DUNGEON SPIDER

APT Group ETDA ✓

Also Known As

No alias recorded

Target Countries

No target country recorded

Sectors Targeted

No targeted sector recorded

Details

Origin 🇷🇺 RU

Last Updated 01 Jun 2022

MITRE ATT&CK 5

T1047 T1059.001 T1071.001 T1078 T1562.001

Related Zero-Days

No zero-day CVE linked to this actor

Known Names 1 entries

Dungeon Spider CrowdStrike

Observed Target Countries 1

Based on ETDA data — countries highlighted in red

Worldwide

Description

(CrowdStrike) Dungeon Spider is a criminal group operating the ransomware most commonly known as Locky, which has been active since February 2016 and was last observed in late 2017. Locky is a ransomware tool that encrypts files using a combination of cryptographic algorithms: RSA with a key size of 2,048 bits, and AES with a key size of 128 bits. Locky targets a large number of file extensions and is able to encrypt data on shared network drives. In an attempt to further impact victims and prevent file recovery, Locky deletes all of the Shadow Volume Copies on the machine. Dungeon Spider primarily relies on broad spam campaigns with malicious attachments for distribution. Locky is the community/industry name associated with this actor. Locky has been observed to be distributed via Necurs (operated by {{Monty Spider}}).

Tools Used 1

Locky

Operations 12

2016-02 A cyberattack launched against the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has forced staff to declare an “internal emergency” and left employees unable to access patient files. https://www.zdnet.com/article/hollywood-hospital-becomes-ransomware-victim/

2016-02 A red marquee bannered on the homepage of the Methodist Hospital in Henderson, Kentucky announced a cyberattack that successfully penetrated their networks, prompting it to operate under an “internal state of emergency”. https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/news/cyber-attacks/locky-ransomware-strain-led-kentucky-hospital-to-an-internal-state-of-emergency

2016-04 Japanese Trends in the Aggressive Activity of the “Locky” Ransomware https://www.fortinet.com/blog/threat-research/japanese-trends-in-the-aggressive-activity-of-the-locky-ransomware.html

2016-06 Locky Ransomware Hides Under Multiple Obfuscated Layers of JavaScript https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/locky-ransomware-hides-under-multiple-obfuscated-layers-of-javascript/

2016-08 Locky Ransomware Distributed Via DOCM Attachments in Latest Email Campaigns https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2016/08/locky_ransomwaredis.html

2017-01 Without Necurs, Locky Struggles https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/01/locky-struggles.html

2017-04 Now, cybercriminals are using PDFs instead of Word documents to deliver Locky ransomware. https://www.vadesecure.com/en/locky-malware-comeback/

2017-08 New Locky Ransomware Phishing Attacks Beat Machine Learning Tools https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/new-locky-ransomware-phishing-attacks-beat-machine-learning-tools/d/d-id/1330010

2017-08 Locky Ransomware switches to the Lukitus extension for Encrypted Files https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/locky-ransomware-switches-to-the-lukitus-extension-for-encrypted-files/

2017-09 Locky ransomware strikes at Amazon https://www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter/malware/locky-ransomware-strikes-amazon/

2017-11 The most recent change for Locky came as one of the most popular ways to spread malware: spear phishing emails. https://threatvector.cylance.com/en_us/home/threat-spotlight-locky-ransomware.html

2018-02 Locky Ransomware Is Back in a Big Way https://shadownet.co.za/2019/07/01/locky-ransomware-is-back-in-a-big-way/

Reports & References 4

https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/meet-crowdstrikes-adversary-of-the-month-for-october-dungeon-spider/ https://www.proofpoint.com/us/threat-insight/post/Dridex-Actors-Get-In-the-Ransomware-Game-With-Locky https://securelist.com/locky-the-encryptor-taking-the-world-by-storm/74398/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locky

ETDA Profile

Dungeon Spider

Origin

Russia

First Seen 2016

Motivation

Financial gain

View on ETDA APT Groups ↗