What counts as ‘malware’? AWS clarifies its definition

Amazon Net Providers had sturdy phrases this week about analysis revealed on a brand new pressure of malware, which was found in its serverless computing service, AWS Lambda.

In an announcement (screengrab shared beneath), the general public cloud big went to some lengths to dispute the findings — and within the course of, made an uncommon assertion.

Particularly, the AWS assertion circulated this week to a number of media retailers together with VentureBeat mischaracterized what constitutes “malware,” numerous safety consultants confirmed.

The assertion got here in response to research in regards to the “Denonia” cryptocurrency mining software program, found by Cado Safety researchers in a Lambda serverless surroundings.

From the AWS assertion: “For the reason that software program depends solely on fraudulently obtained account credentials, it’s a distortion of details to even confer with it as malware as a result of it lacks the power to achieve unauthorized entry to any system by itself.”

It’s the second line within the above assertion — “it’s a distortion of details to even confer with it as malware” — that’s not appropriate, in response to safety consultants.

“Software program doesn’t have to achieve unauthorized entry to a system by itself as a way to be thought-about malware,” mentioned Allan Liska, intelligence analyst at Recorded Future. “In actual fact, many of the software program that we classify as malware doesn’t achieve unauthorized entry and is as a substitute deployed in a later stage of the assault.”

Malicious intent

Defining the character of a chunk of software program is all in regards to the intention of the particular person utilizing it, in response to Ken Westin, director of safety technique at Cybereason.

Merely put: “If their objective is to compromise an asset or info with it, then it’s thought-about malware,” Westin mentioned.

Some malware variants do have the potential to autonomously achieve unauthorized entry to methods, mentioned Alexis Dorais-Joncas, safety intelligence group lead at ESET. One of the well-known circumstances is NotPetya, which massively unfold by itself, by way of the web, by exploiting a software program vulnerability in Home windows, Dorais-Joncas famous.

Nonetheless, “the overwhelming majority of all applications ESET considers malware would not have that functionality,” he mentioned.

Thus, within the case of Denonia, the one issue that basically issues is that the code was meant to run with out authorization, mentioned Stel Valavanis, founder and CEO of OnShore Safety.

“That’s malware by intent,” Valavanis mentioned.

Cryptomining software program

Denonia seemed to be a custom-made variant of XMRig, a well-liked cryptominer, famous Avi Shua, cofounder and CEO at Orca Safety.

Whereas XMRig can be utilized for non-malicious cryptomining, the overwhelming majority of safety distributors think about it to be malware, Shua mentioned, citing information from menace intelligence web site VirusTotal.

“It’s fairly clear that [Denonia] was malicious,” he mentioned.

The underside line, in response to Huntress senior menace researcher Greg Ake, is that malware is “software program with a malicious intent.”

“I’d assume an affordable jury of friends would discover software program that was put in with the intent to abuse obtainable pc assets — with out the proprietor’s consent, utilizing stolen credentials for private revenue and achieve — could be categorized as malicious intent,” Ake mentioned.

Not a worm

Nonetheless, whereas Denonia is clearly malware, AWS Lambda is just not “weak” to it, per se, in response to Bogdan Botezatu, director of menace analysis and reporting at Bitdefender.

The malware was possible planted by stolen credentials and “issues would have been utterly totally different if the Denonia malware would be capable to unfold itself from one Labmda occasion to a different — somewhat than get copied on situations by stolen credentials,” Botezatu mentioned. “This is able to make it a worm, which might have devastating penalties.”

And this distinction, in the end, appears to have been the actual level that AWS was attempting to make.

VentureBeat contacted AWS for touch upon the truth that many safety consultants don’t agree that deeming Denonia to be malware is a “distortion of details.” The cloud big responded Friday with a brand new assertion — suggesting that what the corporate meant to say was that Denonia is just not actually “Lambda-focused malware.”

“Calling Denonia a Lambda-focused malware is a distortion of truth, because it doesn’t use any vulnerability within the Lambda service,” AWS mentioned within the new assertion.

“Denonia doesn’t goal Lambda utilizing any of the actions included within the accepted definition of malware,” the assertion says. “It’s merely malicious software program configured to efficiently execute by way of Lambda, not due to Lambda or with any Lambda-exclusive achieve.”

So there you could have it. The sooner AWS assertion is included beneath.