A new, potentially virulent wave of data-encrypting malware is sweeping through Eastern Europe and has left a wake of outages at news agencies, train stations, and airports, according to multiple security companies
A new ransomware outbreak similar to WCry is shutting down computers worldwide, Ransom:Win32/Tibbar.A or Bad Rabbit, as the outbreak is dubbed, is primarily attacking targets in Russia, but it’s also infecting computers in Ukraine, Turkey and Germany, researchers from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab said. In a blog post, the antivirus provider reported that the malware is using hacked Russian media websites to display fake Adobe Flash installers, which when clicked infect the computer visiting the hacked site. Researchers elsewhere said the malware may use other means to infect targets.
Bad Rabbit appears to specifically target corporate networks by using methods similar to those used in a June data-wiping attack dubbed “NotPetya” that shut down computers around the world.
Bad Rabbit infects Windows computers and relies solely on targets manually clicking on the installer, Kaspersky Lab said. So far, there’s no evidence the attack uses any exploits.
The Ukrainian computer emergency agency CERT-UA posted an advisory on Tuesday morning reporting a series of cyberattacks.
Kevin Beaumont said on Twitter that Bad Rabbit uses a legitimate, digitally signed program called DiskCryptor to lock targets’ hard drives. Kaspersky Labs’ blog post said the executable file dispci.exe appears to be derived from DiskCryptor and is being used by Bad Rabbit as the disk encryption module.
Bad Rabbit relies on hard-coded credentials that are commonly used in enterprise networks for file sharing and takes aim at a particularly vulnerable portion of infected computers’ hard drives known as the master boot record. A malicious file called infpub.dat appears to be able to use the credentials to allow the Bad Rabbit to spread to other Windows computers on the same local network, The malware also uses the Mimikatz network administrative tool to harvest credentials from the affected systems.
Once Bad Rabbit infects a computer, it displays a message in orange letters on a black background. It directs users to a Dark Web site that demands about $283 in Bitcoin to decrypt data stored on the encrypted hard drive. The dark Web site also displays a ticking clock that gives victims 40 hours to pay before the price increases. It’s not yet known what happens when targets pay the ransom in an attempt to restore their data. The NotPetya malware was written in a way that made recovery just about impossible, a trait that has stoked theories that the true objectives of the attackers was to wipe data in an act of sabotage, as opposed to generate revenue from ransomware. It also remains unclear who is behind the attack.
The outbreak is the latest reminder that you should back up all their data on drives that are secured with a password or other measure to protect them from ransomware.
Windows Defender Antivirus detects and removes this threat with protection update 1.255.29.0 and higher.
This threat appears as a fake Adobe Flash Player update.
Microsoft advice:
Microsoft doesn’t recommend you pay the ransom. There is no guarantee that paying the ransom will give you access to your files. If you’ve already paid, then see our https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mmpc/shared/ransomware.aspx for help on what to do.
Review logs and shutdown or run Windows Defender Offline.
This ransomware attempts to reboot your PC so it can encrypt your files. You might be able to stop your PC from rebooting and instead shut it down or run a Windows Defender Offline scan:
Check event logs for the following IDs: 1102 and 106
• Event 1102 indicates that the audit log has been cleared, so previous activities can’t be seen.
• Event 106 indicates that scheduled tasks “drogon” and “Rhaegel” have been registered (these are ransomware wipers)
• If events 1102 and 106 are present, then issue a shutdown with the parameter -a to prevent a reboot
You can also immediately inititate a Windows Defender Offline scan by using PowerShell or the Windows Defender Security Center app.
Run antivirus or antimalware software
Use the following free Microsoft software to detect and remove this threat:
• Windows Defender Antivirus for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, or Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 and Windows Vista
• Microsoft Safety Scanner – Run a full scan to look for anyhidden malware.
Advanced troubleshooting – To restore your PC, download and run Windows Defender Offline.
Ask us about how to use cloud protection to guard against the latest malware threats. It’s turned on by default for Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender for Windows 10. Go to All settings > Update & security > Windows Defender and make sure that your Cloud-based Protection settings is turned On.
Indicators of compromise
Presence of the following files in %SystemRoot%:
• infpub.dat
• cscc.dat
• dispci.exe
• You can’t access your files or your PC
• A ransom message in red on a black background
