South Korean manufacturing industry targeted with new backdoor program

The malware has been dubbed Duuzer and while it's not exclusively used against targets in South Korea, it does seem that the hacker group behind it have a preference for that country's manufacturing industry, according to security firm Symantec.

Duuzer was designed to work on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions and opens a back door through which attackers can gather system information; create, list and kill processes; access, modify and delete files; execute commands and more.

"It’s clearly the work of skilled attackers looking to obtain valuable information," researchers from Symantec's security response team said in a blog post.

Once a computer is infected with Duuzer, the attackers will attempt to hide the malware by finding an existing application and mimicking it. The program also has routines to stop running if it's executed in virtual machines, like the ones used by malware analysts and computer forensics specialists.

The Symantec researchers have found evidence that Duuzer is related to two other malware threats called Brambul and Joanap that have also been used in attacks against organizations from South Korea.

"The numerous malicious campaigns in the region highlight how attackers continue to see South Korea as an attractive target," the Symantec researchers said.

That is not necessarily surprising considering the large number of international companies, especially electronics manufacturers, headquartered in the country.