Just as malware can come in many forms, they can be hidden via many means. Security researchers have discovered a new one that hides within WAV audio files to deliver malicious code and cryptocurrency miners.
The infectious WAV files appear innocuous until you play it. Security researchers discovered that the these either produced a normal music piece with no quality issues, or just generated white noise. When you do play them, though, the embedded code installs a Monero miner in some instances, or opens up a PC to remote attacks in others.
Being hidden in audio files make the malicious code very difficult to detect. And it’s not limited to audio files either. The researchers say that the same method can be used to hide malware in any other type of file.
All that said, this new type of malware seems to propagate via email. With that in mind, staying safe is as simple as not opening suspicious files, especially those that came from emails.
(Source: ThreatVector via TechRadar)
