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:
- Norwegian student tracks Bluetooth headset wearers by wardriving around Oslo on a bicycle
September 4, 2021
A Norwegian student who went wardriving around Oslo on a pushbike has discovered that several popular models of Bluetooth headphones don’t implement MAC address randomisation – meaning they can be used to track their wearers. Norwegian state broadcaster NRK revealed Bjorn Hegnes’ findings after helping him analyse Bluetooth emissions from a dozen different models of audio ...
- Analyzing SSL/TLS Certificates Used by Malware
September 3, 2021
Malware has increasingly been making use of encryption to help hide their network traffic in recent years. This makes sense especially when one realizes that ordinary network traffic is increasingly encrypted as well. Google’s own Transparency Report notes that HTTPS traffic now makes up the vast majority of network traffic passed via the Google Chrome ...
- The Evolution of Connected Cars as Defined by Threat Modeling UN R155-Listed Attack Vectors
September 3, 2021
The United Nations Regulation No. 155 sets provisions for cybersecurity and cyber security management systems in vehicles. A notable section of the document is Annex 5, which lists 69 attack vectors affecting vehicle cybersecurity. In order to help organizations comply with this regulation, we conducted a threat modelling exercise on the defined attack vectors as ...
- Threat Brief: CVE-2021-26084
September 3, 2021
On Aug. 25, 2021, Atlassian released a security advisory for an injection vulnerability in Confluence Server and Data Center, CVE-2021-26084. If the vulnerability is exploited, threat actors could bypass authentication and run arbitrary code on unpatched systems. Since the release of this advisory, mass scanning activity has started to occur, seeking unpatched systems, and in-the-wild ...
- Conti ransomware now hacking Exchange servers with ProxyShell exploits
September 3, 2021
The Conti ransomware gang is hacking into Microsoft Exchange servers and breaching corporate networks using recently disclosed ProxyShell vulnerability exploits. ProxyShell is the name of an exploit utilizing three chained Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207) that allow unauthenticated, remote code execution on unpatched vulnerable servers. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer
- Babuk ransomware’s full source code leaked on hacker forum
September 3, 2021
A threat actor has leaked the complete source code for the Babuk ransomware on a Russian-speaking hacking forum. Babuk Locker, also known internally as Babyk, is a ransomware operation launched at the beginning of 2021 when it began targeting businesses to steal and encrypt their data in double-extortion attacks. Read more… Source: Bleeping Computer