• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 

A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

 | 

China-linked group Houken hit French organizations using zero-days

 | 

Cybercriminals Target Brazil: 248,725 Exposed in CIEE One Data Breach

 | 

Europol shuts down Archetyp Market, longest-running dark web drug marketplace

 | 

Kelly Benefits data breach has impacted 550,000 people, and the situation continues to worsen as the investigation progresses

 | 

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 

Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Malware
  • CryptoLuck Ransomware spread through the RIG-E Exploit Kit

CryptoLuck Ransomware spread through the RIG-E Exploit Kit

Pierluigi Paganini November 17, 2016

CryptoLuck ransomware is a new strain of malware discovered by the researcher Kafeine, that is being distributed via the RIG-E exploit kit.

The notorious researcher Kafeine has spotted a new strain of ransomware dubbed CryptoLuck. The malware leverages DLL hijacking and exploits the legitimate GoogleUpdate.exe executable to infect computers.

The ransomware appends the .[victim_id]_luck extension to the encrypted files, it is able to lock hundreds of file extensions. It skips files that contain specific strings: Windows, Program Files, Program Files (x86), ProgramData, AppData, Application Data, Temporary Internet Files, Temp, Games, nvidia, intel, $Recycle.Bin, and Cookies.

The malware asks victims to pay a 2.1 Bitcoin (around $1,500) ransom within 72 hours in order to rescue the encrypted files.

The CryptoLuck ransomware is delivered through the RIG-Empire (RIG-E) exploit kit. Crooks leverages malvertising campaigns through adult websites, but likely they will adopt other infection vectors.

The ransomware is spread using a RAR SFX file which contains the crp.cfg, GoogleUpdate.exe, and goopdata.dll files, along with instructions to extract these into the %AppData%\76ff folder and to silently execute GoogleUpdate.exe.

The advantage for abusing the GoogleUpdate.exe is that is a legitimate Google program that is signed by Google.

The authors of the CryptoLuck ransomware have included a malicious goopdate.dll file in the package for the legitimate program to load into memory.

“When the GoogleUpdate.exe program is run, it will look for a DLL file called goopdate.dll file and load it. The problem is that it will first look for this file in the same folder that the GoogleUpdate.exe resides in. This allows a malware developer to create their own malicious goopdate.dll file and have it loaded by GoogleUpdate.” reads the analysis published by Lawrence Abrams from the BleepingComputer.com.

The CryptoLuck ransomware implements mechanisms to avoid analysis from security firms. It is able to determine if it is running in a virtual machine, and in this case, it halts itself. Once executed it scans all mounted drives and unmapped network shares for files to encrypt.

The ransomware uses an AES-256 encryption with a unique AES encryption key for each of file to encrypt. The key is encrypted with an embedded public RSA key and the resulting encrypted AES key is embedded in the encrypted file.

When the ransomware has completed the encryption of the files, it displays a ransom note that contains the instructions for the payment of the ransom.

cryptoluck-ransomware

[adrotate banner=”9″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – CryptoLuck ransomware , cybercrime)


facebook linkedin twitter

CryptoLuck ransomware Cybercrime exploit kit malware

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 08, 2025
U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 08, 2025
IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 08, 2025

    IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

    Cyber Crime / July 08, 2025

    New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

    Uncategorized / July 07, 2025

    Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

    Security / July 07, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 07, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT