In the June release of the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), we’re adding Xiazai, a widespread family of browser modifiers that we have blocked and removed from millions of computers since 2015. Xiazai is a software bundler that can sneak in additional changes. Xiazai does not install itself or make autostart registry entries, but…
Month: June 2017
Windows 10 Creators Update provides next-gen ransomware protection
Multiple high-profile incidents have demonstrated that ransomware can have catastrophic effects on all of us. From personally losing access to your own digital property, to being impacted because critical infrastructure or health care services are unexpectedly unavailable for extended periods of time, destructive attacks have grown in severity and scale on all platforms – including…
PLATINUM continues to evolve, find ways to maintain invisibility
Back in April 2016, we released the paper PLATINUM: Targeted attacks in South and Southeast Asia, where we detailed the tactics, techniques, and procedures of the PLATINUM activity group. We described a group that was well-resourced and quickly adopted advanced techniques, such as hot patching to silently inject code into processes. They used hot patching…