
Phobos Ransomware actively spreading in the wild
The SonicWall Capture Labs Threat Research Team observed reports of a new variant family of Phobos ransomware [Phobos.RSM] actively spreading in the wild.
The Phobos ransomware encrypts the victim's files with a strong encryption algorithm until the victim pays a fee to get them back.
Contents of the Phobos ransomware
Infection Cycle:
The ransomware adds the following files to the system:
- Malware.exe
- %App.path%\ info.hta
- %Userprofile\Desktop %\ info.txt
- Instruction for recovery
- %App.path%\ [File Name]. Phobos
Once the computer is compromised, the ransomware runs the following commands:
The ransomware encrypts all the files and appends the [.Phobos] extension onto each encrypted file's filename.
After encrypting all personal documents, the ransomware shows the following htm file containing a message reporting that the computer has been encrypted and to contact its developer for unlock instructions.
SonicWall Capture Labs provides protection against this threat via the following signature:
- GAV: Phobos.RSM (Trojan)
This threat is also detected by SonicWALL Capture ATP w/RTDMI and the Capture Client endpoint solutions.