Hackers are exploiting Adobe Creative Cloud to harvest user credentials


Hackers have come up with a new way to leverage the popularity of Adobe Creative Cloud to bypass email security solutions and harvest user credentials.
Beginning in December of last year, Checkpoint-owned Avanan observed a new wave of hackers creating Adobe accounts for nefarious purposes. After creating an account, the hackers then import a PDF file into Adobe’s cloud storage which contains links to sites used to harvest the credentials of unsuspecting users.
By sharing files containing malicious links using Adobe Creative Cloud, attackers are able to appear legitimate to potential victims while also ensuring that their emails will be able to bypass Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and other endpoint protection software.
Hiding credential harvesting pages
In a new blog post, Avanan explains that these attacks begin with an innocent-looking PDF sent via Adobe Acrobat and shared with a user over email. These emails arrive directly from Adobe and a sense of urgency is instilled by an attacker to trick potential victims into opening them.
When a user clicks “Open”, they are redirected to a fake Adobe Document Cloud page where they’ll need to click on another button to access their document. While a discerning user may notice the spelling and formatting errors, those in a hurry might click through without thinking. If they do, they are then redirected to a classic credential harvesting page hosted outside of Adobe Creative Cloud where they’re prompted to log in and in doing so, give up their email address and password to an attacker.
Over the course of last few weeks, Avanan has observed thousands of these attacks including 400 in 2022 alone.
To avoid falling victim to this and other similar attacks, end users should carefully inspect all Adobe Creative Cloud pages for grammar and spelling, hover over links to ensure the intended page is legitimate and ensure their antivirus software can open PDF files in a sandbox and inspect all links contained within them.
We’ve also highlighted the best firewall, best endpoint protection software and best malware removal software
Audio player loading… Hackers have come up with a new way to leverage the popularity of Adobe Creative Cloud to bypass email security solutions and harvest user credentials. Beginning in December of last year, Checkpoint-owned Avanan observed a new wave of hackers creating Adobe accounts for nefarious purposes. After creating…
Recent Posts
- AMD’s Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT are gunning for NVIDIA’s mid-range throne
- The Rings of Power season 3 adds Stranger Things’ Jamie Campbell Bower and Heartstopper’s Eddie Marsan to its cast, and I think they’re perfect for two specific roles
- The iPhone 16e doesn’t have MagSafe, but apparently Apple thinks you didn’t want it anyway
- How to Watch the 2025 Oscars Online
- Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia now works for DOGE
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010