GINC-APT-1137 · Criminal

MedusaLocker

Also Medusa (Note: Medusa should not be confused with a similarly named RaaS, which has been available since 2019).

Category
Criminal · Financially motivated: ransomware, fraud and theft.
Origin
Unknown
Sources
2 sources carry it
Identifier
GINC-APT-1137 · medusalocker

What it is

Observed as recently as May 2022, MedusaLocker actors predominantly rely on vulnerabilities in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to access victims’ networks. The MedusaLocker actors encrypt the victim's data and leave a ransom note with communication instructions in every folder containing an encrypted file. The note directs victims to provide ransomware payments to a specific Bitcoin wallet address. MedusaLocker appears to operate as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model based on the observed split of ransom payments. Typical RaaS models involve the ransomware developer and various affiliates that deploy the ransomware on victim systems. MedusaLocker ransomware payments appear to be consistently split between the affiliate, who receives 55 to 60 percent of the ransom; and the developer, who receives the remainder.

Names

The names each vendor, agency and source gives it. Naming differs by who tracks the actor, so one group carries many.

Other names
Medusa (Note: Medusa should not be confused with a similarly named RaaS, which has been available since 2019)

Tools

The tools and malware families the sources tie to it.

  • DesktopNow
  • Remote Utilities
  • RemoteCMD
  • RemotePC