Medusa Ransomware: What You Want To Know

What’s the Medusa ransomware?

Medusa is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) platform that first got here to prominence in 2023. The ransomware impacts organisations operating Home windows, predominantly exploiting susceptible and unpatched methods and hijacking accounts by means of preliminary entry brokers.

Preliminary entry brokers?

Preliminary entry brokers (IABs) concentrate on gaining unauthorised entry to the networks of organisations, after which promote that entry to different cybercriminals – reminiscent of ransomware gangs like Medusa.

So the ransomware attackers might not be those who initially hacked you?

Right. IABs could also be expert at breaking right into a community, however not essentially be desirous about stealing your information and/or negotiating a ransom. IABs allow ransomware gangs to assault a number of targets concurrently, serving to them to scale back the general time it takes to deploy ransomware, improve the possibilities of success, and maximise their income.

And the assaults aren’t noticed?

Like another malicious hackers, the Medusa attackers do their greatest to keep away from detection. Within the case of Medusa ransomware assaults, they seem to make the most of the “residing off the land” approach, the place attackers use professional instruments and sources already current on a sufferer’s community to hold out malicious actions. As an alternative of counting on exterior malware, this method mimics professional exercise and helps the attackers to evade detection.

So Medusa gives a platform for others to hold out ransomware assaults?

Sure, their associates use the Medusa platform to launch the assaults, and when a ransom is obtained, it’s shared between the completely different events.

And I assume what the ransomware does is the usual fare?

Copies of delicate information are exfiltrated by the attackers, and the variations left on the sufferer’s methods are encrypted. The extension .MEDUSA is appended to the top of the names of encrypted information. 

The ransomware additionally makes efforts to make restoration harder after an assault, wiping a type of Microsoft Home windows information backups referred to as quantity shadow copies, and deleting information with backup applications reminiscent of Home windows Backup. 

As well as, digital disk exhausting drives (VHDs) utilized by digital machines are deleted. A ransom notice is left, demanding cost for a decryption of the encrypted information – with the menace that the stolen information shall be revealed if a ransom just isn’t paid by a deadline.

The place are the stolen information revealed?

Medusa, like many different ransomware gangs, operates a leak website on the darkish net. The so-called “Medusa weblog” publicises an inventory of hacked organisations, alongside a countdown informing the victims of their cost deadline. 

Along with the darkish net leak website, accessible through Tor, Medusa additionally publicises hacks and publishes stolen information on its public Telegram channel. Making it extra accessible than many different ransomware teams.

What forms of organisation does Medusa goal?

Medusa targets all kinds of trade sectors, however judging by these it has listed on its leak web site these sectors most affected embody excessive tech, manufacturing, and schooling. The biggest proportion of Medusa’s targets look like positioned in the USA, adopted by the UK, Canada, Australia, France, and Italy. It is noticeable that organisations primarily based in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan don’t seem within the record of victims.

Presumably the dearth of assaults on CIS international locations is kind of intentional?

It is exhausting to argue in any other case. That is small comfort, after all, for these organisations primarily based in international locations that Medusa has no qualms about attacking.

What organisations have been hit by Medusa?

Previous victims have included Minneapolis Public Faculties (MPS) district, which didn’t pay a million-dollar ransom and noticed roughly 92 GB of its stolen data released to the public. It has additionally bragged about stealing the supply code of the Microsoft merchandise Bing Maps and Cortona previously. Different Medusa ransomware victims have included cancer centres, and British high schools.

And these ransomware victims have had their information leaked by Medusa?

Sure, and never simply on the group’s website on the darkish net. Medusa has its personal “media staff” that publicises its leaks, posting on its public Telegram channel, and even going as far as to publish movies displaying proof of stolen information.

So how can my firm defend itself from Medusa?

The best advice is to observe the identical suggestions on how to protect your organisation from different ransomware. These embody:

• making safe offsite backups.
• operating up-to-date safety options and guaranteeing that your computer systems are protected with the newest safety patches towards vulnerabilities.
• utilizing hard-to-crack distinctive passwords to guard delicate information and accounts, in addition to enabling multi-factor authentication.
• encrypting delicate information wherever doable.
• lowering the assault floor by disabling performance that your organization doesn’t want.
• educating and informing workers in regards to the dangers and strategies utilized by cybercriminals to launch assaults and steal information.

Editor’s Observe: The opinions expressed on this and different visitor creator articles are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially replicate these of Tripwire.