Security News > 2023 > December > Qbot malware returns in campaign targeting hospitality industry
The QakBot malware is once again being distributed in phishing campaigns after the botnet was disrupted by law enforcement over the summer.
While a phishing service that was used to distribute the Qbot malware has seen activity since the disruption, there was no distribution of the QakBot malware until this past Monday, when the new phishing campaign started.
While it is too soon to tell if Qbot will have trouble regaining its former size, admins and users need to be on the lookout for reply-chain phishing emails that are commonly used to distribute the malware.
QakBot, aka Qbot, started out as a banking trojan in 2008, with malware developers using it to steal banking credentials, website cookies, and credit cards to commit financial fraud.
Over time, the malware evolved into a malware delivery service, partnering with other threat actors to provide initial access to networks for conducting ransomware attacks, espionage, or data theft.
These emails typically include malicious documents as attachments or links to download malicious files that install the Qakbot malware on a user's device.