FBI Takes Down BlackCat Ransomware, Releases Free Decryption Tool

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) has officially announced the disruption of the BlackCat ransomware operation and released a decryption tool that more than 500 affected victims can use to regain access to files locked by the malware.

Court documents show that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) enlisted the help of a confidential human source (CHS) to act as an affiliate for the BlackCat group and gain access to a web panel used for managing the gang's victims, in what's a case of hacking the hackers.

Behind the Scenes of Matveev's Ransomware Empire: Tactics and Team

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on the inner workings of the ransomware operation led by Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, a Russian national who was indicted by the U.S. government earlier this year for his alleged role in launching thousands of attacks across the world. Matveev, who resides in Saint Petersburg and is known by the aliases Wazawaka, m1x, Boriselcin, Uhodiransomwar, Orange, and waza, is alleged to have played a crucial part in the development and deployment of LockBit, Babuk, and Hive ransomware variants since at least June 2020.

Double-Extortion Play Ransomware Strikes 300 Organizations Worldwide

The threat actors behind the Play ransomware are estimated to have impacted approximately 300 entities as of October 2023, according to a new joint cybersecurity advisory from Australia and the U.S.

"Play ransomware actors employ a double-extortion model, encrypting systems after exfiltrating data and have impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure organizations in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia," authorities said.

Microsoft Warns of Malvertising Scheme Spreading CACTUS Ransomware

Microsoft has warned of a new wave of CACTUS ransomware attacks that leverage malvertising lures to deploy DanaBot as an initial access vector.

The DanaBot infections led to "hands-on-keyboard activity by ransomware operator Storm-0216 (Twisted Spider, UNC2198), culminating in the deployment of CACTUS ransomware," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

CACTUS Ransomware Exploits Qlik Sense Vulnerabilities in Targeted Attacks

A CACTUS ransomware campaign has been observed exploiting recently disclosed security flaws in a cloud analytics and business intelligence platform called Qlik Sense to obtain a foothold into targeted environments.

"This campaign marks the first documented instance [...] where threat actors deploying CACTUS ransomware have exploited vulnerabilities in Qlik Sense for initial access," Arctic Wolf researchers Stefan Hostetler, Markus Neis, and Kyle Pagelow said.

DJVU Ransomware's Latest Variant 'Xaro' Disguised as Cracked Software

A variant of a ransomware strain known as DJVU has been observed to be distributed in the form of cracked software.

"While this attack pattern is not new, incidents involving a DJVU variant that appends the .xaro extension to affected files and demanding ransom for a decryptor have been observed infecting systems alongside a host of various commodity loaders and infostealers," Cybereason security researcher Ralph Villanueva said.

Key Cybercriminals Behind Notorious Ransomware Families Arrested in Ukraine

A coordinated law enforcement operation has led to the arrest of key individuals in Ukraine who are alleged to be a part of several ransomware schemes.

"On 21 November, 30 properties were searched in the regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, Rivne, and Vinnytsia, resulting in the arrest of the 32-year-old ringleader," Europol said in a statement today. "Four of the ringleader's most active accomplices were also detained."

LockBit Ransomware Exploiting Critical Citrix Bleed Vulnerability to Break In

Multiple threat actors, including LockBit ransomware affiliates, are actively exploiting a recently disclosed critical security flaw in Citrix NetScaler application delivery control (ADC) and Gateway appliances to obtain initial access to target environments.

The joint advisory comes from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Center (ASD's ACSC).

Play Ransomware Goes Commercial - Now Offered as a Service to Cybercriminals

The ransomware strain known as Play is now being offered to other threat actors "as a service," new evidence unearthed by Adlumin has revealed.

"The unusual lack of even small variations between attacks suggests that they are being carried out by affiliates who have purchased the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) and are following step-by-step instructions from playbooks delivered with it," the cybersecurity company said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Experts Expose Farnetwork's Ransomware-as-a-Service Business Model

Cybersecurity researchers have unmasked a prolific threat actor known as farnetwork, who has been linked to five different ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) programs over the past four years in various capacities.

Singapore-headquartered Group-IB, which attempted to infiltrate a private RaaS program that uses the Nokoyawa ransomware strain, said it underwent a "job interview" process with the threat actor, learning several valuable insights into their background and role within those RaaS programs.

Experts Warn of Ransomware Hackers Exploiting Atlassian and Apache Flaws

Multiple ransomware groups have begun to actively exploit recently disclosed flaws in Atlassian Confluence and Apache ActiveMQ.

Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 said it observed the exploitation of CVE-2023-22518 and CVE-2023-22515 in multiple customer environments, some of which have been leveraged for the deployment of Cerber (aka C3RB3R) ransomware.

HelloKitty Ransomware Group Exploiting Apache ActiveMQ Vulnerability

Cybersecurity researchers are warning of suspected exploitation of a recently disclosed critical security flaw in the Apache ActiveMQ open-source message broker service that could result in remote code execution.

"In both instances, the adversary attempted to deploy ransomware binaries on target systems in an effort to ransom the victim organizations," cybersecurity firm Rapid7 disclosed in a report published Wednesday.

Microsoft Warns as Scattered Spider Expands from SIM Swaps to Ransomware

The prolific threat actor known as Scattered Spider has been observed impersonating newly hired employees in targeted firms as a ploy to blend into normal on-hire processes and takeover accounts and breach organizations across the world.

Microsoft, which disclosed the activities of the financially motivated hacking crew, described the adversary as "one of the most dangerous financial criminal groups," calling out its operational fluidity and its ability to incorporate SMS phishing, SIM swapping, and help desk fraud into its attack model.

Europol Dismantles Ragnar Locker Ransomware Infrastructure, Nabs Key Developer

Europol on Friday announced the takedown of the infrastructure associated with Ragnar Locker ransomware, alongside the arrest of a "key target" in France.

"In an action carried out between 16 and 20 October, searches were conducted in Czechia, Spain, and Latvia," the agency said. "The main perpetrator, suspected of being a developer of the Ragnar group, has been brought in front of the examining magistrates of the Paris Judicial Court."

FBI, CISA Warn of Rising AvosLocker Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure

The AvosLocker ransomware gang has been linked to attacks against critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S., with some of them detected as recently as May 2023.

That's according to a new joint cybersecurity advisory released by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) detailing the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

Cyber Group 'Gold Melody' Selling Compromised Access to Ransomware Attackers

A financially motivated threat actor has been outed as an initial access broker (IAB) that sells access to compromised organizations for other adversaries to conduct follow-on attacks such as ransomware.

SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) has dubbed the e-crime group Gold Melody, which is also known by the names Prophet Spider (CrowdStrike) and UNC961 (Mandiant).

Financially Motivated UNC3944 Threat Actor Shifts Focus to Ransomware Attacks

The financially motivated threat actor known as UNC3944 is pivoting to ransomware deployment as part of an expansion to its monetization strategies, Mandiant has revealed.

"UNC3944 has demonstrated a stronger focus on stealing large amounts of sensitive data for extortion purposes and they appear to understand Western business practices, possibly due to the geographical composition of the group," the threat intelligence firm said.

Cybercriminals Combine Phishing and EV Certificates to Deliver Ransomware Payloads

The threat actors behind RedLine and Vidar information stealers have been observed pivoting to ransomware through phishing campaigns that spread initial payloads signed with Extended Validation (EV) code signing certificates.

"This suggests that the threat actors are streamlining operations by making their techniques multipurpose," Trend Micro researchers said in a new analysis published this week.

Rust-Written 3AM Ransomware: A Sneak Peek into a New Malware Family

A new ransomware family called 3AM has emerged in the wild after it was detected in a single incident in which an unidentified affiliate deployed the strain following an unsuccessful attempt to deliver LockBit (attributed to Bitwise Spider or Syrphid) in the target network.

"3AM is written in Rust and appears to be a completely new malware family," the Symantec Threat Hunter Team, part of Broadcom, said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

LockBit 3.0 Ransomware Builder Leak Gives Rise to Hundreds of New Variants

The leak of the LockBit 3.0 ransomware builder last year has led to threat actors abusing the tool to spawn new variants.

Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky said it detected a ransomware intrusion that deployed a version of LockBit but with a markedly different ransom demand procedure.

"The attacker behind this incident decided to use a different ransom note with a headline related to a previously unknown group, called NATIONAL HAZARD AGENCY," security researchers Eduardo Ovalle and Francesco Figurelli said.

Spacecolon Toolset Fuels Global Surge in Scarab Ransomware Attacks

A malicious toolset dubbed Spacecolon is being deployed as part of an ongoing campaign to spread variants of the Scarab ransomware across victim organizations globally.

"It probably finds its way into victim organizations by its operators compromising vulnerable web servers or via brute forcing RDP credentials," ESET security researcher Jakub Souček said in a detailed technical write-up published Tuesday.

New BlackCat Ransomware Variant Adopts Advanced Impacket and RemCom Tools

Microsoft on Thursday disclosed that it found a new version of the BlackCat ransomware (aka ALPHV and Noberus) that embeds tools like Impacket and RemCom to facilitate lateral movement and remote code execution.

"The Impacket tool has credential dumping and remote service execution modules that could be used for broad deployment of the BlackCat ransomware in target environments," the company's threat intelligence team said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

Monti Ransomware Returns with New Linux Variant and Enhanced Evasion Tactics

The threat actors behind the Monti ransomware have resurfaced after a two-month break with a new Linux version of the encryptor in its attacks targeting government and legal sectors.

Monti emerged in June 2022, weeks after the Conti ransomware group shut down its operations, deliberately imitating the tactics and tools associated with the latter, including its leaked source code. Not anymore.

New Report Exposes Vice Society's Collaboration with Rhysida Ransomware

Tactical similarities have been unearthed between the double extortion ransomware group known as Rhysida and Vice Society, including in their targeting of education and healthcare sectors.

"As Vice Society was observed deploying a variety of commodity ransomware payloads, this link does not suggest that Rhysida is exclusively used by Vice Society, but shows with at least medium confidence that Vice Society operators are now using Rhysida ransomware," Check Point said in a new report.

New Yashma Ransomware Variant Targets Multiple English-Speaking Countries

An unknown threat actor is using a variant of the Yashma ransomware to target various entities in English-speaking countries, Bulgaria, China, and Vietnam at least since June 4, 2023.

Cisco Talos, in a new write-up, attributed the operation with moderate confidence to an adversary of likely Vietnamese origin.

Local Governments Targeted for Ransomware – How to Prevent Falling Victim

Regardless of the country, local government is essential in most citizens' lives. It provides many day-to-day services and handles various issues. Therefore, their effects can be far-reaching and deeply felt when security failures occur.

In early 2023, Oakland, California, fell victim to a ransomware attack. Although city officials have not disclosed how the attack occurred, experts suspect a phishing email is the most likely cause. As a result, city officials brought down their servers to contain the attack.

Mallox Ransomware Exploits Weak MS-SQL Servers to Breach Networks

Mallox ransomware activities in 2023 have witnessed a 174% increase when compared to the previous year, new findings from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 reveal.

"Mallox ransomware, like many other ransomware threat actors, follows the double extortion trend: stealing data before encrypting an organization's files, and then threatening to publish the stolen data on a leak site as leverage to convince victims to pay the ransom fee," security researchers Lior Rochberger and Shimi Cohen said in a new report shared with The Hacker News.

Ransomware Extortion Skyrockets in 2023, Reaching $449.1 Million and Counting

Ransomware has emerged as the only cryptocurrency-based crime to grow in 2023, with cybercriminals extorting nearly $175.8 million more than they did a year ago, according to findings from Chainalysis.

"Ransomware attackers are on pace for their second-biggest year ever, having extorted at least $449.1 million through June," the blockchain analytics firm said in a midyear crypto crime report shared with The Hacker News. "If this pace continues, ransomware attackers will extort $898.6 million from victims in 2023, trailing only 2021's $939.9 million."

Beware of Big Head Ransomware: Spreading Through Fake Windows Updates

A developing piece of ransomware called Big Head is being distributed as part of a malvertising campaign that takes the form of bogus Microsoft Windows updates and Word installers.

Big Head was first documented by Fortinet FortiGuard Labs last month, when it discovered multiple variants of the ransomware that are designed to encrypt files on victims' machines in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment.

BlackByte 2.0 Ransomware: Infiltrate, Encrypt, and Extort in Just 5 Days

Ransomware attacks are a major problem for organizations everywhere, and the severity of this problem continues to intensify.

Recently, Microsoft's Incident Response team investigated the BlackByte 2.0 ransomware attacks and exposed these cyber strikes' terrifying velocity and damaging nature.

The findings indicate that hackers can complete the entire attack process, from gaining initial access to causing significant damage, in just five days. They waste no time infiltrating systems, encrypting important data, and demanding a ransom to release it.

RedEnergy Stealer-as-a-Ransomware Threat Targeting Energy and Telecom Sectors

A sophisticated stealer-as-a-ransomware threat dubbed RedEnergy has been spotted in the wild targeting energy utilities, oil, gas, telecom, and machinery sectors in Brazil and the Philippines through their LinkedIn pages.

The .NET malware "possesses the ability to steal information from various browsers, enabling the exfiltration of sensitive data, while also incorporating different modules for carrying out ransomware activities," Zscaler researchers Shatak Jain and Gurkirat Singh said in a recent analysis.

BlackCat Operators Distributing Ransomware Disguised as WinSCP via Malvertising

Threat actors associated with the BlackCat ransomware have been observed employing malvertising tricks to distribute rogue installers of the WinSCP file transfer application.

"Malicious actors used malvertising to distribute a piece of malware via cloned webpages of legitimate organizations," Trend Micro researchers said in an analysis published last week. "In this case, the distribution involved a webpage of the well-known application WinSCP, an open-source Windows application for file transfer."

8Base Ransomware Spikes in Activity, Threatens U.S. and Brazilian Businesses

A ransomware threat called 8Base that has been operating under the radar for over a year has been attributed to a "massive spike in activity" in May and June 2023.

"The group utilizes encryption paired with 'name-and-shame' techniques to compel their victims to pay their ransoms," VMware Carbon Black researchers Deborah Snyder and Fae Carlisle said in a report shared with The Hacker News. "8Base has an opportunistic pattern of compromise with recent victims spanning across varied industries."

Third Flaw Uncovered in MOVEit Transfer App Amidst Cl0p Ransomware Mass Attack

Progress Software on Thursday disclosed a third vulnerability impacting its MOVEit Transfer application, as the Cl0p cybercrime gang deployed extortion tactics against affected companies.

The new flaw, which is yet to be assigned a CVE identifier, also concerns an SQL injection vulnerability that "could lead to escalated privileges and potential unauthorized access to the environment."

LockBit Ransomware Extorts $91 Million from U.S. Companies

The threat actors behind the LockBit ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme have extorted $91 million following hundreds of attacks against numerous U.S. organizations since 2020.

That's according to a joint bulletin published by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and other partner authorities from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.K.

Clop Ransomware Gang Likely Aware of MOVEit Transfer Vulnerability Since 2021

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have published a joint advisory regarding the active exploitation of a recently disclosed critical flaw in Progress Software's MOVEit Transfer application to drop ransomware.

Cyclops Ransomware Gang Offers Go-Based Info Stealer to Cybercriminals

Threat actors associated with the Cyclops ransomware have been observed offering an information stealer malware that's designed to capture sensitive data from infected hosts.

"The threat actor behind this [ransomware-as-a-service] promotes its offering on forums," Uptycs said in a new report. "There it requests a share of profits from those engaging in malicious activities using its malware."

New Linux Ransomware Strain BlackSuit Shows Striking Similarities to Royal

An analysis of the Linux variant of a new ransomware strain called BlackSuit has covered significant similarities with another ransomware family called Royal.

Trend Micro, which examined an x64 VMware ESXi version targeting Linux machines, said it identified an "extremely high degree of similarity" between Royal and BlackSuit.

Improved BlackCat Ransomware Strikes with Lightning Speed and Stealthy Tactics

The threat actors behind BlackCat ransomware have come up with an improved variant that prioritizes speed and stealth in an attempt to bypass security guardrails and achieve their goals.

The new version, dubbed Sphynx and announced in February 2023, packs a "number of updated capabilities that strengthen the group's efforts to evade detection," IBM Security X-Force said in a new analysis.

Buhti Ransomware Gang Switches Tactics, Utilizes Leaked LockBit and Babuk Code

The threat actors behind the nascent Buhti ransomware have eschewed their custom payload in favor of leaked LockBit and Babuk ransomware families to strike Windows and Linux systems.

"While the group doesn't develop its own ransomware, it does utilize what appears to be one custom-developed tool, an information stealer designed to search for and archive specified file types," Symantec said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

The cybersecurity firm is tracking the cybercrime group under the name Blacktail. Buhti was first highlighted by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 in February 2023, describing it as a Golang ransomware targeting the Linux platform.

Notorious Cyber Gang FIN7 Returns Cl0p Ransomware in New Wave of Attacks

The notorious cybercrime group known as FIN7 has been observed deploying Cl0p (aka Clop) ransomware, marking the threat actor's first ransomware campaign since late 2021.

Microsoft, which detected the activity in April 2023, is tracking the financially motivated actor under its new taxonomy Sangria Tempest.

Inside Qilin Ransomware: Affiliates Take Home 85% of Ransom Payouts

Ransomware affiliates associated with the Qilin ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme earn anywhere between 80% to 85% of the ransom payments, according to new findings from Group-IB.

The cybersecurity firm said it was able to infiltrate the group in March 2023, uncovering details about the affiliates' payment structure and the inner workings of the RaaS program following a private conversation with a Qilin recruiter who goes by the online alias Haise.

New Ransomware Gang RA Group Hits U.S. and South Korean Organizations

A new ransomware group known as RA Group has become the latest threat actor to leverage the leaked Babuk ransomware source code to spawn its own locker variant.

The cybercriminal gang, which is said to have been operating since at least April 22, 2023, is rapidly expanding its operations, according to cybersecurity firm Cisco Talos. in a report shared with The Hacker News.

New 'MichaelKors' Ransomware-as-a-Service Targeting Linux and VMware ESXi Systems

A new ransomware-as-service (RaaS) operation called MichaelKors has become the latest file-encrypting malware to target Linux and VMware ESXi systems as of April 2023.

The development points to cybercriminal actors increasingly setting their eyes on the ESXi, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Bl00dy Ransomware Gang Strikes Education Sector with Critical PaperCut Vulnerability

U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence agencies have warned of attacks carried out by a threat actor known as the Bl00dy Ransomware Gang that attempt to exploit vulnerable PaperCut servers against the education facilities sector in the country.

The attacks took place in early May 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint cybersecurity advisory issued Thursday.

Babuk Source Code Sparks 9 Different Ransomware Strains Targeting VMware ESXi Systems

Multiple threat actors have capitalized on the leak of Babuk (aka Babak or Babyk) ransomware code in September 2021 to build as many as nine different ransomware families capable of targeting VMware ESXi systems.

"These variants emerged through H2 2022 and H1 2023, which shows an increasing trend of Babuk source code adoption," SentinelOne security researcher Alex Delamotte said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

New Ransomware Strain 'CACTUS' Exploits VPN Flaws to Infiltrate Networks

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a new ransomware strain called CACTUS that has been found to leverage known flaws in VPN appliances to obtain initial access to targeted networks.

"Once inside the network, CACTUS actors attempt to enumerate local and network user accounts in addition to reachable endpoints before creating new user accounts and leveraging custom scripts to automate the deployment and detonation of the ransomware encryptor via scheduled tasks," Kroll said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

RTM Locker's First Linux Ransomware Strain Targeting NAS and ESXi Hosts

The threat actors behind RTM Locker have developed a ransomware strain that's capable of targeting Linux machines, marking the group's first foray into the open source operating system.

"Its locker ransomware infects Linux, NAS, and ESXi hosts and appears to be inspired by Babuk ransomware's leaked source code," Uptycs said in a new report published Wednesday. "It uses a combination of ECDH on Curve25519 (asymmetric encryption) and Chacha20 (symmetric encryption) to encrypt files."

Microsoft Confirms PaperCut Servers Used to Deliver LockBit and Cl0p Ransomware

Microsoft has confirmed that the active exploitation of PaperCut servers is linked to attacks that are designed to deliver Cl0p and LockBit ransomware families.

The tech giant's threat intelligence team is attributing a subset of the intrusions to a financially motivated actor it tracks under the name Lace Tempest (formerly DEV-0950), which overlaps with other hacking groups like FIN11, TA505, and Evil Corp.

Ransomware Hackers Using AuKill Tool to Disable EDR Software Using BYOVD Attack

Threat actors are employing a previously undocumented "defense evasion tool" dubbed AuKill that's designed to disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) software by means of a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attack.

"The AuKill tool abuses an outdated version of the driver used by version 16.32 of the Microsoft utility, Process Explorer, to disable EDR processes before deploying either a backdoor or ransomware on the target system," Sophos researcher Andreas Klopsch said in a report published last week.

LockBit Ransomware Now Targeting Apple macOS Devices

Threat actors behind the LockBit ransomware operation have developed new artifacts that can encrypt files on devices running Apple's macOS operating system.

The development, which was reported by the MalwareHunterTeam over the weekend, appears to be the first time a big-game ransomware crew has created a macOS-based payload.

Additional samples identified by vx-underground show that the macOS variant has been available since November 11, 2022, and has managed to evade detection by anti-malware engines until now.

Vice Society Ransomware Using Stealthy PowerShell Tool for Data Exfiltration

Threat actors associated with the Vice Society ransomware gang have been observed using a bespoke PowerShell-based tool to fly under the radar and automate the process of exfiltrating data from compromised networks.

"Threat actors (TAs) using built-in data exfiltration methods like [living off the land binaries and scripts] negate the need to bring in external tools that might be flagged by security software and/or human-based security detection mechanisms," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researcher Ryan Chapman said.

RTM Locker: Emerging Cybercrime Group Targeting Businesses with Ransomware

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the tactics of a "rising" cybercriminal gang called "Read The Manual" (RTM) Locker that functions as a private ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) provider and carries out opportunistic attacks to generate illicit profit.

"The 'Read The Manual' Locker gang uses affiliates to ransom victims, all of whom are forced to abide by the gang's strict rules," cybersecurity firm Trellix said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Taiwanese PC Company MSI Falls Victim to Ransomware Attack

Taiwanese PC company MSI (short for Micro-Star International) officially confirmed it was the victim of a cyber attack on its systems.

The company said it "promptly" initiated incident response and recovery measures after detecting "network anomalies." It also said it alerted law enforcement agencies of the matter.

That said, MSI did not disclose any specifics about when the attack took place and if it entailed the exfiltration of any proprietary information, including source code.

Microsoft Takes Legal Action to Disrupt Cybercriminals' Illegal Use of Cobalt Strike Tool

Microsoft said it teamed up with Fortra and Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC) to tackle the abuse of Cobalt Strike by cybercriminals to distribute malware, including ransomware.

To that end, the tech giant's Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) revealed that it secured a court order in the U.S. to "remove illegal, legacy copies of Cobalt Strike so they can no longer be used by cybercriminals."

Rorschach Ransomware Emerges: Experts Warn of Advanced Evasion Strategies

Cybersecurity researchers have taken the wraps off a previously undocumented ransomware strain called Rorschach that's both sophisticated and fast.

"What makes Rorschach stand out from other ransomware strains is its high level of customization and its technically unique features that have not been seen before in ransomware," Check Point Research said in a new report. "In fact, Rorschach is one of the fastest ransomware strains ever observed, in terms of the speed of its encryption."

Researchers Shed Light on CatB Ransomware's Evasion Techniques

The threat actors behind the CatB ransomware operation have been observed using a technique called DLL search order hijacking to evade detection and launch the payload.

CatB, also referred to as CatB99 and Baxtoy, emerged late last year and is said to be an "evolution or direct rebrand" of another ransomware strain known as Pandora based on code-level similarities.

It's worth noting that the use of Pandora has been attributed to Bronze Starlight (aka DEV-0401 or Emperor Dragonfly), a China-based threat actor that's known to employ short-lived ransomware families as a ruse to likely conceal its true objectives.

LockBit 3.0 Ransomware: Inside the Cyberthreat That's Costing Millions

U.S. government agencies have released a joint cybersecurity advisory detailing the indicators of compromise (IoCs) and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) associated with the notorious LockBit 3.0 ransomware.

"The LockBit 3.0 ransomware operations function as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model and is a continuation of previous versions of the ransomware, LockBit 2.0, and LockBit," the authorities said.

Clop ransomware gang begins extorting GoAnywhere zero-day victims

The Clop ransomware gang has begun extorting companies whose data was stolen using a zero-day vulnerability in the Fortra GoAnywhere MFT secure file-sharing solution.

In February, the GoAnywhere MFT file transfer solution developers warned customers that a zero-day remote code execution vulnerability was being exploited on exposed administrative consoles.