The famous subscription-based information stealer known as the Racoon infostealer or “Racealer” is back in the limelight.
per a research report it has the ability to steal data from 35 browsers and 60 overall applications.
Racoon is a subscription-based malware which is very popular amongst cyber criminals due to its ability to target at least 60 applications including most popular browsers.
costs $200 per month which very nominal compared to the profits it brings in for the user. The subscription also includes tech support, bug fixes and updates. The malware is also capable of stealing cryptocurrency which makes it very profitable for the hacker.
Racoon usually spreads via emails containing malicious Microsoft word documents filed with malicious macros.
These emails are sent to the victim in phishing campaigns exploit kits are typically hosted on websites and victims are profiled for any potential browser-based vulnerabilities, before being redirected to the appropriate exploit kit to leverage them.
The racoon malware is capable of stealing your financial information, passwords, user data, online credentials, cryptocurrency, browsing history, cookies and autofill content to name a few.
The malware targets Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft EDGE and Firefox as well as many lesser-known browsers.
It can also compromise email clients such as ThunderBird, Outlook and Foxmail, among others. It’s based on the C++ language and gets regular updates which makes it very hard to counter because of it’s dynamic nature.
How can stay safe?
Do not click on emails that your email flags as dangerous or emails that look suspicious. Emails that offers you money or sends you bill of a recent purchase that you haven’t made with a document should be stayed away from as that document might be infected.
Update your antivirus to the latest database update. It is advised to keep your cryptocurrency safe is by using a hard wallet or paper wallet.
It’s also important to regularly change passwords and use different passwords across websites and online services.