While conducting incident response in early 2021, the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) identified a new “Ryuk” ransomware variant that has the capability to self-propagate across victim networks. The variant was specifically observed targeting Windows systems in ransomware campaigns at the beginning of the year (2021). This Ryuk variant can wake up powered-off systems and move through victim networks using scheduled tasks. This enables Ryuk to infect as many hosts as possible, further incentivizing a victim payout. If proven an effective tactic, other ransomware variants could develop similar “wormable” capabilities where those developers have the technical sophistication to do so.
Digital Shadows
Threat Intelligence and Digital Risk Protection Resources
