VMware ESXi Zero-Day Used by Chinese Espionage Actor to Perform Privileged Guest Operations on Compromised Hypervisors

As Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions improve malware detection efficacy on Windows and Linux systems, certain state-sponsored threat actors have shifted to developing and deploying malware on systems that do not generally support EDR such as network appliances, SAN arrays, Read More …

Babuk code used by 9 ransomware gangs to encrypt VMWare ESXi servers

An increasing number of ransomware operations are adopting the leaked Babuk ransomware source code to create Linux encryptors targeting VMware ESXi servers. SentinelLabs security researchers observed this rising trend after spotting a rapid succession of nine Babuk-based ransomware variants that Read More …

Linux version of RTM Locker ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers

RTM Locker is the latest enterprise-targeting ransomware operation found to be deploying a Linux encryptor that targets virtual machines on VMware ESXi servers. The RTM (Read The Manual) cybercrime gang has been active in financial fraud since at least 2015, Read More …

Royal Ransomware expands attacks by targeting Linux ESXi servers

Ransomware actors have been observed to expand their targets by increasingly developing Linux-based versions. Trend Micro predicted in September 2022 that ransomware groups will would increasingly target Linux servers and embedded systems in the coming years after detecting a double-digit Read More …

New ESXiArgs ransomware version prevents VMware ESXi recovery

New ESXiArgs ransomware attacks are now encrypting more extensive amounts of data, making it much harder, if not impossible, to recover encrypted VMware ESXi virtual machines. Last Friday, a massive and widespread automated ransomware attack encrypted over 3,000 Internet-exposed VMware Read More …

CISA and FBI Release ESXiArgs Ransomware Recovery Guidance

Today, CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory, ESXiArgs Ransomware Virtual Machine Recovery Guidance. This advisory describes the ongoing ransomware campaign known as “ESXiArgs.” Malicious cyber actors may be exploiting known vulnerabilities in unpatched Read More …

Italy warns hackers targeting known server vulnerability

Thousands of computer servers have been targeted by a global ransomware hacking attack targeting VMware ESXi servers, Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) said on Sunday, warning organisations to take action to protect their systems. The hacking attack sought to exploit Read More …

Luna and Black Basta – new ransomware for Windows, Linux and ESXi

In Kaspersky crimeware reporting service, they analyze the latest crime-related trends we come across. If Kaspersky look back at what they covered last month, they will see that ransomware (surprise, surprise!) definitely stands out. In this blog post, Kaspersky researchers Read More …

New Linux-Based Ransomware Cheerscrypt Targets ESXi Devices

Tremd Micro researchers recently observed multiple Linux-based ransomware detections that malicious actors launched to target VMware ESXi servers, a bare-metal hypervisor for creating and running several virtual machines (VMs) that share the same hard drive storage. Trend Micro encountered Cheerscrypt, Read More …