Microsoft Teams Users, Beware! Hackers Are Spreading Malware Through MS Teams Chat

NEW DELHI: Hackers have devised a terrifyingly successful method of infecting millions of users at once. Hackers have begun placing harmful executable files in Microsoft Teams discussions, resulting in new sorts of intrusions. Anyone in the chat room who thereafter opens this file becomes infected with malware.

It’s easy to understand how the attacks may be used to infect a huge number of people at once. Microsoft Teams is a messaging, task, and, of course, critical office file sharing platform that is used by large organisations. Hackers then slip a harmful file into these, which can easily fool anyone into downloading and running it, especially given people’s natural faith in official groups.

The attacks on Microsoft Teams chats began in January of this year, and Avanan, a Check Point business that secures such collaborative platforms, has now discovered them. The firm said in a study that it has witnessed “thousands” of such attacks, in which hackers attach a harmful Trojan document to a Teams chat thread.

The document is described as a.exe file named “User Centric” in the report. This file is a Trojan that, when installed by individuals who have been duped into downloading it, writes data to the Windows registry. It then instals DLL files on the infected machine and builds self-administering shortcut links.

Of course, the assaults can only be launched once a hacker has gained access to a Teams chat. According to Avanan, this can be accomplished in a variety of ways. According to the report, hackers can use an inter-organizational conversation to gain access to a target firm, or they can use an email address to gain access to Teams. Previous phishing attempts may have provided them with a person’s Microsoft 365 credentials, which can subsequently be used to access Teams or any other Microsoft Office suite service.

One major takeaway from the attacks, according to the research, is that “default Teams protections are weak.”

It emphasises that the app does not provide many checks for harmful URLs and files shared through it, allowing hackers to freely transmit malicious stuff.

With Teams being the go-to solution for businesses with such security flaws, it is quickly becoming a popular target for hackers. Avanan then recommends that businesses use full-suite security, which can protect all lines of company communication, including Teams.

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