A newly-discovered strain of ransomware is using Java to target Windows and Linux PCs belonging to software and education-focused organisations.
The malware, named Tycoon, was uncovered and analysed by BlackBerry’s Research and Intelligence and KPMG’s UK Cyber Response Services teams. Their researchers believe that the malware has been active since December 2019, yet was able to “fly under the radar” due to using “an obscure Java image format”.
Tycoon is known to be deployed as a trojanised Java Runtime Environment, being compiled in a Java image file (Jimage) in order to conceal its malicious intent. The malware is spread by connecting to a system using a remote desktop protocol (RDP) server.
KPMG’s and BlackBerry’s researchers explained that “the threat actors behind Tycoon were observed using highly targeted delivery mechanisms to infiltrate small to medium-sized companies and institutions in education and software industries, where they would proceed to encrypt file servers and demand a ransom,” which is paid in bitcoins.
However, the researchers claim that because of the reuse of a fairly common RSA private key, it may be possible to recover encrypted data without having to pay.
Tycoon uses encrypted files extension such as “thanos”, “grinch”, and “redrum”, and its encrypted files signatures include “happyny3.1” and “redrum3_0”.
Although KPMG and BlackBerry’s teams are familiar with “a substantial increase in ransomware written in languages such as Java and Go”, they said that Tycoon “is the first sample we've encountered that specifically abuses the Java JIMAGE format to create a custom malicious JRE build”.
RELATED RESOURCE
How enterprises are embracing cyber security challenges
Enterprises across Europe, the Middle East and Africa are undergoing a significant transformation
“Malware writers are constantly seeking new ways of flying under the radar,” they explained. “They are slowly moving away from conventional obfuscation and shifting towards uncommon programming languages and obscure data formats.”
It has not been revealed how many organisations had fallen victim to the Tycoon malware. The number is believed to be limited as hackers appear to be choosing their targets carefully.
-
Ransomware victims are getting better at haggling with hackersNews While nearly half of companies paid a ransom to get their data back last year, victims are taking an increasingly hard line with hackers to strike fair deals.
-
LockBit data dump reveals a treasure trove of intel on the notorious hacker groupNews An analysis of May's SQL database dump shows how much LockBit was really making
-
‘I take pleasure in thinking I can rid society of at least some of them’: A cyber vigilante is dumping information on notorious ransomware criminals – and security experts say police will be keeping close tabsNews An anonymous whistleblower has released large amounts of data allegedly linked to the ransomware gangs
-
It's been a bad week for ransomware operatorsNews A host of ransomware strains have been neutralized, servers seized, and key players indicted
-
Everything we know about the Peter Green Chilled cyber attackNews A ransomware attack on the chilled food distributor highlights the supply chain risks within the retail sector
-
Scattered Spider: Who are the alleged hackers behind the M&S cyber attack?News The Scattered Spider group has been highly active in recent years
-
Ransomware attacks are rising — but quiet payouts could mean there's more than actually reported
News Ransomware attacks continue to climb, but they may be even higher than official figures show as companies choose to quietly pay to make such incidents go away.
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolen – and security experts say it won't be the lastNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
