The sufferer shaming website operated by the Snatch ransomware group is leaking information about its true on-line location and inside operations, in addition to the Web addresses of its guests, KrebsOnSecurity has discovered. The leaked information counsel that Snatch is one in every of a number of ransomware teams utilizing paid advertisements on Google.com to trick individuals into putting in malware disguised as fashionable free software program, similar to Microsoft Groups, Adobe Reader, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Discord.
First noticed in 2018, the Snatch ransomware group has printed information stolen from a whole lot of organizations that refused to pay a ransom demand. Snatch publishes its stolen information at an internet site on the open Web, and that content material is mirrored on the Snatch workforce’s darknet website, which is barely reachable utilizing the worldwide anonymity community Tor.
The sufferer shaming web site for the Snatch ransomware gang.
KrebsOnSecurity has realized that Snatch’s darknet website exposes its “server standing” web page, which incorporates details about the true Web addresses of customers accessing the web site.
Refreshing this web page each few seconds exhibits that the Snatch darknet website generates an honest quantity of visitors, usually attracting hundreds of tourists every day. However by far probably the most frequent repeat guests are coming from Web addresses in Russia that both at present host Snatch’s clear internet domains or just lately did.
The Snatch ransomware gang’s sufferer shaming website on the darknet is leaking information about its guests. This “server standing” web page says that Snatch’s web site is on Central European Summer season Time (CEST) and is powered by OpenSSL/1.1.1f, which is not supported by safety updates.
In all probability probably the most lively Web handle accessing Snatch’s darknet website is 193.108.114[.]41, which is a server in Yekaterinburg, Russia that hosts a number of Snatch domains, together with snatchteam[.]prime, sntech2ch[.]prime, dwhyj2[.]prime and sn76930193ch[.]prime. It might effectively be that this Web handle is exhibiting up steadily as a result of Snatch’s clear-web website includes a toggle button on the prime that lets guests change over to accessing the positioning by way of Tor.
One other Web handle that confirmed up steadily within the Snatch server standing web page was 194.168.175[.]226, at present assigned to Matrix Telekom in Russia. In line with DomainTools.com, this handle additionally hosts or else just lately hosted the same old coterie of Snatch domains, in addition to fairly a number of domains phishing identified manufacturers similar to Amazon and Cashapp.
The Moscow Web handle 80.66.64[.]15 accessed the Snatch darknet website all day lengthy, and that handle additionally housed the suitable Snatch clear-web domains. Extra curiously, that handle is dwelling to a number of current domains that seem confusingly much like identified software program firms, together with libreoff1ce[.]com and www-discord[.]com.
That is attention-grabbing as a result of the phishing domains related to the Snatch ransomware gang had been all registered to the identical Russian identify — Mihail Kolesnikov, a reputation that’s considerably synonymous with current phishing domains tied to malicious Google advertisements.
Kolesnikov could possibly be a nod to a Russian normal made well-known throughout Boris Yeltsin’s reign. Both means, it’s clearly a pseudonym, however there are another commonalities amongst these domains that will present perception into how Snatch and different ransomware teams are sourcing their victims.
DomainTools says there are greater than 1,300 present and former domains registered to Mihail Kolesnikov between 2013 and July 2023. About half of the domains seem like older web sites promoting feminine escort companies in main cities round the US (e.g. the now-defunct pittsburghcitygirls[.]com).
The opposite half of the Kolesnikov web sites are far more moderen phishing domains largely ending in “.prime” and “.app” that seem designed to imitate the domains of main software program firms, together with www-citrix[.]prime, www-microsofteams[.]prime, www-fortinet[.]prime, ibreoffice[.]prime, www-docker[.]prime, www-basecamp[.]prime, ccleaner-cdn[.]prime, adobeusa[.]prime, and www.real-vnc[.]prime.
In August 2023, researchers with Trustwave Spiderlabs stated they encountered domains registered to Mihail Kolesnikov getting used to disseminate the Rilide info stealer trojan.
But it surely seems a number of crime teams could also be utilizing these domains to phish individuals and disseminate all types of information-stealing malware. In February 2023, Spamhaus warned of an enormous surge in malicious advertisements that had been hijacking search ends in Google.com, and getting used to distribute a minimum of 5 totally different households of knowledge stealing trojans, together with AuroraStealer, IcedID/Bokbot, Meta Stealer, RedLine Stealer and Vidar.
For instance, Spamhaus stated victims of those malicious advertisements would seek for Microsoft Groups in Google.com, and the search engine would usually return a paid advert spoofing Microsoft or Microsoft Groups as the primary end result — above all different outcomes. The malicious advert would come with a brand for Microsoft and at first look seem like a secure and trusted place to obtain the Microsoft Groups consumer.
Nevertheless, anybody who clicked on the end result was whisked away as an alternative to mlcrosofteams-us[.]prime — one more malicious area registered to Mr. Kolesnikov. And whereas guests to this web site could consider they’re solely downloading the Microsoft Groups consumer, the installer file features a copy of the IcedID malware, which is actually good at stealing passwords and authentication tokens from the sufferer’s internet browser.
Picture: Spamhaus
The founding father of the Swiss anti-abuse web site abuse.ch instructed Spamhaus it’s probably that some cybercriminals have began to promote “malvertising as a service” on the darkish internet, and that there’s an excessive amount of demand for this service.
In different phrases, somebody seems to have constructed a really worthwhile enterprise churning out and selling new software-themed phishing domains and promoting that as a service to different cybercriminals. Or maybe they’re merely promoting any stolen information (and any company entry) to lively and hungry ransomware group associates.
The tip concerning the uncovered “server standing” web page on the Snatch darkweb website got here from @htmalgae, the identical safety researcher who alerted KrebsOnSecurity earlier this month that the darknet sufferer shaming website run by the 8Base ransomware gang was inadvertently left in growth mode.
That oversight revealed not solely the true Web handle of the hidden 8Base website (in Russia, naturally), but in addition the identification of a programmer in Moldova who apparently helped to develop the 8Base code.
@htmalgae stated the thought of a ransomware group’s sufferer shaming website leaking information that they didn’t intend to reveal is deliciously ironic.
“It is a felony group that shames others for not defending consumer information,” @htmalgae stated. “And right here they’re leaking their consumer information.”
All the malware talked about on this story is designed to run on Microsoft Home windows units. However Malwarebytes just lately coated the emergence of a Mac-based info stealer trojan referred to as AtomicStealer that was being marketed by way of malicious Google advertisements and domains that had been confusingly much like software program manufacturers.
Please be additional cautious if you find yourself looking on-line for fashionable software program titles. Cracked, pirated copies of main software program titles are a frequent supply of infostealer infections, as are these rogue advertisements masquerading as search outcomes. Be certain to double-check you’re really on the area you consider you’re visiting *earlier than* you obtain and set up something.
Keep tuned for Half II of this publish, which features a nearer take a look at the Snatch ransomware group and their founder.
Additional studying:
@HTMalgae’s record of the highest Web addresses seen accessing Snatch’s darknet website
Bleeping Pc: Hackers Abuse Google Advertisements to Unfold Malware in Legit Software program