A new threat intelligence report has underscored the serious threat posed by the recently discovered Snake ransomware, which not only encrypts files, but can disrupt certain industrial controls systems processes.
ICS security firm Dragos issued the blog post report yesterday after initially sharing it privately with its clientele back in mid-January. Dragos refers to ransomware as Ekans (Snake backwards), and said its team first observed the threat on Jan. 6, although the MalwareHunterTeam had been previously credited with its discovery.
Although the Go-language program is rather primitive and limited in functionality, it nonetheless “represents a relatively new and deeply concerning evolution in ICS-targeting malware,” said Dragos in its post. “Whereas previously ICS-specific or ICS-related malware was solely the playground of state-sponsored entities, Ekans appears to indicate non-state elements pursuing financial gain are now involved in this space as well…”
As it encrypts files, the ransomware appends a random five-character string to the extension, and then within each file ..
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