Ransomware gangs adopt new techniques to avoid detection

Date:
Fri, 13 May 2022 04:13:40 +0000

Description:
Ransomware operations have transformed from their clandestine beginnings to become fully-fledged businesses.

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Despite REvil and some of the other most notorious ransomware gangs being
shut down this year, the cybercriminals behind them have continued to develop and succeed with new cross-platform capabilities, updated business processes and more.

Over the past few years, ransomware operations have grown from their clandestine and amateur beginnings to become fully-fledged businesses with distinctive brands and styles that rival each other on the dark web . To
raise awareness in advance of Anti-Ransomware Day, the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has released a new report highlighting some of the new ransomware trends spotted so far this year.

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The first trend of note is the abundant use of cross-platform capabilities by ransomware groups which allow them to damage as many systems as possible
using the same malware by writing code that can be executed on multiple systems at once. Conti has been one of the most active groups this year and
it developed a variant of its ransomware that can be distributed through select affiliates and targets devices running Linux distros as well as
Windows machines.

At the same time, ransomware groups have continued activities to facilitate their business processes. These activities include rebranding to divert the attention of law enforcement as well as updating exfiltration tools.
Meanwhile some groups have developed and implemented their own custom and complete toolkits which resemble those put out by legitimate software companies. The Lockbit ransomware group stands out for this as the organization provides regular updates for its toolkits and often applies repairs to its infrastructure. Taking sides

Ever since Russias invasion of neighboring Ukraine began on February 24, it has led businesses, governments and individuals to take sides regarding the conflict.

According to Kaspersky though, this was also the case on cybercrime forums
and with ransomware groups who began taking sides. As a result, there were a number of politically motivated attacks during Q1 of this year which cybercriminals carried out either in support of Russia or Ukraine. Read More

REvil ransomware group is back with a vengeance

Microsoft wants to try and kill off ransomware for good

IT workers believe ransomware is as serious as terrorism

One of the new malware strains that was discovered during the conflict is named Freeud and it was developed by Ukraine supporters. Instead of
encrypting the systems of its targets, Freud features wiping functionality
and if a target contains any items from a list of files, the malware wipes them from a victims system.

Senior security researcher at Kasperskys global research and analysis team, Dmitry Galov provided further insight on the companys New Ransomware Trends
in 2022 report in a press release , saying:

If last year we said ransomware is flourishing, this year its in full bloom. Although major ransomware groups from last year were forced to quit, new actors have popped up with never before seen techniques. Nevertheless, as ransomware threats evolve and expand, both technologically and
geographically, they become more predictable, which helps us to better detect and defend against them." Protect all of the devices on your network with one of the best firewalls



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/ransomware-gangs-adopt-new-techniques-to-avoid- detection/


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