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

• Files Encryption

Indicators of Compromise

MD5

aea81e77b5af6caadf49b0566cf5054c
49eb4afe5b817ed56eacf504c80106d1

SHA-256

87222f44e0b2f071b7b99a9088ba267345ab88a89289921154bf05daf742ae9a
6c1ed5eb1267d95d8a0dc8e1975923ebefd809c2027427b4ead867fb72703f82

SHA-1

59dc4b6899b9a078d26479eb514980d087d1d047
f6dcb0dc3bffac56832723ff15c4580bda1f050e

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