Worldwide, ransomware assaults are increasing. If you don't pay a ransom to the hacker, he or she will encrypt your vital data and make them unavailable until you do so. It disables the victim's operating system by attacking the master boot record. Email attachments, drive-by downloads, or social engineering, such as phishing on the internet, are the most common ways malware spreads. With a key to decipher the encryption, the system is very hard to decipher without the encryption key. Some kind of asymmetric cryptanalytic attack is used to brute-force the key or to break it. For their decryption key, the hackers are demanding anything from $300 to $10,000 or more. There are many cities in India which provide a cyber security course just like a cyber security course in Bangalore.
What Kind of Malware is the Prometheus Ransomware?
The harmful software Prometheus is a ransomware. In order to encrypt data and demand ransoms for decryption (recovery of data access/use), it is built. The victim's unique ID is attached to the filenames of the impacted files during the encryption process.
After encryption, a file with the original name "1.jpg" might look something like "1.jpg.[LZG-ZNM-YDNM]." Pop-up windows and text files (RESTORE FILES INFO.hta) are produced and dumped into the compromised directories when this procedure is completed.
A similar ransom-demanding message is shown in both the pop-up window and the text files (restore-files-info.hta and restore-files-info.txt). According to the notes, there has been a breach in the network of the victims' firm.
The data that was stored on it was encrypted using the advanced encryption standard known as AES. Additional sensitive and private information was stolen and sent out of the country. The perpetrators of the cybercrime tell the victims that in order for them to retrieve their data, they must pay for the necessary decryption keys and equipment from the perpetrators of the crime.
If a ransom is not paid, the information that was taken will either be made public or sold to the victims' competitors. Neither outcome is desirable if you don’t want risk. You are welcome to attempt decryption before submitting a payment. It is sufficient to provide the criminals a few files that are not very critical. The Tor browser is required for victims to use in order to contact a chat room and get further instructions. According to the warnings, any attempt to decrypt the data using third-party software, rename, or change the data will result in the data being permanently destroyed. In the notes, it is recommended that a duplicate of the files be made in the event that a victim chooses to go in this direction.
Much of the information supplied in the ransom letters is repeated on the website. Details concerning test files, such as their need to be in a ZIP package that does not exceed 2MB, are among the notable variances. A diploma in cyber security can enhance your knowledge of this topic.
Group of REvil?
Prometheus claimed to be a member of the famed REvil ransomware organisation until June 14th, and even included the word "REvil" in their logo. It was announced on June 15th that REvil will be removed from the logo as a result of the group's decision to do so.
Prometheus and REvil haven't been able to establish a direct link or cooperation, and it's assumed that they were only utilising REvil's brand and reputation to improve the possibility of ransom payments. There is no explanation as to why this band has opted to remove the moniker REvil from their emblem; nonetheless, the timing is noteworthy. An exploit against the remote management service Kaseya VSA, which propagated ransomware through the Managed Services Provider network of the IT service provider, has just been attributed to the REvil group, and a recent attack against the global food company JBS has drawn attention from US authorities.
The DarkSide organisation made news in May after launching an assault on the Colonial Pipeline network, which prompted the US government to take steps that ultimately resulted to the DarkSide group shutting down their activities (allegedly). Because they are afraid of punishment from law authorities, ransomware authors tend to keep their activities under wraps in order to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
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In 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the continuing shift to hybrid work has become an advantage for cybercriminals.
For 2022, we can assume more of the same as well as several worsening threats to keep us on our toes.McAfee and FireEye released their 2022 Threat Predictions, inspecting the top cybersecurity threats they expect businesses will face in 2022.Bad actors have taken the word of success techniques from 2021, which includes the ones making headlines tied to ransomware, nation-states, social media, and the moving reliance on a remote workforce.
They are expected to pivot the ones into next year’s campaigns and grow in sophistication, wielding the capability to wreak more havoc across the globe.In the recently combined entity, skilled engineers and security architects offer a preview of how the threat landscape might look in 2021 and how these new or evolving threats could potentially impact enterprises, countries, and civilians.“Over this past year, we have seen cyber criminals get smarter and quicker at retooling their tactics to follow new bad actor schemes — from ransomware to nation-states — and we don’t anticipate that changing in 2022,” said Raj Samani, fellow and chief scientist at McAfee.With the evolving threat landscape and the continued impact of the global pandemic, it is crucial that enterprises stay aware of the cybersecurity trends so that they can be proactive and actionable in protecting their information.Cyber threat predictions for enterprises in 2022Game of ransomware thrones.Self-reliant cybercrime groups will shift the stability of power in the RaaS eco-kingdom from those who manage the ransomware to those who manage the victim’s networks.
For More Information: Top Cybersecurity Threats Enterprises will face in 2022
