Mysterious rans

Mysterious

ransomware payment traced to a sensual smooth site
By Lawrence Abrams
June 22, 2021 10:09 AM 0
Massage

A ransomware targeting an Israeli company has led researchers to track a share of a ransom payment to a website promoting sensual massages.

The get on your nerves was conducted by a more recent ransomware operation known as Ever101 who compromised an Israeli computer farm and proceeded to encrypt its devices.

In a appendage put it on by Israeli cybersecurity firms Profero and Security Joes, who performed incident recognition regarding the violent behavior, the Ever101 is believed to be a variant of the Everbe or Paymen45 ransomware.

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When encrypting files, the ransomware will append the .ever101 strengthening and drop a ransom note named !=READMY=!.txt in each wedding album regarding the order of the computer.

Example Ever101 ransom note
Example Ever101 ransom note
While investigating one of the dirty machines, the researchers found a 'Music' photograph album that contained various tools used during the injury, providing perception into the threat actor's tactics, techniques, and procedures.

"During our explore of the impure machines, we came across what seemed to be a high regard trove of reference stored in the Music baby book. It consisted of the ransomware binary itself, along following several auxiliary filessome encrypted, some notthat we consent to the threat actors used to pile up delightful judgment and propagate through the network," explains Profero's and Security Joe's relation.

The known tools used by the Ever101 gang fasten:

xDedicLogCleaner - Cleans every one of single one Windows matter logs, system logs, and the temp stamp album.
PH64.exe - 64-bit footnote of the Process Hacker program.
Cobalt Strike - The threat actors deployed cobalt Strike to have the funds for distant access to machines and play a role surveillance on the network. In this particular bitterness, the Cobalt Strike beacon was embedded in a WEXTRACT.exe file behind an expired Microsoft signature.
SystemBC - SystemBC was used to proxy Cobalt Strike traffic through SOCKS5 proxy to avoid detection.
Other tools were along with found but were encrypted by the ransomware. Based upon the names and added characteristics, the researchers admit the ransomware gang used the subsequent to tools as expertly:

SoftPerfect Network Scanner - An IPv4/IPv6 network scanner.
shadow.bat - Likely a batch file used to sure Shadow Volume Copies from the Windows device.
NetworkShare_pre2.exe - Enumerates a Windows network for shared folders and drives.
Of innocent luck absorb is that some of the files shared by the attackers, such as WinRar, were localized in Arabic.

WinRar when Arabic localization
WinRar subsequent to Arabic localization
Profero CEO Omri Moyal told BleepingComputer that he believes the Arabic localization to some of these tools is a "faithless flag."

Following the maintenance to a sensual smooth
Of particular 두정동 건마 union is what the researchers discovered after they used CipherTrace to track the ransom payment as it flowed through every other bitcoin wallets.

While tracing the payment, they found a small part, 0.01378880 BTC or vis--vis $590, was sent to a 'Tip Jar' upon the RubRatings site.

RubRatings is a website that allows "smear and body daub providers" in the USA to advertise their facilities, many of them offering sensual massages and showing barely nude pictures.

Each masseuse profile includes a Tip Jar button that allows customers to depart a bitcoin tip for their recent smear.

RubRatings Bitcoin Tip Jar
RubRatings Bitcoin Tip Jar
The researchers take on that some of the ransom payment went to an Ever101 operative in the USA, who later used the coins to tip a masseuse, or more likely, use the site as a showing off to launder the ransom payment.

"The second possibility is that the provider upon the site was used as different method of obfuscating the bitcoin movement," the researchers accustom. "It could be that the provider who possesses the bitcoin wallet in examine was on the go once the threat actor(s), but more likely, it is a group account set taking place to enable maintenance transfers."

"The bitcoin in the wallet similar to RubRatings era-fortunate the payment occurring for 15:48 UTC, and it left the wallet just a few minutes sophisticated, at 15:51 UTC."

As bitcoin is becoming more easily traced, and even recovered by function enforcement, ransomware operations are looking for novel approaches to launder their in poor health-gotten gains.

It is likely that the threat actors created a put it on account upon RubRatings and were using the Tip Jar feature as a habit to launder the ransom by making it see considering a tip to a masseuse.

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