Hackers Started using Python for Developing New Ransomware

Ransomware has been one of the top threats to organizations, contributing several millions of dollars to multiple organizations worldwide.

Most of these ransomware operators infiltrate the systems, steal sensitive data, and lock the systems with ransomware.

There have been a variety of ransomware activities in the past, such as WannaCry, GandCrab, and many others.

Most of the ransomware operators use custom-written ransomware for their operations. However, there has been a rise in Python-based ransomware variants in recent years.

Document
Run Free ThreatScan on Your Mailbox

AI-Powered Protection for Business Email Security

Trustifi’s Advanced threat protection prevents the widest spectrum of sophisticated attacks before they reach a user’s mailbox. Try Trustifi Free Threat Scan with Sophisticated AI-Powered Email Protection .

New Python Ransomware

According to the K7 labs report, a recent ransomware sample was found and investigated. It turned out to be written in Python, which is not common. The ransomware binary was checked in VirusTotal and was detected by 47 antivirus providers.

Virustotal Analysis (Source: K7 Security Labs)

The malicious file was found to be an executable file compiled in C++. Moreover, the executable file had a PDF icon as a means of disguising its original extension. To further investigate, the malicious PDF file was extracted with pyinstxtractor. Further analysis revealed the main source code file under the name “grinchv3.pyc”.

PDF and pyinstxtractor (Source: K7 Security Labs)

Behavioral Analysis

The script was written with several lines of code under a single class named “sweet.” The __init__ function of the class gathers additional information and performs the following functions.

  • Fetches the current user of the victim machine
  • Drive partition scanning (A:\ to Z:\ is scanned)
  • Determining the Type of files to encrypt

Moreover, the encryption is started only after adding the unlock notes under the name “UNLOCK MY FILES.txt” on all the file paths that are about to be encrypted. For encryption, the Fernet Python cryptography module was used. After encrypting, a pop-up message is configured to be shown to the user.

All the encrypted files are under the extension “.enc” and remain unreadable after the ransomware encrypts them. Furthermore, the ransom notes include the email address of the attacker to contact for decryption.

Ransom Note (Source: K7 Security Labs)

K7 Security Labs has published a complete report about this new Python ransomware variant. It provides detailed information about this new Python-based ransomware source code, encryption methodology, and experimental and behavioral analysis.

Indicators of Compromise

HashDetection Name
C967B8198501E3CE3A0E323B37D94D15Trojan ( 005af6051 )
Eswar

Eswar is a Cyber security content editor with a passion for creating captivating and informative content. With years of experience under his belt in Cyber Security, he is covering Cyber Security News, technology and other news.

Recent Posts

Critical TP-Link DHCP Vulnerability Let Attackers Execute Arbitrary Code Remotely

A critical security flaw has been uncovered in certain TP-Link routers, potentially allowing malicious actors…

3 days ago

Chinese SilkSpecter Hackers Attacking Black Friday Shoppers

SilkSpecter, a Chinese financially motivated threat actor, launched a sophisticated phishing campaign targeting e-commerce shoppers…

3 days ago

Cybercriminals Launch SEO Poisoning Attack to Lure Shoppers to Fake Online Stores

The research revealed how threat actors exploit SEO poisoning to redirect unsuspecting users to malicious…

3 days ago

Black Basta Ransomware Leveraging Social Engineering For Malware Deployment

Black Basta, a prominent ransomware group, has rapidly gained notoriety since its emergence in 2022…

3 days ago

Critical Laravel Vulnerability CVE-2024-52301 Allows Unauthorized Access

CVE-2024-52301 is a critical vulnerability identified in Laravel, a widely used PHP framework for building…

3 days ago

4M+ WordPress Websites to Attacks, Following Plugin Vulnerability

A critical vulnerability has been discovered in the popular "Really Simple Security" WordPress plugin, formerly…

3 days ago