What is a Clipboard Injector Malware? And, How Does Clipboard Injector Malware Targets Crypto Users?

Threat actors are always good at modifying some good old attacking techniques and hunting for their prey. Replacing clipboard content is a type of attack that has been in use for over a decade, still, some techniques are very relevant even today.

In this article, we are looking into one such attack. We will walk you through what is clipboard injector malware and how does clipboard injector malware targets crypto users.

What is Clipboard Injector Malware?

The clipboard injector malware is designed to interact with Windows clipboard viewers, enabling it to detect any changes made to the clipboard data. It then uses a set of predefined regular expressions to search for specific text patterns, which are replaced with randomly selected addresses from a pre-existing list.The clipboard injector malware is designed to interact with Windows clipboard viewers, enabling it to detect any changes made to the clipboard data. It then uses a set of predefined regular expressions to search for specific text patterns, which are replaced with randomly selected addresses from a pre-existing list.

These attacks are dated back to 2013 when banking trojans were used to replace account numbers copied in the clipboard, but they had some limitations. However, Cryptocurrency wallets, which are globally accessible and not tied to a specific provider, have become a preferred target for crypto thieves due to their high potential for financial gain from the increased value of cryptocurrencies.These attacks are dated back to 2013 when banking trojans were used to replace account numbers copied in the clipboard but they had some limitations. However, Cryptocurrency wallets, which are globally accessible and not tied to a specific provider, have become a preferred target for crypto thieves due to their high potential for financial gain from the increased value of cryptocurrencies.

Why Clipboard Injector Malware is dangerous?

The attack is pretty simple, but what creates the damage? This malware can do irreversible money transfers, and for a normal user, it is so difficult to detect. Unlike traditional malware, which has a communication channel, the clipboard injector malware doesn’t need one, which makes it more dangerous and harmfulThe attack is pretty simple, but what creates the damage? This malware can do irreversible money transfers, and for a normal user, it is so difficult to detect. Unlike traditional malware, which has a communication channel, the clipboard injector malware doesn’t need one, which makes it more dangerous and harmful.

Clipboard injectors can stay dormant for a longer period of time, showing no presence or activity and attack you in the least expected time by replacing the crypto wallet address. Again, unlike traditional malware, which uses bad infrastructure (blacklisted IP, domain, etc.) Clipboard injectors execute their malicious payload only when a specific external condition is satisfied, which involves the presence of a certain data format in the clipboard.

How Does Clipboard Injector Malware Targets Crypto Users?

Recently, malware has been targeting Tor Browser, which is used to access the dark web through the Tor network. This coincides with Russia’s ban on the Tor Project’s website, despite having over 300,000 daily Tor users and being the second-largest country by the number of Tor users in 2021.Recently, malware has been targeting Tor Browser, which is used to access the dark web through the Tor network. This coincides with Russia’s ban on the Tor Project’s website, despite having over 300,000 daily Tor users and being the second-largest country by the number of Tor users in 2021.

This news helped malware authors to create trojanized app bundles of Tor and was distributed to the Russian-speaking community. Starting from December 2021, some versions of torbrowser_ru.exe were discovered, but it wasn’t until August 2022 that a significant increase in the distribution of these malicious files was seen. They were disguised as Tor Browser installers with Russian language packs included in the name.

Tor Browser Trojan (Source: Kaspersky)

This news helped malware authors to create trojanized app bundles of Tor and was distributed to the Russian-speaking community. Starting from December 2021, some versions of torbrowser_ru.exe were discovered, but it wasn’t until August 2022 that a significant increase in the distribution of these malicious files was seen. They were disguised as Tor Browser installers with Russian language packs included in the name.