{
	"id": "3b5b362c-8922-4c93-a14a-6e8192ad15fb",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T01:30:02.356664Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:19:59.213055Z",
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	"title": "Barracuda Threat Spotlight: New URL File Outbreak Could be a Ransomware Attempt",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
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	"plain_text": "Barracuda Threat Spotlight: New URL File Outbreak Could be a\r\nRansomware Attempt\r\nBy Barracuda Networks\r\nPublished: 2018-04-10 · Archived: 2026-04-06 00:34:19 UTC\r\nWe’re closely tracking an alarming threat that’s currently aiming to take advantage of careless or untrained users\r\nin a possible effort to distribute ransomware and other forms of malware—here’s what we’ve found.\r\nHighlighted Threat: Attackers are using a variety of techniques in an attempt to launch a Quant Loader trojan\r\ncapable of distributing ransomware and password stealers.\r\nThe Details:\r\nIn the world of email, an unfamiliar file extension—especially one that is compressed alone in a ZIP file—is often\r\na sure sign of a new malware outbreak. This was no exception when zipped Microsoft internet shortcut files with a\r\n“.url” file extension started showing up in emails claiming to be billing documents last month. These shortcut files\r\nuse a variation on the CVE-2016-3353 proof-of-concept, containing links to JavaScript files (and more recently\r\nWindows Script Files). However, in this instance the URL was prefixed with \"file://\" rather than \"http://\" which\r\nfetches them over Samba rather than through a web browser. This has the benefit of executing the contained code\r\nusing WScript under the current user's profile rather than requiring browser exploitation, although it does prompt\r\nthe user before doing so. The remote script files are heavily obfuscated, but all result in downloading and running\r\nQuant Loader when allowed to execute.\r\nBased on past attacks, Quant Loader is a trojan that typically distributes malware such as ransomware and\r\npassword stealers. It is sold on underground forums and allows the user to configure the payload(s) upon infection\r\nhttps://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nPage 1 of 5\n\nusing a management panel. Configurable malware offered for sale such as this is becoming more widespread,\r\nwhich allows malware development to be separated from distribution.\r\nThe campaign itself has been composed of a number of mini-campaigns—each lasting for a less than a day. They\r\nare utilizing an email content and file name pattern (with some emails having no text content and only a subject\r\nline), a single domain serving malicious script files over Samba, and a single variant of Quant being distributed\r\nfrom a handful of domains.\r\nThe Samba shares are publicly accessible while still active as shown in the image below. Interestingly, attempting\r\nto access the URLs via HTTP has led to redirects at times, resulting in a random key generator file to be\r\ndownloaded. Fortunately, these are generally flagged as malicious by most antivirus software. Based on the\r\nresearch we’ve done tracking this campaign—it isn’t showing up daily, but has shown up numerous times in\r\nMarch and April.\r\nhttps://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nPage 2 of 5\n\nWhile attackers attempt to devise novel approaches for tricking users into infecting themselves, these can often\r\nlend themselves to being more easily spotted by those with security knowledge. Avoiding file types in emails that\r\nyou are unfamiliar with is a good starting point, and certainly don't allow scripts to run that originated from files in\r\nemail as well. Many techniques rely on social engineering and untrained or careless users rather than highly\r\nsophisticated attacks and exploits. Not only are exploits easier to detect than techniques that rely on user\r\ninteraction, but they require significant resources to discover and utilize, aside from being regularly patched by\r\nsoftware vendors—which is a major obstacle for cybercriminals.\r\nhttps://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nPage 3 of 5\n\nTo recap, the techniques used in these\r\nattacks are:\r\nPhishing – emails sent to persuade the recipient into acting on their requests\r\nSocial Engineering – attackers engage with recipients in order to gain their trust and act on their malicious\r\nrequest\r\nExploit – CVE-2016-3353 was used to circumvent the browser and execute malicious scripts in user-space\r\nObfuscation – malicious scripts are heavily obfuscated to prevent or slow static analysis efforts\r\nTake Action:   \r\nUser Security Training and Awareness — Employees should be regularly trained and tested to increase their\r\nsecurity awareness of various targeted attacks. Simulated attack training is by far the most effective form of\r\ntraining. A solution like Barracuda PhishLine provides comprehensive, SCORM-compliant user training and\r\ntesting as well as phishing simulation for emails, voicemail, and SMS along with other helpful tools to train users\r\nto identify cyberattacks.\r\nhttps://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nPage 4 of 5\n\nAdditionally, layering employee training with an email security solution that offers sandboxing and advanced\r\nthreat protection should block malware before it ever reaches the corporate mail server. And, for protection against\r\nmessages that contain malicious links, you can deploy anti-phishing protection that includes Link Protection to\r\nlook for links to websites that contain malicious code. Links to these compromised websites are blocked, even if\r\nthose links are buried within the contents of a document.\r\nReal-Time Spear Phishing and Cyber Fraud Defense — Barracuda Sentinel is a cloud service that utilizes AI to\r\nlearn an organization’s communications history and prevent future spear phishing attacks. It combines three\r\npowerful layers: an artificial intelligence engine that stops spear phishing attacks in real time and identifies the\r\nmost high-risk individuals inside the company; domain fraud visibility using DMARC authentication to guard\r\nagainst domain spoofing and brand hijacking; and fraud simulation training for high-risk individuals.\r\nJonathan Tanner\r\nJonathan is a Senior Security Researcher at Barracuda Networks. Connect with him on LinkedIn here.\r\nSource: https://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nhttps://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/\r\nPage 5 of 5",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://blog.barracuda.com/2018/04/10/barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt/"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"barracuda-threat-spotlight-new-url-file-outbreak-could-be-a-ransomware-attempt"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
	"ts_created_at": 1775439002,
	"ts_updated_at": 1775791199,
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