The National Police of Spain has issued a warning regarding an active ransomware campaign dubbed ‘LockBit Locker,’ which is specifically targeting architecture companies in the country through sophisticated phishing emails.
Furthermore, the police have observed a wave of emails targeting architecture firms, and though currently limited to this sector, they caution that the attacks might expand to other industries. The ransomware campaign’s level of sophistication is noted to be exceptionally high, catching victims off guard until their systems are encrypted. Spain’s cyber police have identified the use of a non-existent domain “fotoprix.eu” to impersonate a photography company, with the attackers posing as a new photography store and soliciting facility renovation plans and cost estimates from architecture firms.
The modus operandi of the attackers involves establishing trust through email exchanges and subsequently sharing an archive containing documents that purportedly detail the specifications of the renovation project. Analysis from BleepingComputer indicates that this archive, disguised as a disk image (.img) file, automatically mounts as a drive letter in newer Windows versions, revealing a folder named ‘fotoprix’ with various Python files, batch files, and executables. Further investigation reveals that a malicious Python script is executed, checking for admin privileges and subsequently deploying the ‘LockBit Locker’ ransomware to encrypt files.
While traditional LockBit operations negotiate via Tor, the ‘LockBit Locker’ variant negotiates through email at ‘lockspain@onionmail.org‘ or via the Tox messaging platform. The attackers’ use of BlackMatter ransomware executable and sophisticated phishing emails targeting architecture firms, combined with their adoption of tactics like posing as legitimate customers, underscores the increasing evolution and complexity of ransomware attacks.
This alarming trend highlights the importance of heightened cybersecurity measures to mitigate such threats, especially as ransomware gangs continue to adapt and employ innovative methods to compromise their targets.
