DeadLock is a ransomware family discovered in July 2025. It is notable for not being associated with any known affiliate programs and for lacking a Data Leak Site (DLS). This, combined with the limited number of reported victims, has resulted in low exposure for the group. However, Group-IB specialists have discovered an interesting use of Polygon smart contracts for proxy server address rotation or distribution.
This finding warrants public attention, especially since the abuse of this specific blockchain for malicious purposes has not been widely reported. In addition, the recent discovery of similar techniques show that the abuse of smart contracts for malicious purposes could become an emerging trend.
Read more…
Source: Group IB
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Security Risks in Logistics APIs Used by E-Commerce Platforms
September 20, 2022
The connectivity that we’ve experienced of late has improved at an unprecedented speed and scale largely because application programming interfaces (APIs) enable the seamless integration of different systems from different entities. APIs integrate data and services between businesses and third-party vendors to address various market needs, enhance the provision of services, and obtain consumer insights, ...
- CISA Releases Eight industrial Control Systems Advisories
September 19, 2022
CISA has released eight (8) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories on September 20, 2022. These advisories provide timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits surrounding ICS. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the newly released ICS advisories for technical details and mitigations: • ICSA-22-263-01 Hitachi Energy PROMOD IV • ICSA-22-263-02 Hitachi Energy AFF660/665 Series • ICSMA-22-263-01 ...
- Russian Sandworm hackers pose as Ukrainian telcos to drop malware
September 19, 2022
The Russian state-sponsored hacking group known as Sandworm has been observed masquerading as telecommunication providers to target Ukrainian entities with malware. Sandworm is a state-backed threat actor attributed by the US government as part of the Russian GRU foreign military intelligence service. The APT hacking group is believed to have been behind numerous attacks this year, including ...
- Google, Microsoft can get your passwords via web browser’s spellcheck
September 17, 2022
Extended spellcheck features in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web browsers transmit form data, including personally identifiable information (PII) and in some cases, passwords, to Google and Microsoft respectively. While this may be a known and intended feature of these web browsers, it does raise concerns about what happens to the data after transmission and how ...
- Eastern European org hit by second record-smashing DDoS attack
September 16, 2022
Akamai says it has absorbed the largest-ever publicly known distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack – an assault against an unfortunate Eastern European organization that went beyond 700 million packets per second. This latest tsunami of traffic hit on Monday, according to the web infrastructure biz, and we’re told the cybercriminals responsible for the earlier record-setting ...
- CISA Releases Eleven Industrial Control Systems Advisories
September 15, 2022
CISA has released eleven (11) Industrial Control Systems (ICS) advisories on September 15, 2022. These advisories provide timely information about current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits surrounding ICS. CISA encourages users and administrators to review the newly released ICS advisories for technical details and mitigations: ICSA-22-258-01 Siemens Mobility CoreShield OWG Software ICSA-22-258-02 Siemens Simcenter Femap, Parasolid ICSA-22-258-03 Siemens RUGGEDCOM ...