New Malware appears to be picking hidden commands from Twitter Meme.

Security researchers Trend Micro have discovered a Malware that was picking it’s commands from a Twitter Meme. An unknown hacker who is also the creator of the Malware used Twitter and the ‘What if I told you meme’ to secretly tell a windows based Malware to grab screenshots from infected PCs.

Advertisement - Continue reading below

Although the meme looked an ordinary digital image to humans, it had a simple command hidden in the files meta data that was a unique way of it communicating with its creator.

The Malware was designed to look up the hacker’s Twitter account and scan images for secret commands.

The hacker appears to have only posted two malicious memes on Oct. 25 and 26 with the command “/print,” which will order infected Windows PCs to take a screenshot. Other hidden commands the hacker could’ve sent through the memes include “/clip” to capture clipboard copied content, and “/processos” to retrieve a list of running processes over the PC.


Related article:


Like most primitive remote access trojans (RATs), the malware quietly infects a vulnerable computer, takes screenshots and pulls other data from the affected system and sends it back to the malware’s command and control server.

Steganography is the practice of concealing a file, message, image, or video within another file, message, image, or video. Hackers use this technique to sneak malicious code into people’s computers or send hidden commands over the web.

Advertisement - Continue reading below

After Trend Micro reported the account, Twitter pulled the account offline, suspending it permanently as his actions are against Twitters Privacy Policies. Although Twitter didn’t host any malicious content, nor could the tweets result in a malware infection, it’s an interesting way of using the social media site as a clever way of communicating with malware. This is not the first time Twitter has been used by hackers with instances happening in 2009 and 2016.

LIKE WHAT YOU ARE READING?

Sign up to our Newsletter for expert advice and tips of how to get the most out of your Tech Gadgets

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.