Medusalocker

MITRE ATT&CK does not currently catalogue Medusalocker, so this is our assessment of the techniques it uses, drawn from public reporting. The techniques themselves, and every "what that means" definition below, come from MITRE ATT&CK v19.2. Confidence: medium. Treat it as orientation, not attribution.

1. T1059.001 PowerShell Execution

   What they do: medusalocker uses PowerShell scripts to execute ransomware payloads and propagate across compromised systems.

   What that means: Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.

2. T1112 Modify Registry PersistenceDefense Impairment

   What they do: medusalocker modifies Windows Registry Run keys to ensure ransomware execution upon system startup.

   What that means: Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry as part of a variety of other techniques to aid in defense evasion, persistence, and execution.

3. T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder PersistencePrivilege Escalation

   What they do: medusalocker uses registry run keys and startup folders to maintain persistence after reboots.

   What that means: Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a program to a startup folder or referencing it with a Registry run key.

4. T1685 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Impairment

   What they do: medusalocker disables antivirus tools and security processes to prevent detection and hinder system recovery.

   What that means: Adversaries may disable, degrade, or tamper with security tools or applications (e.g., endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, intrusion detection systems (IDS), antivirus, logging agents, sensors, etc.) to impair or reduce visibility of defensive capabilities.

5. T1070.004 File Deletion Stealth

   What they do: medusalocker deletes Volume Shadow Copies and backup directories via system commands to eliminate recovery options.

   What that means: Adversaries may delete files left behind by the actions of their intrusion activity.

6. T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access

   What they do: medusalocker accesses and dumps LSASS memory to steal credentials for lateral movement and evasion.

   What that means: Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).

7. T1135 Network Share Discovery Discovery

   What they do: medusalocker discovers network shares using SMB enumeration to identify additional victims for encryption.

   What that means: Adversaries may look for folders and drives shared on remote systems as a means of identifying sources of information to gather as a precursor for Collection and to identify potential systems of interest for Lateral Movement.

8. T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares Lateral Movement

   What they do: medusalocker moves laterally via SMB/Windows Admin Shares to encrypt additional machines within the network.

   What that means: Adversaries may use Valid Accounts to interact with a remote network share using Server Message Block (SMB).

9. T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact Impact

   What they do: medusalocker encrypts victim files and backups using its ransomware payload to maximize impact and extortion.

   What that means: Adversaries may encrypt data on target systems or on large numbers of systems in a network to interrupt availability to system and network resources.

10. T1490 Inhibit System Recovery Impact

    What they do: medusalocker calls system recovery inhibitors to block backup restoration and force reliance on decryption.

    What that means: Adversaries may delete or remove built-in data and turn off services designed to aid in the recovery of a corrupted system to prevent recovery.

Software Medusalocker has been seen using, grouped by what it is used for. Legitimate administration tools appear here because these actors routinely abuse them — presence in this list is not itself malicious.

Tool data from Ransomware Tool Matrix by BushidoUK, licensed CC BY 4.0. Grouped by purpose and matched to this group by Breach House.

+9 more wallets not shown (the 12 largest by amount received are listed).

Crowdsourced payment data from Ransomwhere, licensed CC BY 4.0. Figures are what has been reported and attributed to this family, not a confirmed total. Cite as: Cable, Jack. (2024). Ransomwhere: A Crowdsourced Ransomware Payment Dataset (1.1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6512122

The note this group leaves on a compromised machine. Click a filename to read it.

<html>
    <style type="text/css">

      body {
      background-color: #f5f5f5;
      }

h1, h3{
  text-align:  center;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  font-weight: normal;
}


/*---*/
.tabs1{
    display: block;
    margin: auto;
}
.tabs1 .head{
    text-align: center;
    float: top;
    padding: 0px;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    font-weight: normal;
    display: block;
    background: #81bef7;
    color: #DF0101;
    font-size: 30px;
}

.tabs1 .identi {
    font-size: 10px;
    text-align:  center;
    float: top;
    padding: 15px;
    display: block;
    background: #81bef7;
    color: #DFDFDF;
}


.tabs .content {
  background: #f5f5f5;
  /*text-align: center;*/
  color: #000000;
  padding: 25px 15px;
  font-size: 15px;
  font-weight: 400;
  line-height: 20px; }
 .tabs .content a {
    color: #df0130;
    font-size: 23px;
    font-style: italic;
    text-decoration: none;
    line-height: 35px; }


.tabs .content .text{
padding: 25px;
line-height: 1.2;
}


    </style>


  <body>

    <div class="tabs1">
     <div class="head" ><b>Your personal ID:</b></div>
      <div class="identi">
      <span style="width:1000px; color: #ffffff; font-size: 10px;">[snip]</span> <br>
<!-- !!! dont changing this !!! -->
      </div>
    </div>
  <!-- -->
    <div class="tabs">
<!--tab-->  
    <div class="tab">
        <div id="tab-content1" class="content">
         
          <div class="text">
          <!--text data -->

          <b>/!\ YOUR COMPANY NETWORK HAS BEEN PENETRATED /!\</b><br>

          <b>All your important files have been encrypted!</b><br><br>
	  <hr>
             Your files are safe! Only modified. (RSA+AES)<br><br>

ANY ATTEMPT TO RESTORE YOUR FILES WITH THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE<br>
WILL PERMANENTLY CORRUPT IT.<br>
DO NOT MODIFY ENCRYPTED FILES.<br>
DO NOT RENAME ENCRYPTED FILES.<br><br>

No software available on internet can help you. We are the only ones able to<br>
solve your problem.<br><br>

We gathered highly confidential/personal data. These data are currently stored on<br>
a private server. This server will be immediately destroyed after your payment.<br>
If you decide to not pay, we will release your data to public or re-seller.<br>
So you can expect your data to be publicly available in the near future..<br><br>


We only seek money and our goal is not to damage your reputation or prevent<br>
your business from running.<br><br>

You will can send us 2-3 non-important files and we will decrypt it for free<br>
to prove we are able to give your files back.<br><br>
          <!--text data -->
          <hr>
          <b>Contact us for price and get decryption software.</b><br><br>
<a>qd7pcafncosqfqu3ha6fcx4h6sr7tzwagzpcdcnytiw3b6varaeqv5yd.onion</a><br>
* Note that this server is available via Tor browser only<br><br>
Follow the instructions to open the link:<br>
              1. Type the addres "https://www.torproject.org" in your Internet browser. It opens the Tor site.<br>
              2. Press "Download Tor", then press "Download Tor Browser Bundle", install and run it.<br>
              3. Now you have Tor browser. In the Tor Browser open <a>qd7pcafncosqfqu3ha6fcx4h6sr7tzwagzpcdcnytiw3b6varaeqv5yd.onion<br>
          </a>
                        4. Start a chat and follow the further instructions. <br>
          <hr>			
          <b>If you can not use the above link, use the email:</b><br>
          <a href="[email protected]  ">[email protected]   </a> <br>
          <a href="[email protected] ">[email protected]   </a> <br>
          
          
          <p>* To contact us, create a new free email account on the site:  <a href="https://protonmail.com">protonmail.com <br>

<b>
IF YOU DON'T CONTACT US WITHIN 72 HOURS, PRICE WILL BE HIGHER.</b><br>


          </div>
        </div>
    </div>
 <!--tab-->    

            
          <!--text data -->
          </div> 
        </div>
<!--tab--> 
    </div>
    
  </div>
  
  </body>
</html>

Ransom-note text from RansomLook, licensed CC BY 4.0.