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:
- Metasploit Shellcodes Attack Exposed Docker APIs
October 12, 2020
We have discussed the importance of keeping Docker APIs secure in previous articles, as leaving them exposed can give cybercriminals unfettered access to the host with root privileges. This access can lead to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, remote code execution (RCE), and unauthorized cryptocurrency mining activity. We recently observed an interesting payload deployment using ...
- The most common malicious email attachments infecting Windows
October 11, 2020
To stay safe online, everyone needs to recognize malicious attachments that are commonly used in phishing emails to distribute malware. When distributing malware, threat actors create spam campaigns that pretend to be invoices, invites, payment information, shipping information, eFaxes, voicemails, and more. Included in these emails are malicious Word and Excel attachments, or links to them, ...
- Wormable Apple iCloud Bug Allows Automatic Photo Theft
October 9, 2020
A group of ethical hackers cracked open Apple’s infrastructure and systems and, over the course of three months, discovered 55 vulnerabilities, a number of which would have given attackers complete control over customer and employee applications. Of note, a critical, wormable iCloud account takeover bug would allow attackers to automatically steal all of a victim’s documents, ...
- Fitbit Spyware Steals Personal Data via Watch Face
October 9, 2020
A wide-open app-building API would allow an attacker to build a malicious application that could access Fitbit user data, and send it to any server. Kev Breen, director of cyber threat research for Immersive Labs, created a proof-of-concept for just that scenario, after realizing that Fitbit devices are loaded with sensitive personal data. “Essentially, ...
- ZeroLogon: Ransomware gang now using critical Windows flaw in attacks
October 9, 2020
Microsoft is warning that cybercriminals have started to incorporate exploit code for the ZeroLogon vulnerability in their attacks. The alert comes after the company noticed ongoing attacks from cyber-espionage group MuddyWater (SeedWorm) in the second half of September. This time, the threat actor is TA505, an adversary who is indiscriminate about the victims it attacks, with ...
- MontysThree: Industrial espionage with steganography and a Russian accent on both sides
October 8, 2020
In summer 2020 we uncovered a previously unknown multi-module C++ toolset used in highly targeted industrial espionage attacks dating back to 2018. Initially the reason for our interest in this malware was its rarity, the obviously targeted nature of the campaign and the fact that there are no obvious similarities with already known campaigns at ...