Dridex Lures Employees To Open Malicious Docs Via Fake Emails

December 23, 2021

Dridex, banking malware is currently being used to deceive employees into clicking on malicious Excel documents.

The malicious documents were sent to employees via fake employee termination emails.

These emails use the subject line “Employee Termination.” The content informs recipients that their employment will end on December 24th, 2021.

The email pointed out that “this decision is not reversible.” Embedded in the email is an attached Excel password-protected spreadsheet named ‘TermLetter.xls.”

As soon as an employee opens the Excel spreadsheet and enters the password, a blurry “Personnel Action Form” appears, asking them to “Enable Content” to display it properly.

Once activated, the victims receive a “Merry X-Mas Dear Employees!” pop-up message. Unknown to the victims, a malicious HTA file was stored in the C:\ ProgramData folder during the process. HTA contains a malicious VBScript that downloads Dridex from Discord to infect the device.

In order to mitigate this type of attack, users who receive such emails are advised to contact their human resources department or employees before opening the email.

For more information, read the original story in BleepingComputer.

Top Stories

Related Articles

March 4, 2026 Two Amazon Web Services data centres in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones over more...

March 4, 2026 OpenAI is developing an internal code-hosting platform that could compete with Microsoft-owned GitHub, according to a report more...

March 4, 2026 Ziff Davis has agreed to sell its Connectivity division, including Ookla’s Speedtest and Downdetector, to Accenture for more...

March 4, 2026 OpenAI has amended its agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense after CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the more...

Picture of TND News Desk

TND News Desk

Staff writer for Tech Newsday.
Picture of TND News Desk

TND News Desk

Staff writer for Tech Newsday.

Jim Love

Jim is an author and podcast host with over 40 years in technology.

Share:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn