The new iteration of ReverseRAT includes web camera access and the ability to steal files via USB drives, explains Lumen's Mike Benjamin.

Kelsey Ziser, Senior Editor

September 7, 2021

Lumen's Mike Benjamin: An old RAT with new tricks

Lumen's Mike Benjamin joins the podcast to discuss the recent ReverseRAT update, a malware scheme that was used to target government and energy-sector organizations in India and Afghanistan.

"Ultimately, it's meant to be able to control a computer remotely," says Benjamin. "That could be everything from simple command execution, to file exfiltration, screen sharing, webcam control – anything you might want to do to a computer remotely fits under the RAT umbrella."

Benjamin and his team at Lumen's security research division, Black Lotus Labs, have been closely following the Remote Access Trojan (RAT) threat. The new iteration of ReverseRAT includes web camera access and the ability to steal files via USB drives, explains Benjamin.

In addition to explaining the new updates to this RAT, Benjamin shares steps enterprises can take to prevent and remediate these types of threats. He also provides insights into how users can take ownership over protecting their devices and how to get in the mindset of recognizing potential threats.

Check out our initial conversation with Benjamin about ReverseRAT here.

— Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Kelsey Ziser

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Kelsey is a senior editor at Light Reading, co-host of the Light Reading podcast, and host of the "What's the story?" podcast.

Her interest in the telecom world started with a PR position at Connect2 Communications, which led to a communications role at the FREEDM Systems Center, a smart grid research lab at N.C. State University. There, she orchestrated their webinar program across college campuses and covered research projects such as the center's smart solid-state transformer.

Kelsey enjoys reading four (or 12) books at once, watching movies about space travel, crafting and (hoarding) houseplants.

Kelsey is based in Raleigh, N.C.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like