Emotet Botnet Returns with Social Engineering Tactics

Emotet, one of the most dangerous botnets, has returned after a four-month hiatus with new evasion techniques. The botnet sends malicious spam messages that appear to come from a known contact, address the recipient by name, and seem to be replying to an existing email thread. The malware pilfers passwords and other sensitive data and uses the device to send malicious spam to other users. The infection chain includes downloading additional malware such as the Ryuk ransomware or the TrickBot malware. The latest revival includes binary padding, invisible text, and a graphic that says the content can’t be accessed unless the user clicks the “enable content” button.