Fallout Exploit Kit

There are all sorts of malware components, and Fallout Exploit Kit is a type of component that you will probably not notice at first. In fact, regular users wouldn’t even realize they get exposed to this exploit kit because it works in the background. However, you will definitely notice the EFFECTS of this exploit because it will either infect you with some malware program or your data will be stolen. Therefore, with this description, we would like to tell you more about this exploit, and then offer you a piece of advice on how to avoid such threats.

The good news is that Fallout Exploit Kit has been inactive for quite some time now. However, there are multiple other exploits out there, and they could easily employ the same tactics to terrorize Windows users all over the world. So, it is always a good idea to learn from similar cases so that we would prevent similar problems from reoccurring again. What’s more, Fallout Exploit Kit can always come back with wider functionality, thus causing more damage than before. So, it’s necessary to educate ourselves about all sorts of security threats, and what they can do.

Fallout Exploit Kit can be held responsible for distributing multiple ransomware infections. Our research shows that it is known to be part of the distribution network that spreads GandCrab Ransomware, SmokeLoader Trojan, and several other infections. We usually say that malware doesn’t recognize national borders, but they can often be region-based. The same can be applied to Fallout Exploit Kit as well. This activity of this exploit was mostly noted in certain Asian countries, Europe, and the Middle East.

This exploit kit attacks websites that have certain vulnerabilities in their landing pages. It means that when you open a website, the page that you see might have Fallout Exploit Kit there if the vulnerabilities haven’t been taken care of. As far as we know, Fallout Exploit Kit makes use of the CVE-2018-8174 and CVE-2018-4878 vulnerabilities. The former is a remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows VBScript engine. This vulnerability has been patched last year, so there shouldn’t be a problem if everyone updates their Windows. The same applies to the latter vulnerability, too. This vulnerability was present in Adobe Flash until it was patched in February 2018.

What do we get from this? It shows how important it is to apply software updates. Software updates often patch bugs and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by something like Fallout Exploit Kit. Therefore, turning off the automatic update option is not a good idea.

How would Fallout Exploit Kit work in the past? Well, our research team says that this exploit would first try to exploit the vulnerability in the VBScript, but if the script is disabled, then it would lunge onto the Adobe Flash vulnerability. Fallout Exploit Kit would generate a Shellcode that is used to retrieve an encrypted payload. Then this exploit decrypts the payload and executes it. If that weren’t enough, Fallout Exploit Kit might automatically install a Trojan infection on the target system just to see whether the system has certain security processes running.

This shows that Fallout Exploit Kit is programmed to attack only vulnerable systems that might not be able to protect themselves from this threat. Also, it is never clear what other threats might enter the target systems if they encounter Fallout Exploit Kit. As mentioned, this exploit could be used to promote and distribute Trojan and ransomware infections.

Although we can discuss all the programs that employ Fallout Exploit Kit one by one, the bottom line remains the same: Users have to remain vigilant when they browse the web. You cannot really remove Fallout Exploit Kit because it is out there on the web, and it doesn’t access your system per se.

Thus, the main forms of resistance against Fallout Exploit Kit and other similar threats remain as follows: software updates and traffic monitoring. We already mentioned how vital it is to regularly update your software, but we will mention it again. Also, if you have the ability to monitor your traffic, you should look out for odd traffic behavior. Last but not least, make sure you stay away from websites of questionable reputation because they could be a really good exploit hub.