PowerPoint is more dangerous than ever

In its latest findings, McAfee has discovered that there has been a surge in malicious PowerPoint documents.
In its latest findings, McAfee has discovered that there has been a surge in malicious PowerPoint documents.


McAfee has discovered a new trend in cyberattacks that has risen this year: the phishing campaign that utilizes macro capabilities available in Microsoft PowerPoint.


How is an attack launched?


An attacker will send a spam email with a PowerPoint document attached. When the user opens the PowerPoint, the VBA macro executes to deliver variants of the well-known password stealer, AgentTesla.


What is AgentTesla?


AgentTesla is a RAT (Remote Access Trojan) malware that was discovered in 2014. RATs like this are used as a MASS (Malware-As-A-Service) for attackers to steal under credentials via screenshots, keylogging, and clipboard information.

From Q1 to Q2, McAfee has seen PPT malware attacks triple in 2021. In these attacks, the spam email contains an attached file with a .ppam extension, a PowerPoint file containing VBA code. The sentiment used was finance-related themes such as: “New PO300093 Order” as shown below, where the attachment’s filename is “300093.pdf.ppam”.

PPAM files were first introduced in 2007 upon the release of Microsoft Office 2007. It is a PowerPoint macro-enabled Open XML add-in file and contains features that extend default PowerPoint Functions.

Since PowerPoint supports ‘add-ins’ developed by third parties to add new features, attackers abuse this feature to automatically execute macros. To learn more about how McAfee breaks down how to track the files released from the macros here.

READ MORE:
Symptoms of a wider issue

Earlier this year, Proofpoint and leading cybersecurity and top IT security research organization, Ponemon Institute, released a new study examining the Cost of Phishing. The report has revealed that the cost associated with phishing attacks has almost quadrupled in the last six years. As a result, large companies in the US are losing an average of US$14.8mn annually, or $1,500 per employee. This is a drastic $3.8mn increase from 2015’s figure.

For more news from Top Business Tech, don’t forget to subscribe to our daily bulletin!

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

Amber Donovan-Stevens

Amber is a Content Editor at Top Business Tech

How E-commerce Marketers Can Win Black Friday

Sue Azari • 11th November 2024

As new global eCommerce players expand their influence across both European and US markets, traditional brands are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape. These fast-growing Asian platforms have gained traction by offering ultra-low prices, rapid product turnarounds, heavy investment in paid user acquisition, and leveraging viral social media trends to create demand almost in real-time. This...

Why microgrids are big news

Craig Tropea • 31st October 2024

As the world continues its march towards a greener future, businesses, communities, and individuals alike are all increasingly turning towards renewable energy sources to power their operations. What is most interesting, though, is how many of them are taking the pro-active position of researching, selecting, and implementing their preferred solutions without the assistance of traditional...

Is automation the silver bullet for customer retention?

Carter Busse • 22nd October 2024

CX innovation has accelerated rapidly since 2020, as business and consumer expectations evolved dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, finding the best way to engage and respond to customers has become a top business priority and a key business challenge. Not only do customers expect the highest standard, but companies are prioritising superb CX to...

Automated Testing Tools and Their Impact on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 09th October 2024

Test automation refers to using specialized software tools and frameworks to automate the execution of test cases, thereby reducing the time and effort required for manual testing. This approach ensures that automation tests run quickly and consistently, allowing development teams to identify and resolve defects more effectively. Test automation provides greater accuracy by eliminating human...

Custom Software Development

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

There is a wide performance gap between industry-leading companies and other market players. What helps these top businesses outperform their competitors? McKinsey & Company researchers are confident that these are digital technologies and custom software solutions. Nearly 70% of the top performers develop their proprietary products to differentiate themselves from competitors and drive growth. As...

The Impact of Test Automation on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

Software systems have become highly complex now, with multiple interconnected components, diverse user interfaces, and business logic. To ensure quality, QA engineers thoroughly test these systems through either automated or manual testing. At Testlum, we met many software development teams who were pressured to deliver new features and updates at a faster pace. The manual...