Zloader Campaigns at a Glance
Archived: 2026-04-05 16:59:37 UTC
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a Glance
The ZBOT (aka Zeus) trojan has been one of the most prolific and enduring malware families of the past 20 years.
After its first appearance in 2006news- cybercrime-and-digital-threats, its source code was leaked in 2011, leading
to a plethora of new variants that plagued organizations over the succeeding years.
One of the most notable recent ZBOT variants is Zloader. First compiled under the name Silent Nightopen on a
new tab in late 2019, it has evolved from being an information stealer to a multipurpose dropper that provides
malicious actors the means to install and execute other malware and tools such as Cobalt Strike, DarkSide, and
Ryuk. In addition, it has other capabilities, such as the ability to provide remote access to attackers and install
plug-ins for additional routines.
Zloader has multiple delivery methods, such as via email campaigns or downloads by other malware and hacking
tools. One of the most basic yet reliable methods for individuals and organizations to avoid being infected by
Zloader and other malware with similar arrival techniques is to apply security best practices to their emails. This
includes avoiding downloading attachments or selecting links from emails that look suspicious or appear to be out
of context.
Zloader’s versatility has made it a popular and effective campaign tool for any threat actor that is willing to pay
for it. We already witnessed this in past campaigns — some of which took advantage of current events such as the
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Covid-19 pandemic — and we can expect to see it again in future campaigns from other threat actors.
Organizations can mitigate the impact of Zloader by employing robust security solutions and services. Trend
Micro’s robust native XDR capabilities are tied together by Trend Micro Vision One™products, which connects
email, endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and networks in order to provide a better context and perspective of
the entire chain of events of an attack, while also allowing security personnel to investigate and act from a single
place.
Furthermore, managed security services, such as Trend Micro™ Managed XDRservices, provides expert threat
monitoring, correlation, and analysis from experienced cybersecurity professionals via a single and capable source
of detection, analysis, and response. This expertise is further bolstered by AI-optimized, Trend Micro solutions
that draw from global threat intelligence.
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
Zloader uses the following tactics and techniques, as mapped out according to the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix.
Indicators of Compromise
The IOCs for Zloader can be found in this appendixopen on a new tab.
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Source: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/zloader-campaigns-at-a-glance
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