Virus Type: Ransomware
It has been reported that a new ransomware, named "Conti ransomware" is
spreading. In its infection stages, threat actors breach the corporate
networks and spread laterally to acquire domain administration privilege
for deploying ransomware. The coding pattern of Conti appears similar to
erstwhile "Ryuk ransomware" version 2 and ransomware note used is also same
as Ryuk had dropped in its earlier attacks. Moreover, the same TrickBot
infrastructure is utilized by both Ryuk and Conti threat actors as part
attacking mechanism. Conti is a human-operated ransomware designed to be
directly controlled by its operator rather than execute automatically by
itself.
Infection mechanism:
When starts, Conti executes 146 commands focused on stopping potential
Windows services related to security, backup, database and email solutions.
Then it deletes the Volume Shadow Copies in a unique way and begins
encryption. The ransomware appends the .CONTI extension to encrypted files
and drop a ransom note named CONTI_README.txt in each folder.
When encrypting data, the ransomware uses a unique AES-256 encryption key
per file, which is then encrypted with a bundled RSA-4096 public encryption
key (unique per victim).
Conti ransomware is also special in its selection of encryption targets
that could be local hard drive or network shares, even specific, targeted,
IP addresses via a command-line client. It can be configured to skip
encrypting files on local drives and encrypt data on networked SMB shares.
This may lead to targeted damage and may cause destruction limited to
shares of a server that has no internet capability making it likely
unnoticeable for days or weeks.
It also supports an "--encrypt_mode" argument to upgrade its encryption
strength. When using "-encrypt_mode local," only the local drives are
encrypted, and when using the "-encrypt_mode network," only the network
shares are encrypted.
Another notable feature of Conti ransomware is that it utilizes a large no.
of concurrent CPU thread, namely 32 threads for encrypting different files
simultaneously with a very fast speed. However due to this, CPU and disk
utilization goes up causing of machine become sluggish and may serve as an
alarming situation for a user.
Another feature observed that its code abusing "Windows Restart Manager" -
the Windows component that unlocks files before performing an OS restart.
Conti utilizes this component to unlock and shut down app processes so it
can encrypt their respective data. This technique can be phenomenal on
Windows servers where sensitive data is usually managed by a database and
almost always up and running.
IOC:
Associated emails:
flapalinta1950@protonmail[dot]com
xersami@protonmail[dot]com
For Metadata for the Conti malware sample, AES-256 public key used for
encryption and another detailed IOC please refer the URL:
Countermeasures and Best practices for prevention:
Users are advised to disable their RDP if not in use, if required, it
should be placed behind the firewall and users are to bind with proper
policies while using the RDP.
All operating systems and applications should be kept updated on a regular
basis. Virtual patching can be considered for protecting legacy systems and
networks. This measure hinders cybercriminals from gaining easy access to
any system through vulnerabilities in outdated applications and software.
Avoid applying updates / patches available in any unofficial channel.
Restrict execution of Power shell /WSCRIPT in an enterprise environment.
Ensure installation and use of the latest version of PowerShell, with
enhanced logging enabled. Script block logging and transcription enabled.
Send the associated logs to a centralized log repository for monitoring and
analysis.
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Establish a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) for your domain, which is an
email validation system designed to prevent spam by detecting email
spoofing by which most of the ransomware samples successfully reaches the
corporate email boxes.
Application whitelisting/Strict implementation of Software Restriction
Policies (SRP) to block binaries running from %APPDATA% and %TEMP% paths.
Ransomware sample drops and executes generally from these locations.
Don't open attachments in unsolicited e-mails, even if they come from
people in your contact list, and never click on a URL contained in an
unsolicited e-mail, even if the link seems benign. In cases of genuine URLs
close out the e-mail and go to the organization's website directly through
browser.
Block the attachments of file types,
exe|pif|tmp|url|vb|vbe|scr|reg|cer|pst|cmd|com|bat|dll|dat|hlp|hta|js|wsf
Consider encrypting the confidential data as the ransomware generally
targets common file types.
Perform regular backups of all critical information to limit the impact of
data or system loss and to help expedite the recovery process. Ideally,
this data should be kept on a separate device, and backups should be stored
offline.
Network segmentation and segregation into security zones - help protect
sensitive information and critical services. Separate administrative
network from business processes with physical controls and Virtual Local
Area Networks.
Install ad blockers to combat exploit kits such as Fallout that are
distributed via malicious advertising.
References
- -of-being-ryuks-successor/
eads-for-blazing-fast-encryption/
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