www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
====================================================
March 17, 2017
from scmagazine.com
Star Trek-themed Captain 'Kirk'
ransomware with Spock decryptor spotted
Star
Trek-themed Captain 'Kirk' ransomware with Spock decryptor spotted
A cybercriminal
who obviously watches way too much television has gone where many have gone
before and rolled out a new malware family called Kirk ransomware.
Kirk's creators
did have a sense of humor when putting together their scheme. The malware,
which was uncovered by Avast cyber researcher Jakub
Kroustek, contains a short list of Star Trek and SciFi references
that any TV junkie/hacker would admire. In addition to naming the code after
the captain of the USS Enterprise, the decryptor that is supplied once payment
is made is dubbed Spock, according to Bleeping Computer.
In addition,
there is a reference to a Low Orbital Ion Canon, which not only satisfies the
geeks out there, but is also a real type of network stress tool.
There has not
yet been any reported incidences of Kirk, which is written in Python, in the
wild, but on (mixed metaphor alert) the dark side of the situation the malware
has the potential to be dangerous as no decryptor is available, except for the
one offered by the criminals. Webroot reverse engineer Eric Klonowski said
his firm classified Kirk as malicious on March 7.
Bleeping
Computer founder Lawrence Abrams also noted that the cybercriminals are using
the Monero digital currency instead of the more popular Bitcoin, which he
believes is a first for this type of attack.
Since the Kirk
ransomware has not been officially spotted in the wild nor have any victims
come forward, Abrams told SC Media, its distribution method is still unknown.
However, once in a system it cloaks itself as a Low Orbital Ion Canon stress
tool, and uses a fake Low Orbital Ion Canon alert to confuse the victim. The
ransomware then executes creating an AES password, which in turn, is encrypted
by an embedded RSA-4096 encryption key and stored in the system for later use.
"The Kirk
malware demonstrates that ransomware crypto can be effectively implemented in a
few lines of code with relatively few weaknesses," Klonowski said, adding
that "New flavors of ransomware are nothing new, we've seen ransomware
that brands itself as PAC-MAN, Breaking Bad, etc. Generally, these don't
proliferate and aren't very serious in the grand scheme of things."
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