In a testament to their confidence and determination, the LockBit sellers have forked out almost $75,000. LockBit is sold in underground broker forums that often require sellers to put up a deposit that customers can recover in the event the wares don’t perform as advertised. Like many other ransomware operators, those behind this attack had a support desk that communicated over the anonymized Jabber messenger to resolve several problems the organization had in rebuilding the locked-up network. Using a Tor site, the organization paid the ransom and, after several hours, used the same anonymous service to obtain the decryption key. Once the data was locked up, organization computers were left with a desktop that looked something like this: The reason is most likely to prevent being prosecuted by law enforcement authorities there. If it resided in Russia or another country belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States, it would abort the process. Before the ransomware encrypted data, it connected to an attacker-controlled server and then used the machine’s IP address to determine where it was located. In fact, the downloaded file was a program executable that encrypted the files on the machine. The malicious file the PowerShell script downloaded was disguised as a PNG image. LockBit had another means of staying stealthy. Because almost all networks rely on these tools, it’s hard for antivirus and other network defenses to detect their malicious use. Using SMB, ARP tables, and PowerShell are an increasingly common way of spreading malware throughout a network, and with good reason. LockBit would then execute a PowerShell script that spread the ransomware to those machines.
ARP tables, which map local IP addresses to device MAC addresses, helped to locate accessible systems, and server message block, a protocol used for sharing files and folders among networked machines, allowed the infected nodes to connect to uninfected ones. Normally we see that an attacker is inside the network for days or even weeks and does this reconnaissance of the network manually.” AdvertisementĪfter getting in, LockBit used a dual method to map out and infect the victimized network. “Hence, the attacker was only inside the network for a few hours. “The interesting part about this piece of ransomware is that it is completely self-spreading,” said Patrick van Looy, a cybersecurity specialist at Northwave, one of the firms that responded to the infection.
Many LockBit competitors like Ryuk rely on live human hackers who, once gaining unauthorized access, spend large amounts of time surveying and surveilling a target’s network and then unleash the code that will encrypt it. The weak account password, combined with the lack of multifactor authentication protection, gave the attackers all the system rights they needed.
Eventually, they hit the jackpot: an administrative account that had free rein over the entire network.
The attackers then used a list of words in hopes of gaining access to one of the accounts. The following is a chart showing how much Ransom Brokers in Warband are willing to pay for specific troops.Attackers started out by researching potential targets with valuable data and the means to make big payouts when faced with the dim prospect of losing access to it.
He can give advice about capturing prisoners. Ramun the Slave Trader is similar to a ransom broker, but who almost always appears in Tihr (it is very rare that he does not) and offers a fixed sum of 50 denars for each prisoner, no matter what rank they are. They also provide information about the whereabouts of imprisoned party heroes and the possibility to ransom them as well. In Warband, however, they will pay different sums per prisoner, depending on the military rank of the purchase. In the first Mount&Blade, they would buy prisoners from the player 50 denars for each prisoner. They remain in one location for only a few (randomly determined) days before reappearing elsewhere. Ransom Brokers are men found randomly in taverns all across Calradia who will exchange prisoners for ransoms.
But if I'm out on my errands of mercy, and I come across a fellow dragging around a captive or two, well, there's no harm in a little speculative investment, is there? And you look like the type who might have a prisoner to sell." - Ransom Broker's introduction. Normally I travel between the salt mines and the slave markets on the coast, on commission from those whose relatives have gone missing. "I broker ransoms for the poor wretches who are captured in these endless wars.