Malware

The strange similarities between Lockbit 3.0 and Blackmatter ransomware

Researchers found similarities between LockBit 3.0 ransomware and BlackMatter, which is a rebranded variant of the DarkSide ransomware.

Cybersecurity researchers have found similarities between the latest version of the LockBit ransomware, LockBit 3.0, and the BlackMatter ransomware.

The Lockbit 3.0 ransomware was released in June with important novelties such as a bug bounty program, Zcash payment, and new extortion tactics. The gang has been active since at least 2019 and today it is one of the most active ransomware gangs.

The ransomware appends the extension “HLJkNskOq” or “19MqZqZ0s” to filenames of the encripted files and change their icons to the one for the .ico file.

The ransom note references ‘Ilon Musk’ and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

After the infection process is completed, the ransomware changes the wallpaper of the machine to inform them of the attack.

While debugging the Lockbit 3.0 sample, Trend Micro researchers noticed that multiple portions of LockBit 3.0’s code is borrowed from the BlackMatter ransomware.

“From our examination of the unpacked sample and an analysis provided by the researcher Chuong Dong, we discovered that LockBit 3.0 requires a pass parameter to decrypt its main routine.” reads the analysis published by Trend Micro.”LockBit 3.0 performs API harvesting by hashing the API names of a DLL, and then comparing it to the list of the APIs that the ransomware needs. This routine is identical to that of BlackMatter, as the externally available script for renaming BlackMatter’s APIs also works for LockBit 3.0.”

The experts highlight the similarities to the privilege escalation and harvesting routines used by BlackMatter to identify APIs ro conduct different activities.

In addition, the latest variant of LockBit also checks the victim machine’s UI language to avoid infecting machines with these languages used in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) states.

The deletion of shadow copies implementare by Lockbit 3.0 and BlackMatter uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) through COM objects. Experts pointer out that LockBit 2.0 uses vssadmin.exe for deletion.

“With the release of this latest variant — and the launch of LockBit’s bug bounty program, which rewards its affiliates — we expect the LockBit ransomware group to be even more active in the coming days.” concludes the report. “We advise organizations and end users to be wary of this new variant, especially since the bug bounty program might help the operators in making their ransomware an even more formidable one.”

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, ransomware)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.

Recent Posts

Google: China dominates government exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in 2023

Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) and Mandiant reported a surge in the number of actively…

2 hours ago

Google addressed 2 Chrome zero-days demonstrated at Pwn2Own 2024

Google addressed two zero-day vulnerabilities in the Chrome web browser that have been demonstrated during…

13 hours ago

INC Ransom stole 3TB of data from the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland

The INC Ransom extortion group hacked the National Health Service (NHS) of Scotland and is threatening…

17 hours ago

CISA adds Microsoft SharePoint bug disclosed at Pwn2Own to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) adds a Microsoft SharePoint vulnerability disclosed at the…

23 hours ago

The DDR Advantage: Real-Time Data Defense

This is the advantage of Data Detection and Response (DDR) for organizations aiming to build…

1 day ago

Finnish police linked APT31 to the 2021 parliament attack

The Finnish Police attributed the attack against the parliament that occurred in March 2021 to…

1 day ago

This website uses cookies.