Skip to main content

DeathRansom, started as a mere joke is now encrypting files!


A ransomware strain named DeathRansom, which was considered a joke earlier, evolved and is now capable of encrypting files, cyber-security firm Fortinet reports. This DeathRansom after becoming an actual malware, was backed by a solid distribution campaign and has been taking victims daily in the last two months.

 Initially considered a joke - didn't encrypt anything 

 When it was first reported in Nov 2019, the DeathRansom version didn't encrypt anything and was deemed a mere joke. The infection left a simple ransom note and even though some people fell for the scam and paid the ransom demand, it didn't do much anything else. All the user had to do was to remove the second extension from the file to regain access.

 Now, a new version is released that actually works and will encrypt your files! 

 The developers seems to have evolved the malware further with a solid encryption scheme that works as an actual ransomware. According to Fortinet, "the new DeathRansom strains use a complex combination of Curve25519 algorithm for the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key exchange scheme, Salsa20, RSA-2048, AES-256 ECB, and a simple block XOR algorithm to encrypt files."

 Researchers and security experts are searching leek ways and implementation faults in the ransomware.

 The DeathRansom Author

 Fortinet examined the DeathRansom source code and the websites distributing the malware payloads and were able to track down the ransomware author and developer. The developer is a malware operator linked to various cyber crimes campaigns over the past few years. Prior to DeathRansom, the malware operator used to infect users with multiple password stealers (Vidar, Azorult, Evrial, 1ms0rryStealer) and cryptocurrency miners (SupremeMiner).

 Fortinet linked these crimes to young Russian named Egor Nedugov, living in Aksay, a small Russian town near Rostov-on-Don. Fortinet said,"They are very confident they found the right man behind DeathRansom, and that they found even more online profiles from the same actor which they didn't include in their report."

 As of now, DeathRansom is being distributed through phishing emails. Fortinet says it's working on finding any faults in the encryption scheme of the ransomware and creating a free decrypter to help victims.


source https://www.ehackingnews.com/2020/01/deathransom-started-as-mere-joke-is-now.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Betting and Gambling Websites under Cyberattack from Chinese Hackers

Since last year's summers, Chinese hackers have been targeting South Asian companies that own online gambling and betting websites. The gambling companies in South Asia have confirmed the hacks, whereas rumors of cyberattacks on betting websites have also emerged from Europe, and the Middle East, however, the rumors are yet to confirm, says the reports of cybersecurity group Trend Micro and Talent-Jump. Cybersecurity experts claim that no money was stolen in these hacks against the gambling websites. However, hackers have stolen source codes and databases. The motive of the attack was not a cybercrime, but rather espionage intended attack to gain intelligence. According to the experts, a group named ' DRBControl ' is responsible for the cyberattack. According to the reports of Trend Micro, the hacking techniques used in this particular cyberattack incident is similar to methods done by Emissary Panda and Winnti. All of these hacking groups are from China that has launc...
5 comments
Read more

Github Escapes from Octopus Malware that Affected its 26 Software Projects

Github, a platform where every malicious software report is equally different in its place, manages to escape from a malware threat.  Github, an organization that united the world's largest community of coders and software developers, revealed that hackers exploited an open-source platform on its website to distribute malware. The hackers used a unique hacking tool that enabled backdoors in each software project, which the hackers used to infiltrate the software systems. "While we have seen many cases where the software supply chain was compromised by hijacking developer credentials or typosquatting popular package names, a malware that abuses the build process and its resulting artifacts to spread is both interesting and concerning for multiple reasons," said Github on its security blog. Fortunately, the hackers attempt to exploit the open-source platform was unsuccessful. Still, if it were, on the contrary, hackers could've secured a position in the softwares, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maze Ransomware Operators Leaked 2GB of Financial Data from Bank of Costa Rica (BCR)

Bank of Costa Rica (BCR) has been receiving threats from the threat actors behind Maze ransomware who have stolen credit card details from the bank, the ransomware gang started publishing the encrypted financial details this week. The Banco de Costa Rica is one of the strongest state-owned commercial banks operated in Costa Rica, starting from humble origins of mainly being a private commercial bank, it expanded to become a currency issuer and one of the most renowned baking firms in Central America contributing largely in the financial development of the nation. The hacker group behind the data leak have demanded a ransom from Banco de Costa Rica at various occasions, however, to their dismay they observed a lack of seriousness in the way the bank dealt with these previous leaks and it served as a primary reason that motivated the latest data leak, according to an interview with Maze ransomware operators. As per the claims made by the attackers, Banco de Costa Rica's netw...
Post a Comment
Read more