Suspicious activity occurring via Outlook

[theoldmole]

I have been receiving notifications that unusual activity has been taking place on Outlook. I just wanted to make sure it had nothing to do with anything that could have infected my computer.

Addition.txt FRST.txt

Edited July 15, 2022 by theoldmole

[Maurice Naggar]

Hello. Please provide lots of detail about "receiving notifications" . How is that relayed to you? By "email messages"?? If so, have you looked at the Email headers ?  Further, Have you scanned the system with Malwarebytes ? and that result ? Have you scanned your system with Antivirus ?

[theoldmole]

I receive an email from Microsoft regarding unusual activity whenever I open up Thunderbird. My recent activity on my Microsoft account shows an American IP address accessing my Outlook whenever I open up Thunderbird. I want to make sure that there is nothing on my PC that could be contributing to this before I move on and investigate other things.

I have scanned my computer with Malwarebytes and an antivirus. Both of the results were clean. I would really appreciate someone to go over those logs just to make sure something hasn't been missed.

[Maurice Naggar]

Regarding email notifications from Microsoft ( or, any other "notifier" about potential compromise):
Be sure to determine that those "emails" are not fake. That they are not phishing emails or fake made-up lures.
See these references on How to go about looking for HEADERS https://www.howtogeek.com/442317/how-to-read-message-headers-in-outlook/
also see Microsoft Support https://bit.ly/3BaLoHx

+
Where & how to check Headers on Thunderbird

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Be sure to check to see that Thunderbird is the latest release version.
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Did you make any recent adjustments that somehow "linked" one Email account to another ?
OR
maybe ( ? ) tweaked something in Thunderbird to do something new for the Outlook account ?
+
Are you sure that you did not somehow leave your Email address out on a social media venue ?
+
Q: Do you use strong passwords on your Email accounts ?  Does  each accont have its own password ?
+
Is it possible you used a new device to access Thunderbird or Outlook  ( thus, it might have triggered some kind of automated alert at the Email provider ??
+

I will guide you on doing a few system scans.

This here you can start & once it is under way, you can leave the machine alone & let it run over-night. No need to keep watch once it starts the actual scan run. 

Next, This will be a check with ESET Onlinescanner for viruses, other malware, adwares, & potentially unwanted applications.

Go to https://download.eset.com/com/eset/tools/online_scanner/latest/esetonlinescanner.exe

 

It will start a download of "esetonlinescanner.exe"

• Save the file to your system, such as the Downloads folder, or else to the Desktop.
• Go to the saved file, and double click it to get it started.

 

• When presented with the initial ESET options, click on "Computer Scan".
• Next, when prompted by Windows, allow it to start by clicking Yes
• When prompted for scan type, Click on Full scan

Look at & tick ( select ) the radio selection "Enable ESET to detect and quarantine potentially unwanted applications" and click on Start scan button.

• Have patience. The entire process may take an hour or more. There is an initial update download.

There is a progress window display. You may step away from machine &. Let it be.  That is, once it is under way, you should leave it running.  It will run for several hours.

• At screen "Detections occured and resolved" click on blue button "View detected results"
• On next screen, at lower left, click on blue "Save scan log"
• View where file is to be saved. Provide a meaningful name for the "File name:"
• On last screen, set to Off (left) the option for Periodic scanning
• Click "save and continue"
• Please attach the report file so I can review
• After this run, I expect that the main issue will be gone. Be sure to let me know "How things are" at this point.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Maurice Naggar

[theoldmole]

Quote

Did you make any recent adjustments that somehow "linked" one Email account to another ?
OR
maybe ( ? ) tweaked something in Thunderbird to do something new for the Outlook account ?
+
Are you sure that you did not somehow leave your Email address out on a social media venue ?
+
Q: Do you use strong passwords on your Email accounts ?  Does  each accont have its own password ?
+
Is it possible you used a new device to access Thundirbird or Outlook  ( thus, it might have triggered some kind of automated alert at the Email provider ??
+

• I have not.
• I am sure.
• I use strong passwords on all my accounts.
• I do not use any other device for this email.

I will respond again once the scan is finished. Just wanted to get that out of the way.

[theoldmole]

The scan was clean.

[Maurice Naggar]

The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free Microsoft stand-alone virus scanner that can be used to scan for & remove malware or potentially unwanted software from a system. 

The download links & the how-to-run-the tool are at this link at Microsoft 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/safety-scanner-download

 

Look on Scan Options & select  FULL scan  .

Then start the scan. Have lots of patience. Once you start the scan & you see it started, then leave it be.  

• Once you see it has started, take a long long break;  walk away.  Do not pay credence if you see some intermediate early flash messages on screen display.  The only things that count are the End result at the end of the run.
• Again, any on-screen display about repeat 'infection' is not to be relied on.  Ignore those.
• We only rely on the end result that is on the log-report-file.

 

This is likely to run for many hours   ( depending on number of files on your machine & the speed of hardware.)

The log is named MSERT.log  

the log will be at  

Windows\debug\msert.log

Please attach that log with your reply.

[theoldmole]

msert.log

[Maurice Naggar]

The result of the scan by Microsoft Safety Scanner is excellent.

Let's check your system with another ( different ) antivirus scan tool.

Please download and run the following Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2020 and save it to your Desktop.

(Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool version 20.0.10.0 was released on November 9, 2021)

Download: Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool

• How to run a scan with Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2020

          https://support.kaspersky.com/15674

• How to run Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2020 in the advanced mode

          https://support.kaspersky.com/15680

• How to restore a file removed during Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2020 scan

          https://support.kaspersky.com/15681

 

Select the    Windows Key and R Key together, the "Run" box should open. Drag and Drop KVRT.exe into the Run Box. C:\Users\{your user name}\DESKTOP\KVRT.exe will now show in the run box. add -dontencrypt   Note the space between KVRT.exe and -dontencrypt C:\Users\{your user name}\DESKTOP\KVRT.exe -dontencrypt should now show in the Run box.   That addendum to the run command is very important, when the scan does eventually complete the resultant report is normally encrypted, with the extra command it is saved as a readable file. Reports are saved here C:\KVRT2020_Data\Reports and look similar to this report_20210123_113021.klr Right-click direct onto that report, select > open with > Notepad. Save that file and attach it to your reply. To start the scan select OK in the "Run" box. A EULA window will open, tick all confirmation boxes then select "Accept" In the new window select "Change Parameters" In the new window ensure all selection boxes are ticked, then select "OK" The scan should now start... When complete if entries are found there will be options, if "Cure" is offered leave as is. For any other options change to "Delete" then select "Continue" When complete, or if nothing was found select "Close" Attach the report information as previously instructed... Thank you

[theoldmole]

report_2022.07.19_17.00.05.klr.txt

[Maurice Naggar]

The Kaspersky tool found no malware. DO a new scan with Malwarebytes. Let me know that result.

[theoldmole]

Scan was clear. Looks like it probably isn't on my end. Are the FRST logs clear? How do I uninstall that when we're done?

[Maurice Naggar]

The FRST reports are fine. 

This here is for tools cleanup.

Please download KpRm by kernel-panik and save it to your desktop.

• right-click kprm_(version).exe and select Run as Administrator.
• Read and accept the disclaimer.
• When the tool opens, ensure all boxes under Actions are checked.
• Under Delete Quarantines select Delete Now, then click Run.
• Once complete, click OK.
• A log may open in Notepad titled kprm-(date).txt.  I do not need it. Just close Notepad if it shows up.

Let me suggest that you get your browsers each, as applicable, to have the Malwarebytes Browser Guard.

See Support article how-to

https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038520374-Install-Malwarebytes-Browser-Guard

See Support article how-to for Firefox
https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413298841747--Install-Malwarebytes-Browser-Guard-on-Firefox-browser

For the EDGE browser https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413298736787-Install-Malwarebytes-Browser-Guard-on-Microsoft-Edge-browser

Note: If your pc also has Opera or Brave or Vivaldi browser, you can install the Chrome version of the Malwarebytes Browser Guard ( on each as appropriate).
 

[Maurice Naggar]

Glad we could help.

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Please review the following to help you better protect your computer and privacy Tips to help protect from infection

Thank you