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August 18, 2020

Evil Corp's WastedLocker Ransomware Attacks Observation

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18
Aug 2020
Darktrace detects Evil Corp intrusions with WastedLocker ransomware. Learn how AI spotted malicious activity, from initial intrusion to data exfiltration.

Darktrace has recently observed several targeted intrusions associated with Evil Corp, an advanced cyber-criminal group recently in the headlines after a surge in WastedLocker ransomware cases. The group is believed to have targeted hundreds of organizations in over 40 countries, demanding ransoms of $500,000 to $1m to unlock computer files it seizes. US authorities are now offering a $5m reward for information leading to the arrest of the group’s leaders — understood to be the largest sum of money ever offered for a cyber-criminal.

Thanks to its self-learning nature, Darktrace's AI detected these intrusions without the use of any threat intelligence or static Indicators of Compromise (IoCs). This blog describes the techniques, tools and procedures used in multiple intrusions by Evil Corp – also known as TA505 or SectorJ04.

Key takeaways

  • The threat actor was reusing TTPs as well as infrastructure across multiple intrusions
  • Some infrastructure was only observed in individual intrusions
  • While most WastedLocker reports focus on the ransomware, Darktrace has observed Evil Corp conducting data exfiltration
  • The attacker used various ‘Living off the Land’ techniques for lateral movement
  • Data exfiltration and ransomware activity took place on weekends, likely to reduce response capabilities of IT teams
  • Although clearly an advanced actor, Evil Corp can be detected and stopped before encryption ensues

Evil Corp ransomware attack

Figure 1: The standard attack lifecycle observed in Evil Corp campaigns

Initial intrusion

While Evil Corp is technically sophisticated enough to choose from an array of initial intrusion methods, fake browser updates were the weapon of choice in the observed campaign. These were delivered from legitimate websites and used social engineering to convince users to download these malicious ‘updates’. Evil Corp has actually built a framework around this capability, referred to as SocGholish.

Establishing foothold / Command & Control Traffic

Darktrace detected different C2 domains being contacted after the initial infection. These domains overlap across various victims, showing that the attacker is reusing infrastructure within the same campaign. The C2 communication – comprised of thousands of connections over several days – took place over encrypted channels with valid SSL certificates. No single infected device ever beaconed to more than one C2 domain at a time.

Two example C2 domains are listed below with more details:

techgreeninc[.]com

SSL beacon details:

  • Median beacon period: 3 seconds
  • Range of periods: 1 seconds - 2.58 minutes
  • Data volume sent per connection on average: 921 Bytes

investimentosefinancas[.]com

SSL beacon details:

  • Median beacon period: 1.7 minutes
  • Range of periods: 1 seconds - 6.68 minutes
  • Data volume sent per connection on average: 935 Bytes

Certificate information:

  • Subject: CN=investimentosefinancas.com
  • Issuer: CN=Thawte RSA CA 2018,OU=www.digicert.com,O=DigiCert Inc,C=US
  • Validation status: OK

Note in particular the median beacon period, which indicates that some C2 channels were much more hands-on, whilst others possibly acted as backup channels in case the main C2 was burned or detected. It’s also interesting to see the low amount of data being transferred to the hands-on C2 domains. The actual data exfiltration took place to yet another C2 destination, intentionally separated from the hands-on intrusion C2s. All observed C2 websites were recently registered with Russian providers and are not responsive (see below).

Figure 2: The unresponsive C2 domain

Registrar: reg.ru

Created: 2020-06-29 (6 weeks ago) | Updated: 2020-07-07 (5 weeks ago)

Figure 3: Some key information relating to the C2 domain

Darktrace’s Cyber AI Platform detected this Command & Control activity via various behavioral indicators, including unusual beaconing and unusual usage of TLS (JA3).

Internal reconnaissance

In some cases, Darktrace witnessed several days of inactivity between establishing C2 and internal reconnaissance. The attackers used Advanced Port Scanner, a common IT tool, in a clear attempt to blend in with regular network activity. Several hundred IPs and dozens of popular ports were scanned at once, with tens of thousands of connections made in a short period of time.

Some key ports scanned were: 21, 22, 23, 80, 135, 139, 389, 443, 445, 1433, 3128, 3306, 3389, 4444, 4899, 5985, 5986, 8080. Darktrace detected this anomalous behavior easily as the infected devices don’t usually scan the network.

Lateral movement

Different methods of lateral movement were observed across intrusions, but also within the same intrusion, with WMI used to move between devices. Darktrace detected this by identifying when WMI usage was unusual or new for a device. An example of the lateral movement is shown below, with Darktrace detecting this as ‘New Activity’.

Figure 4: The model breach event log

PsExec was used where it already existed in the environment and Darktrace also witnessed SMB drive writes to hidden shares to copy malware, e.g.

C$ file=Programdata\[REDACTED]4rgsfdbf[REDACTED]

A malicious Powershell file was downloaded – partly shown in the screenshot below.

Figure 5: The malicious Powershell file

Accomplish mission – Data exfiltration or ransomware deployment

Evil Corp is currently best known for its WastedLocker ransomware. Whilst some of its recent intrusions have seen ransomware deployments, others have been classic cases of data exfiltration. Darktrace has not yet observed a double-threat – a case of exfiltration followed by ransomware.

The data exfiltration took place over HTTP to generic .php endpoints under the attacker’s control.

How Cyber AI Analyst reported on WastedLocker

When the first signs of anomalous activity were picked up by Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System, Cyber AI Analyst automatically launched a full investigation and quickly provided a full overview of the overall incident. The AI Analyst continued to add more details to the ongoing incident as it evolved. There were a total of six AI Analyst incidents for the week spanning an example Evil Corp intrusion – and two of them directly covered the Evil Corp attack. In stitching together disparate security events and presenting a single narrative, Cyber AI Analyst did all the heavy lifting for human security staff, who could look at just a handful of fully-investigated incidents, instead of having to triage countless individual model breaches.

Figure 6: Cyber AI Analyst’s overview of the incident

Note how AI Analyst covers five phases of the attack lifecycle in a single incident report:

  1. Unusual Repeated Connections – Initial C2
  2. Possible HTTP Command & Control Traffic – Further C2
  3. Possible SSL Command & Control Traffic – Further C2
  4. Scanning of Multiple Devices – Internal reconnaissance with Advanced IP Scanner
  5. SMB Writes of Suspicious Files – Lateral Movement

Evil Corp rising

Every indicator suggests that this was not a case of indiscriminate ransomware, but rather highly sophisticated and targeted attacks by an advanced threat actor. With the ultimate goal of ransoming operations, the attacker moved towards the crown jewels of the organization: file servers and databases.

The organizations involved in the above analysis did not have Darktrace Antigena – Darktrace’s Autonomous Response technology – in active mode, and the threat was therefore allowed to escalate beyond its initial stages. With Antigena in full operation, the activity would have been contained at its early stages with a precise and surgical response which would have stopped the malicious behavior whilst allowing the business to operate as normal.

Despite the targeted and advanced nature of the threat, security teams are perfectly capable of detecting, investigating, and stopping the threat with Cyber AI. Darktrace was able to not only detect WastedLocker ransomware based on a series of anomalies in network traffic, but also stitch together those anomalies and investigate the incident in real time, presenting an actionable summary of the different attack stages without flooding the security team with meaningless alerts.

Learn more about Autonomous Response

Network IoCs:

IoCCommenttechgreeninc[.]comC2 domaininvestimentosefinancas[.]comC2 domain

Selected associated Darktrace model breaches:

  • Compromise / Beaconing Activity To External Rare
  • Compromise / Agent Beacon (Medium Period)
  • Compromise / Slow Beaconing Activity To External Rare
  • Compromise / Suspicious Beaconing Behaviour
  • Device / New or Unusual Remote Command Execution
  • Compromise / Beaconing Activity To External Rare
  • Compromise / Agent Beacon (Medium Period)
  • Compromise / Slow Beaconing Activity To External Rare
  • Device / New User Agent
  • Unusual Activity / Unusual Internal Connections
  • Device / Suspicious Network Scan Activity
  • Device / Network Scan
  • Device / Network Scan - Low Anomaly Score
  • Device / ICMP Address Scan
  • Anomalous Server Activity / Anomalous External Activity from Critical Network Device
  • Compromise / SSL Beaconing to Rare Destination
  • Anomalous Connection / SMB Enumeration
  • Compliance / SMB Drive Write
  • Anomalous File / Internal / Unusual SMB Script Write

Inside the SOC
Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.
Author
Max Heinemeyer
Global Field CISO

Max is a cyber security expert with over a decade of experience in the field, specializing in a wide range of areas such as Penetration Testing, Red-Teaming, SIEM and SOC consulting and hunting Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups. At Darktrace, Max is closely involved with Darktrace’s strategic customers & prospects. He works with the R&D team at Darktrace, shaping research into new AI innovations and their various defensive and offensive applications. Max’s insights are regularly featured in international media outlets such as the BBC, Forbes and WIRED. Max holds an MSc from the University of Duisburg-Essen and a BSc from the Cooperative State University Stuttgart in International Business Information Systems.

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March 28, 2025

Darktrace Recognized as the Only Visionary in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for CPS Protection Platforms

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We are thrilled to announce that Darktrace has been named the only Visionary in the inaugural Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Protection Platforms. We feel This recognition highlights Darktrace’s AI-driven approach to securing industrial environments, where conventional security solutions struggle to keep pace with increasing cyber threats.

A milestone for CPS security

It's our opinion that the first-ever Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms reflects a growing industry shift toward purpose-built security solutions for critical infrastructure. As organizations integrate IT, OT, and cloud-connected systems, the cyber risk landscape continues to expand. Gartner evaluated 17 vendors based on their Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision, establishing a benchmark for security leaders looking to enhance cyber resilience in industrial environments.

We believe the Gartner recognition of Darktrace as the only Visionary reaffirms the platform’s ability to proactively defend against cyber risks through AI-driven anomaly detection, autonomous response, and risk-based security strategies. With increasingly sophisticated attacks targeting industrial control systems, organizations need a solution that continuously evolves to defend against both known and unknown threats.

AI-driven security for CPS environments

Securing CPS environments requires an approach that adapts to the dynamic nature of industrial operations. Traditional security tools rely on static signatures and predefined rules, leaving gaps in protection against novel and sophisticated threats. Darktrace / OT takes a different approach, leveraging Self-Learning AI to detect and neutralize threats in real time, even in air-gapped or highly regulated environments.

Darktrace / OT continuously analyzes network behaviors to establish a deep understanding of what is “normal” for each industrial environment. This enables it to autonomously identify deviations that signal potential cyber threats, providing early warning and proactive defense before attacks can disrupt operations. Unlike rule-based security models that require constant manual updates, Darktrace / OT improves with the environment, ensuring long-term resilience against emerging cyber risks.

Bridging the IT-OT security gap

A major challenge for organizations protecting CPS environments is the disconnect between IT and OT security. While IT security has traditionally focused on data

protection and compliance, OT security is driven by operational uptime and safety, leading to siloed security programs that leave critical gaps in visibility and response.

Darktrace / OT eliminates these silos by providing unified visibility across IT, OT, and IoT assets, ensuring that security teams have a complete picture of their attack surface. Its AI-driven approach enables cross-domain threat detection, recognizing risks that move laterally between IT and OT environments. By seamlessly integrating with existing security architectures, Darktrace / OT helps organizations close security gaps without disrupting industrial processes.

Proactive OT risk management and resilience

Beyond detection and response, Darktrace / OT strengthens organizations’ ability to manage cyber risk proactively. By mapping vulnerabilities to real-world attack paths, it prioritizes remediation actions based on actual exploitability and business impact, rather than relying on isolated CVE scores. This risk-based approach enables security teams to focus resources where they matter most, reducing overall exposure to cyber threats.

With autonomous threat response capabilities, Darktrace / OT not only identifies risks but also contains them in real time, preventing attackers from escalating intrusions. Whether mitigating ransomware, insider threats, or sophisticated nation-state attacks, Darktrace / OT ensures that industrial environments remain secure, operational, and resilient, no matter how threats evolve.

AI-powered incident response and SOC automation

Security teams are facing an overwhelming volume of alerts, making it difficult to prioritize threats and respond effectively. Darktrace / OT’s Cyber AI Analyst acts as a force multiplier for security teams by automating threat investigation, alert triage, and response actions. By mimicking the workflow of a human SOC analyst, Cyber AI Analyst provides contextual insights that accelerate incident response and reduce the manual workload on security teams.

With 24/7 autonomous monitoring, Darktrace / OT ensures that threats are continuously detected and investigated in real time. Whether facing ransomware, insider threats, or sophisticated nation-state attacks, organizations can rely on AI-driven security to contain threats before they disrupt operations.

Trusted by customers: Darktrace / OT recognized in Gartner Peer Insights

Source: Gartner Peer Insights (Oct 28th)

Beyond our recognition in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, we feel Darktrace / OT is one of the highest-rated CPS security solutions on Gartner Peer Insights, reflecting strong customer trust and validation. With a 4.9/5 overall rating and the highest "Willingness to Recommend" score among CPS vendors, organizations across critical infrastructure and industrial sectors recognize the impact of our AI-driven security approach. Source: Gartner Peer Insights (Oct 28th)

This strong customer endorsement underscores why leading enterprises trust Darktrace / OT to secure their CPS environments today and in the future.

Redefining the future of CPS security

It's our view that Darktrace’s recognition as the only Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms validates its leadership in next-generation industrial security. As cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure continue to rise, organizations must adopt AI-driven security solutions that can adapt, respond, and mitigate risks in real time.

We believe this recognition reinforces our commitment to innovation and our mission to secure the world’s most essential systems. This recognition reinforces our commitment to innovation and our mission to secure the world’s most essential systems.

® Download the full Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms

® Request a demo to see Darktrace OT in action.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms , Katell Thielemann, Wam Voster, Ruggero Contu 12 February 2025

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant and Peer Insights are a registered trademark, of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Pallavi Singh
Product Marketing Manager, OT Security & Compliance

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March 28, 2025

Survey Findings: AI Cybersecurity Priorities and Objectives in 2025

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AI is changing the cybersecurity field, both on the offensive and defensive sides. We surveyed over 1,500 cybersecurity professionals from around the world to uncover their attitudes, understanding, and priorities when it comes to AI cybersecurity in 2025. Our full report, unearthing some telling trends, is available now.  

Download the full report to explore these findings in depth

It is clear that security professionals know their field is changing fast, and that AI will continue to influence those changes. Our survey results show that they are aware that the rise of AI will require them to adopt new tools and learn to use them effectively. Still, they aren’t always certain about how to plan for the future, or what to invest in.

The top priorities of security stakeholders for improving their defenses against AI-powered threats include augmenting their existing tool stacks with AI-powered solutions and improving integration among their security tools.

Figure 1: Year-over-year changes to the priorities of securitystakeholders.

Increasing cybersecurity staff

As was also the case last year, security stakeholders are less interested in hiring additional staff than in adding new AI-powered tools onto their existing security stacks, with only with 11% (and only 8% of executives) planning to increase cybersecurity staff in 2025.

This suggests that leaders are looking for new methods to overcome talent resource shortages.

Adding AI-powered security tools to supplement existing solutions

Executives are particularly enthusiastic about adopting AI-driven tools. Within that goal, there is consensus about the qualities cyber professionals are looking for when purchasing new security capabilities or replacing existing products.

  • 87% of survey respondents prefer solutions that are part of a broader platform over individual point products

These results are similar to last year’s, where again, almost nine out of ten agreed that a platform-oriented security solution was more effective at stopping cyber threats than a collection of individual products.

  • 88% of survey respondents agree that the use of AI within the security stack is critical to freeing up time for security teams to become more proactive, compared to reactive

AI itself can contribute to this shift from reactive to proactive security, improving risk prioritization and automating preventative strategies like Attack Surface Management (ASM) and proactive exposure management.

  • 84% of survey respondents prefer defensive AI solutions that do not require the organization’s data to be shared externally

This preference may reflect increasing attention to the data privacy and security risks posed by generative AI (gen AI) adoption. It may also reflect growing awareness of data residency requirements and other restrictions that regulators are imposing.

Improving cybersecurity awareness training for end users

Based on the survey results, practitioners in SecOps are more interested in improving security awareness training.

This goal is not necessarily mutually exclusive from the addition of AI tools. For example, teams can leverage AI to build more effective security awareness training programs, and as gen AI tools are adopted, users will need to be taught about data privacy and associated security risks.

Looking towards the future

One conclusion we can draw from the attitudinal shifts from last year’s survey to this year’s: while hiring more security staff might be a nice-to-have, implementing AI-powered tools so that existing employees can work smarter is increasingly viewed as a must-have.

However, trending goals are not just about managing resources, whether headcount or AI investments, to keep up with workloads. Existing end users must also be trained to follow safe practices while using established and newly adopted tools.

Security professionals, including executives, SecOps, and every role in between, continue to shift their identified challenges and priorities as they gear up for the coming year in the Era of AI.

State of AI report

Download the full report to explore these findings in depth

The full report for Darktrace’s State of AI Cybersecurity is out now. Download the paper to dig deeper into these trends, and see how results differ by industry, region, organization size, and job title.  

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