Cybercriminals abuse popular scheduling tool Calendly to infect Macs with malware: be wary of suspicious links and invitations
Hackers use complex social engineering campaigns and calendar invites to spread Mac malware.
The hackers are abusing the calendar scheduling tool Calendly to distribute meeting invitations as part of their attempts to fool the best Mac antivirus.
The story behind this campaign is much more complex than the usual email spam you might be used to, so here’s how they did it and how you can protect yourself if you are targeted.
Shady investments
Made public by a reader of Krebs on safetyDuring the campaign, hackers went after cryptocurrency by posing as investors looking to fund their next startup. In this case, the victim was originally contacted via Telegram looking for an investment opportunity.
The scammer wanted to organize a meeting to discuss the possible investment opportunities, so the victims forwarded their Calendly details to organize a video call. The fateful day approached, but nothing happened when the victim tried to open the meeting link. Well, the scammers’ ‘IT team’ resolved the issue by sending a new meeting link.
Unfortunately, the second link opened a technical error message instead of the meeting, stating that there was an error with the video service. Luckily, the message contained a handy little script that resolved the issue, allowing the victim to finally get some face time with the potential investors.
Instead of getting the face of the generous benefactor, the script installed a Trojan with the ability to steal sensitive information from the victim’s Mac device. The victim realized the error of their ways, then changed their passwords and installed a new version of macOS.
While this was a good choice on the part of the victims, it unfortunately means that there is no evidence indicating exactly what type of malware was used.
To keep your device safe, always have a healthy amount of suspicion when receiving and clicking on links sent by a stranger, and make sure you keep your device up to date with the latest updates, or check out some of the best firewalls to keep your device safe.
Through Tom’s Guide