software.
AVrecon is a malware variant that has been flying under the radar for two years. Researchers at Black Lotus Labs have been tracking the malware and have found that it has been targeting SOHO routers. The team followed AVrecon for 28 days and found that 70,000 IP addresses were communicating with the cybercriminals’ command-and-control center. Of these, more than 40,000 were active for more than two days within that period, in a botnet network that had spread all over the world.
The malware has managed to hide itself for a long time because the criminals did not opt for commonly known applications of botnets. Instead, Black Lotus Labs believes the criminals are targeting fraudulent clicks on ads and password spraying. In the first case, parties such as Google and Facebook are fooled and the criminals generate their income with advertising revenue. With password spraying, the malware searches for crackable cloud services by testing all kinds of passwords.
A SOHO router is often vulnerable because users do not always update its software and have little insight into what is happening on such a device. We’ve seen a similar exploit of this blind spot where criminals stole other people’s internet bandwidth.
In the blog, the researchers go into depth about the precise functioning of the malware, although the perpetrators themselves cannot yet be revealed. As soon as the AVrecon malware enters a network, it first starts looking for its own presence. If AVrecon is already running somewhere, the new entrant self-destructs. It also gathers information about the device and network, then builds a C2 channel that allows it to become part of the global botnet.
The map shows that the botnet is active worldwide, with the US and the UK as the center of gravity. This fact will also have played a role in the malware flying under the radar. After all, it would have been much more noticeable if, with these numbers of infections, it had established itself very locally.
According to Black Lotus Labs, those who have Lumen Connected Security will now be provided with protection. However, it argues that organizations and individuals should watch out for easy-to-crack passwords and ensure that their SOHO routers are always up to date with the latest software. This is the best way to protect against AVrecon and other malware variants that may be targeting SOHO routers.