JKAnime Streaming Platform Hijacked To Spread CryptXXX Ransomware

Rather than distributing malicious software through traditional means, internet criminals are hijacking websites these days. Jkanime, one of the more popular anime streaming platforms in the world, was redirecting to a Neutrino EK landing page a few days ago. Considering how this platform has over 33 million monthly visitors, there is a high risk of infection.

JKAnime Users Beware!

It is not the first time Internet criminals resort to devious tactics to spread malware on a large scale. Several weeks ago, malicious banner advertising networks were showing ads which downloaded a malware payload onto visitors’ computers. This time, they hijacked popular anime streaming site Jkanime and redirected users to a landing page for the Neutrino Landing Kit.

The Neutrino Exploit Kit is one of the most potent solutions for internet criminals these days, after Angler and Nuclear suddenly decreased in popularity. According to Forcepoint security researchers, this landing page is designed to spread the CryptXXX 3.0 ransomware to as many people as possible.

It appears the Jkanime site had been injected with code which loads an iframe to direct visitors to the Neutrino EK page. Security researchers were quick to confirm the Jkanime site has been cleaned of any malicious code, and users can continue to access their favorite anime streams without concern.

Even if this attack managed to infect 1% of the site’s visitors, CryptXXX would be running rampant in the world. Although it is no guarantee visitors are efficiently infected due to this landing page, CryptXXX was the primary payload being downloaded to computers. Everyone who visited Jkanime in the past month or so may want to thoroughly check their computer for malicious software in the coming days.

CryptXXX 3.0 is not the only type of malware being spread through the Neutrino exploit kit at this time, though. Cerber ransomware, banking trojans, and keyloggers are some of the other unwanted guests that may be residing on JKanime users’ computers. According to Threatpost, users who have been infected with CryptXXX due to JKanime will be asked to pay a 1.2 Bitcoin ransom.

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