- Thanos Ransomware: Destructive Variant Targeting State-Run Organizations in the Middle East and North Africa
September 4, 2020
On July 6 and July 9, 2020, we observed files associated with an attack on two state-run organizations in the Middle East and North Africa that ultimately installed and ran a variant of the Thanos ransomware. The Thanos variant created a text file that displayed a ransom message requesting the victim transfer “20,000$” into a ...
- XCSSET Update: Browser Debug Modes, Inactive Ransomware
September 4, 2020
In our first blog post that covered XCSSET, we discussed its relatively unique danger to Xcode developers and the way it took advantage of two macOS vulnerabilities to maximize what it can take from an infected machine. Our research into this incident is still ongoing, and in this blog post, we cover some other aspects of ...
- Cetus: Cryptojacking Worm Targeting Docker Daemons
August 27, 2020
Unsecured Docker daemons have been known to security professionals as a major threat since the early days of containers. Unit 42 recently wrote about Graboid, the first-ever Docker cryptojacking worm and unsecured Docker daemons. I conducted additional research by setting up a Docker daemon honeypot in order to examine how things look for an average ...
- SunCrypt Ransomware sheds light on the Maze ransomware cartel
August 26, 2020
A ransomware named SunCrypt has joined the ‘Maze cartel,’ and with their membership, we get insight into how these groups are working together. In June, we broke the story that the Maze threat actors created a cartel of ransomware operations to share information and techniques to help each other extort their victims. When first started, this cartel ...
- Transparent Tribe: Evolution analysis, part 2
August 26, 2020
Transparent Tribe, also known as PROJECTM or MYTHIC LEOPARD, is a highly prolific group whose activities can be traced as far back as 2013. In the last four years, this APT group has never taken time off. They continue to hit their targets, which typically are Indian military and government personnel. This is the second of ...
- Conti (Ryuk) joins the ranks of ransomware gangs operating data leak sites
August 25, 2020
It has now become a mainstream tactic for big ransomware groups to create so-called “leak sites” where they upload and leak sensitive documents from companies who refuse to pay the ransomware decryption fee. These “leak sites” are part of a new trend forming on the cybercriminal underground where ransomware groups are adopting a new tactic called ...
- DarkSide: New targeted ransomware demands million dollar ransoms
August 21, 2020
A new ransomware operation named DarkSide began attacking organizations earlier this month with customized attacks that have already earned them million-dollar payouts. Starting around August 10th, 2020, the new ransomware operation began performing targeted attacks against numerous companies. In a “press release” issued by the threat actors, they claim to be former affiliates who had made millions ...
- Transparent Tribe: Evolution analysis, part 1
August 20, 2020
Transparent Tribe, also known as PROJECTM and MYTHIC LEOPARD, is a highly prolific group whose activities can be traced as far back as 2013. Proofpoint published a very good article about them in 2016, and since that day, we have kept an eye on the group. We have periodically reported their activities through our APT ...
- WannaRen ransomware author contacts security firm to share decryption key
August 19, 2020
A major ransomware outbreak hit Chinese internet users earlier this year in April. For about a week, a ransomware strain known as WannaRen made tens of thousands of victims among both home consumers and local Chinese and Taiwanese companies. Looking back, in retrospect, four months later, WannaRen’s virality can be explained due to the fact that ...
- Threat Recap: Darkside, Crysis, Negasteal, Coinminer
August 19, 2020
In the past few weeks, we have spotted notable developments for different types of threats. For ransomware, a new family named Darkside surfaced, while operators behind Crysis/Dharma released a hacking toolkit. For messaging threats, a targeted email campaign was used to propagate Negasteal/Agent Tesla. Finally, for fileless threats, a coinminer was seen bundled with legitimate applications. Read ...