wrong button
Digital Risk Protection Group-IB Department Operations Director Vladimir Kalugin said that pirated copies of “Batman” with acceptable quality Russian-dubbed “Batman”, led by Matt Reeves, are already distributed on the network, but sites with images are sources of malware. socialbites.ca.
“In such cases, so-called ‘dark patterns’ are used – interface elements designed to deceive users and force them to perform actions they do not want to do,” said the expert.
According to Kalugin, a popular way to deceive Russians is to simultaneously place several “download” buttons on the page with the movie.
“Only one will actually allow you to download the movie, and the rest will redirect to other sites or download unwanted software onto the user’s device,” the expert warned.
The Group-IB researcher explained that the malware can be downloaded both directly and via torrents, and usually the filename is created based on the name of the movie or TV show the user is visiting.
“Such files can be identified by their extension – malware will have the extension of an executable file (.exe, .bat, etc.) and not a video file (.mp4, .mkv, .avi, etc.)”, the speaker explained.
According to Kalugin, Group-IB experts have discovered that a scheme by which viruses enter Russian computers through a fake video file is becoming increasingly popular. He explained that in this case we are talking about direct download links, not torrent files.
“This is a scheme by which thieves are deployed – programs that steal confidential data from the device,” said the expert.
According to Group-IB, in the last six months alone, attackers have stolen more than half a million user data.
dangerous innovation
In the first half of April 2022, compared to the same period in March, Kaspersky Lab experts detected almost 30% more attempts to infect devices with various threats mentioning Batman.
Anton Ivanov, a cybersecurity specialist at Kaspersky Lab, told Gazeta.ru that this includes a situation where a user risks encountering an unwanted or malicious file disguised as a movie.
However, the expert pointed out that there are other ways to potentially exploit the user’s computer, often on dubious sources. For example, someone who wants to watch Batman may be asked to “register” to watch the movie. In fact, as a result, when you click on the button, you go to a page that redirects you to a partner site or forces you to subscribe to advertising push notifications in the browser.
The expert explained that in the first case, the purpose of people who implement such a scheme with redirection is monetization. According to Ivanov, resource creators can receive certain bonuses for traffic.
“Push notifications can offer to go both to a completely harmless site and to a scam resource where a person risks being scammed online and losing their money or data,” Ivanov warned.
Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson as the comic book superhero, Batman is available on HBO Max on April 18, 45 days after its US release. The image is available for viewing by service users, but is not available in Russia.
“Batman” was scheduled to be released in Russian cinemas on March 2, but the vision was delayed indefinitely. Currently, there is no official way for Russian audiences to watch the movie domestically.
But there are non-standard options for seeing the picture in Russian dubbing. For example, “Batman” dated March 2 can be viewed in the official Russian version in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Some fans of the superhero noted on social media that they made such a trip, even though it cost much more than a regular movie ticket.
Source: Gazeta
