Rewterz Threat Alert – GandCrab Ransomware – Active IOCs

Severity

High

Analysis Summary

GandCrab – a ransomware-as-a-service variant – was discovered in early 2018. At least five versions of GandCrab have been created since its discovery. GandCrab ransomware encrypts victim’s files and demands ransom money in exchange for decryption keys. GandCrab targets organisations and individuals that use Microsoft Windows-powered PCs. This ransomware has attacked a huge number of systems in India, Chile, Peru, the United States, and the Philippines. This ransomware has been linked to some of the most notorious ransomware outbreaks, resulting in enormous financial losses for victims. To effectively victimize the target, its operators frequently try to imitate reputable services. In January 2020, for example, GandCrab was transmitted in a word document labeled “Flu pandemic warning.doc” that purportedly came from the Centers for Disease Control. The virus is assigned various name by different antivirus software including Trojan.Ransom.GandCrab, Win32/Filecoder.GandCrab, Ransom: Win32/GandCrab, and others

Impact

• File Encryption

Indicators of Compromise

MD5

• 46b2577d8a3ea3b8a5810d2586dda3f8

SHA-256

• 9a69d0a3db94deea2c09efc19b57756e4b7f079c6de0e4bdcbd94c976313bb49

SHA-1

• 4f8607bdef237d4921a6f24c3b30ab909154a0a5

Remediation

• Block all threat indicators at your respective controls.
• Search for Indicators of compromise (IOCs) in your environment utilizing your respective security controls
• Maintain cyber hygiene by updating your anti-virus software and implementing a patch management lifecycle.
• Maintain Offline Backups – In a ransomware attack, the adversary will often delete or encrypt backups if they have access to them. That’s why it’s important to keep offline (preferably off-site), encrypted backups of data and test them regularly.
• Emails from unknown senders should always be treated with caution.
• Never trust or open ” links and attachments received from unknown sources/senders.
• Patch and upgrade any platforms and software timely and make it into a standard security policy. Prioritize patching known exploited vulnerabilities and zero-days.
• Along with network and system hardening, code hardening should be implemented within the organization so that their websites and software are secure. Use testing tools to detect any vulnerabilities in the deployed codes.
• Enable antivirus and anti-malware software and update signature definitions in a timely manner. Using multi-layered protection is necessary to secure vulnerable assets