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BlackBerry Blog
 1. BlackBerry Blog
 2. The Curious Case of “Monti” Ransomware: A Real-World Doppelganger


THE CURIOUS CASE OF “MONTI” RANSOMWARE: A REAL-WORLD DOPPELGANGER

RESEARCH & INTELLIGENCE / 09.07.22 / Anuj Soni, Ryan Chapman
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A ransomware victim called in the BlackBerry Incident Response (IR) team during
this year's 4th of July holiday weekend. We quickly realized we were
investigating an attack by a previously unknown group, calling themselves
"MONTI." They encrypted nearly 20 user hosts along with a multi-host VMware ESXi
cluster that brought down over 20 servers.

Threat research shows that the only credible reference of the “Monti” ransomware
group prior to today was a tweet from security researchers at MalwareHunterTeam,
posted on June 30, 2022. The Twitter post mentioned the possibility that Monti
ransomware may have had “5-10 victims in the past months,” though no data is
publicly available on these victims.

Most Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) identified by the BlackBerry IR team in the
Monti attack were also seen in previous Conti ransomware cases — except one:
Monti threat actors leveraged the Action1 Remote Monitoring and Maintenance
(RMM) agent.

This article provides a general overview of the incident, denotes the unique
characteristics of this “new” threat actor group, and includes malware analysis
of the payload used. We also include a breakdown of “Veeamp,” a password stealer
malware targeting the Veeam data backup application, which was identified during
the incident.


OPERATING SYSTEM




RISK & IMPACT




MONTI RANSOMWARE INCIDENT OVERVIEW


On July 5, 2022, a client engaged the BlackBerry® Security Services Incident
Response team to perform a forensic investigation and respond to a
ransomware-related security incident. The security incident occurred when a
threat actor group calling itself “MONTI” obtained access to the client’s
environment.

The threat actor apparently intruded via an exploitation of the well-known
“Log4Shell” vulnerability (a.k.a. CVE-2021-44228) in the client’s
internet-facing VMware Horizon virtualization system. At the time the BlackBerry
team was engaged, the operators had already initially encrypted 18 user
desktops. They also encrypted a three-server ESXi cluster that resulted in 21
virtualized servers being impacted. Figure 1 provides an overview of the
incident.



Figure 1 - Overview of the “MONTI strain” ransomware incident

The threat actor initially obtained access to the client’s VMware Horizon
Connection Broker server via Log4Shell exploitation on June 29, 2022. After
entering the client’s environment, it installed the Google Chrome™ browser and
used it to download attack tools to the server.

The threat actor also downloaded and installed two remote monitoring and
maintenance (RMM) agents, AnyDesk and Action1, which we’ll describe in more
detail later. It used these agents to establish persistence within the network
and to facilitate additional remote access.

The attackers also used tooling they’d brought into the environment to dump
credentials from memory and scan the network. They used Microsoft® Windows®
built-in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to other servers, access data
files on network shares, and eventually to deploy the “MONTI” strain of
ransomware. The goal of this activity was to encrypt multiple hosts within the
network (including Veeam-based backups).


MEET THE MYSTERIOUS MONTI RANSOMWARE GROUP

The threat group referring to itself as “MONTI” is little-known within the
threat intelligence community. The limited evidence we discovered regarding this
threat actor indicates they emerged between May and June 2022.

Based on analysis conducted in this investigation, BlackBerry researchers
believe that the Monti group has purposefully (and brazenly) mimicked the
better-known "Conti" team's tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), along
with many of its tools and its ransomware encryptor payload.

It seems likely that attackers chose this blatant emulation strategy because of
the availability of Conti group’s internal communications, chat logs, training
guides, real-world identities, and source code — all of which were publicly
leaked on the internet starting in February 2022. Having access to this trove of
information effectively gave Monti threat actors a step-by-step guide to
emulating Conti’s notoriously successful activities.

As a response to the data leak, the Conti group went into hiding. Currently, the
original Conti ransomware operations group is believed to have dispersed and is
no longer in business.

At the time of writing this report, public internet and darknet research
revealed only a single mention of the Monti ransomware crew, in the form of a
Twitter post from the account “MalwareHunterTeam” (@malwrhunterteam). This
tweet, shown in Figure 2, includes a screenshot of the “MONTI strain” ransomware
note, and alludes to possible re-use of the Conti codebase.



Figure 2 - A tweet from June 30, 2022, discussing “MONTI strain” of ransomware

Because a mountain of analysis already exists to explain Conti ransomware
operations, we will focus on what makes the Monti group unique, and what you can
expect when a “doppelganger” group such as this spins up operations.


UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF MONTI RANSOMWARE

The ransom note left by the threat actor is taken directly from previously seen
Conti notes, with two minor changes:

 * The beginning of the note mentions “MONTI” as opposed to “CONTI.” (The
   remainder of this sentence is Conti’s verbiage, including the instruction to
   “Google it”: “All of your files are currently encrypted by MONTI strain. If
   you don't know who we are - just ‘Google it.’”)
 * The TOR-based (.onion domain) URL provided for contacting the Monti group is
   unique.

As of July 5, 2022, the .onion domain provided for contacting Monti was
unavailable. BlackBerry researchers were unable to find any indication that the
domain was ever accessible. Public and darknet research, along with
communications with fellow incident response firms, did not reveal any
confirmation that the domain was up and running at any time.

Given the lack of evidence from other Monti cases, we might never know if the
domain was ever accessible. If this is the case, the Monti group might have
never been able to collect a ransom. (Should any researcher reading this article
have information on a Monti domain/URL being accessible, we would love to hear
from you.)

In addition to changes in the ransom note, the threat actor leveraged a
commercial, cloud-based RMM platform called Action1, which has not previously
been used in a ransomware attack. Ransomware actors, including Conti, commonly
use commercial RMMs such as AnyDesk during their attacks. In fact, instructions
for installation and configuration of the AnyDesk RMM are detailed in the
“CobaltStrike MANUALS_V2 Active Directory” attack manual that was leaked from
the Conti group in 2021. Figure 3 shows a screenshot from this manual, featuring
AnyDesk installation instructions.



Figure 3 - Example of installation instructions for AnyDesk, as seen in a leaked
“CobaltStrike MANUALS_V2 Active Directory” document

The names of the Action1 agent executables that threat actors used in the Monti
attack matched those used by the RMM product itself. Specifically, the files
found within the client environment were labeled “action1_agent.exe” and
“action1_remote.exe.”

When ransomware actors change a file’s name, they often do not change the
OriginalFileName value. This value is found within the portable executable’s
(PE’s) resources. Though alteration of this value is possible, many actors leave
these values alone. As such, you can often find a renamed file by querying
against the OriginalFileName value via your endpoint detection and response
(EDR) tool, or Sysmon, among other tools.

Figure 4 shows the file version information for action1_agent.exe, as seen on
VirusTotal.



Figure 4 - action1_agent.exe file version information as seen on VirusTotal

An example Lucene-based query for the Elasticsearch search and analytics engine
might be [OriginalFileName:"action1_agent.exe"]. (Keep this method in mind, as
it is very handy during ransomware investigations.)


TOOLS LEVERAGED IN THE RANSOMWARE ATTACK


The attackers used two well-known temporary file transfer websites –
dropmefiles.com[.]ua and temp[.]sh – to bring tools into the network and to
exfiltrate data. They leveraged the Google Chrome web browser to access these
sites and download tools.

The attackers’ choice to use Chrome™ rather than Internet Explorer (IE) may be
due to the client’s implementation of Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC), an
option that can be enabled on Windows servers that prohibits general internet
browsing via IE. To bypass the ESC configuration, the attackers used Chrome,
allowing them to freely browse web pages.

Table 1 lists the various tools leveraged by the Monti group.

Tool

Type

Details

Action1 RMM

RMM

- Commercial Remote Monitoring & Maintenance agent.
- Used by TAs to provide remote access to a victim network.

AnyDesk RMM

RMM

- Commercial Remote Monitoring & Maintenance agent.
- Used by TAs to provide remote access to a victim network.

Avast Anti-rootkit driver

Bypass Tool

- Avast's Anti-rootkit library is useful for removing rootkits.
- Used by threat actors to remove endpoint security products such as antivirus
(AV)/endpoint protection platforms (EPPs)/ endpoint protection and response
(EDR), etc.

GMER

Bypass Tool

- Rootkit detector and remover
- Used by threat actors to remove endpoint security products such as AV/EPP/EDR,
etc.

MEGASync

Data Theft

- MEGA.io’s proprietary file synchronization agent.
- Used by TAs to exfiltrate data from victim networks to cloud storage provider
MEGA

Mimikatz

Credential Theft

- Free and open-source tool used to dump credentials, perform
pass-the-hash/token attacks in networks, and generally obtain access to
legitimate credentials

netscan
netscan64

Network Scanner

- SoftPerfect Network Scanner tool
- Used by threat actors to scan internal networks to identify sources for
lateral movement

PSEXEC

Lateral Movement

- Microsoft "SysInternal" suite utility designed for administrators to run
commands on remote systems and/or copy files to remote machines
- Commonly used by threat actors to run processes remotely and to facilitate
lateral movement

PuTTY

Data Theft

- Data transfer tool commonly used by network administrators
- Used by threat actors to exfiltrate data from victim networks

Veeam-Get-Creds

Credential Theft

- Open-source PowerShell script designed to dump credentials from Veeam backup
software
- See https://github.com/sadshade/veeam-creds

Veeamp

Credential Theft

- Custom Veeam password dumper written in Microsoft .NET
- Detailed in the Malware Analysis section found later in this article

WinRAR

Data Theft

- Commercial data archival tool popularized in the early days of the internet
and still used by many entities
- Often used by threat actors to archive data prior to exfiltration

WinSCP

Data Theft

- Data transfer tool used by network administrators
- Used by threat actors to exfiltrate data from victim networks

Table 1 - Tools used by the Monti threat group


MONTI GROUP DATA ACCESS AND EXFILTRATION

We reviewed various web browser-related files to analyze attacker access. For
example, history and cache files from Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox
browsers revealed files potentially accessed by attackers. BlackBerry
researchers uncovered more than 250 URLs indicating systems and files the threat
group likely accessed.

Using the forensic data available on the client’s system, we were able to
identify a single instance of data exfiltration. The attacker dumped the process
memory of the Local Security Authority Server Service (LSASS) on the Horizon
Connection Broker server, to a file named “lsass.DMP.”

This filename (specifically with the uppercase file suffix) is the default name
given to files created from memory dumps of the LSASS process, when using
Windows Task Manager. While attackers can change this filename, when this
default name is used, this gives a hint at the provenance of the file.

The memory pages allocated to the LSASS process include credentials stored in
memory that Windows uses for various authentication and authorization
procedures. As such, someone who dumps the memory for this process can recover
plaintext credentials by using a tool such as Mimikatz to process the memory
dump. Mimikatz can also use this file to facilitate Pass-the-Hash and similar
attacks.

During data access analysis, BlackBerry researchers found that the threat actor
accessed a URL associated with the DropMeFiles file-sharing website. Ransomware
operators like this site because it offers temporary and anonymous file-sharing
services. We visited the identified URL and confirmed that the attackers
uploaded the dumped lsass.DMP file to the DropMeFiles site. Though users of this
service can delete files at will, the threat actor neglected to do so. Thus,
BlackBerry was able to obtain and review the exfiltrated memory dump.

Figure 5 is a screenshot of the DropMeFiles site showing the lsass.DMP file that
the threat actor exfiltrated from the client’s Horizon Connection Broker server.



Figure 5 - Screenshot showing lsass.DMP exfiltration via DropMeFiles


USING CODE ANALYSIS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE


Before we get into Monti’s reuse of Conti’s encryptor code, we want to point out
a helpful trick that was made possible due to our awareness of that code re-use.

Because we were familiar with Conti v2 and v3 encryptor payloads, the BlackBerry
IR team knew that Conti encryptor payloads do not always encrypt the entirety of
each file. Source code analysis shows us that to determine which encryption
methods to use, Conti payloads use a combination of a file’s location (on the
disk or network), type (based on file suffix), and size.

For example, available ENCRYPT_MODES available in Conti v2 payloads include
HEADER_ENCRYPT, PARTLY_ENCRYPT, and FULL_ENCRYPT. The PARTLY_ENCRYPT mode can be
accompanied by a value of 20 or 50, indicating the percentage of the file that
should be encrypted.

Researchers Luigi Martire, Carmelo Ragusa, and Luca Mella, from the
cybersecurity company Yoroi, wrote a fantastic article named “Conti Ransomware
Source Code: A Well-designed COTS Ransomware,” which provides insight into the
code segments that help drive these encryption decisions. In the article, you
will find examples of code segments such as the one shown in Figure 6, which
details encryption mode selection based on file size.



Figure 6 - Screenshot from Martire, Ragusa, and Mella’s 2022 article that shows
encryption mode selection based on file size

This knowledge allowed the BlackBerry IR team to extract full, unencrypted
strings from encrypted log files.

The following command uses a simple grep query to identify the string “2022-0,”
which was found at the beginning of each line in the VMware Horizon Debug logs.
Notice that even though the log file included in the command below was
encrypted, the command yielded over 137,000 lines of unencrypted log events.

$ strings debug-2022-06-30-094202.txt.PUUUK | grep -i '2022-0' | wc -l

  137420


This same methodology can be adapted to many other file types. Text (.txt) and
general log files are obviously the best use case.

This isn’t just applicable to Monti or Conti. Many different ransomware
encryptors use a similar process of selecting portions of each file to encrypt.

This possibility of decryption is just one of the many reasons why we recommend
that ransomware victims back up files encrypted in these attacks. Yes, you read
that right: the encrypted files.

Even if your encrypted files can’t be decrypted in this way, sometimes
researchers are able to discover decryption methods that can be offered in
stand-alone tools, and ransomware operations groups occasionally release their
decryption keys. In any case, encrypted data that has been saved can be
revisited and potentially decrypted at a later date.


MONTI TECHNICAL ANALYSIS


RANSOMWARE BEHAVIOR

The ransomware payload associated with this incident is a 32-bit Windows
executable named “locker.exe.” At the time of writing this report, the malware
is not publicly available. The threat actor downloaded this payload from
temp[.]sh via the Chrome browser.

Upon execution, the malware encrypts files on disk, adds a “.PUUUK” extension to
affected files’ names, and produces the following ransom note:  



Figure 6a - Monti ransom note

This ransom note is almost identical to the notes produced by some Conti
ransomware variants, except it references a “MONTI strain” instead of a “CONTI
strain.”


EVALUATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTI AND MONTI

In light of the Conti leaks that occurred in February and March 2022, we decided
to explore any connections between the executable we identified, publicly
available Conti payloads, and the leaked source code.

Brief static analysis determined that our sample’s file name, file size, compile
time, import table hash, and most section hashes (with the exception of the
.data section) match the corresponding characteristics of the locker.exe
executable included in the Conti v3 code leaks. These observations provided
strong evidence that the executable we found is, in fact, a Conti v3 payload.

Further analysis of the leaked Conti executable revealed that, although the code
within it was identical to the sample we discovered, execution of the Conti
payload did not actually result in any file encryption.

A review of the leaked locker.exe’s .data section provided insight into the
nature of this executable, as seen in Figure 7.



Figure 7 - Strings within the leaked locker.exe Conti v3 payload

The presence of the strings __DECRYPT_NOTE__, .EXTEN, and __publickey__
suggested that this file was intended as a template for a ransomware builder to
generate functional payloads.

Although the Conti v3 leak did not include the compiled ransomware builder or
its source, the Conti v2 leak did include the ransomware builder executable.
Analysis of this executable confirmed that it was responsible for replacing the
placeholder text mentioned above with actual values.

The decompiler excerpt in Figure 8 shows code within the Conti v2 builder that
locates the text placeholders and replaces them with a generated RSA public key,
RSA private key (for inclusion in the decryptor only) and ransom note text,
respectively.



Figure 8 - Conti v2 builder decompiled code excerpt


MORE CLUES IN THE TIMESTAMPS

After determining the origin of the payload file, we explored how the payload we
found was likely generated. The attacker could have compiled the leaked v3
source as the first step to produce their payload. However, we suspect they took
a different approach, because the compile time of the ransomware payload we
found matches the compile time of the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe: Tue Jan 12
19:20:18 2021 UTC.

If the source code had been recompiled, this embedded timestamp would be more
recent. This timestamp is consistent with others embedded in each executable. It
also aligns with the time period when other Conti samples with the same import
table hash (imphash - 5036747C069C42A5E12C38D94DB67FAD) were first submitted to
VirusTotal. These observations suggest the timestamp was not manually stomped.

If the attacker did not recompile the available source code, we considered the
possibility that they had access to a Conti v3 builder to generate the payload.
Since we do not have access to a Conti v3 builder, we performed testing with the
leaked v2 builder.

We built multiple payloads across a period of time and found that they all had
the same, older compile time of Tue Sep 15 20:17:05 2020 UTC. While this
timestamp differed from our sample and the leaked executable, it confirmed the
possibility that the Conti v3 builder might also generate payloads with a
consistent compile timestamp.

It might seem odd for a builder to maintain an old timestamp, but there is
precedent for this approach. The Babuk ransomware builder, leaked in June 2021,
produces executables with the same compile time, regardless of when the payload
is built. In contrast, the Yashma ransomware builder, leaked in May 2022,
generates executables that match the time the build was created. (See our
earlier blog posts for more information on Yashma and Babuk.)


IS MONTI MADE WITH MANUAL MODIFICATION?

While the discussion thus far might suggest that the Monti attackers used a
non-public Conti v3 builder, there is also reason to believe this was not the
case. Instead, the attacker might have manually modified (e.g., using a hex
editor) the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe executable. To explain this theory, some
additional background is required.

One difference between Conti v2 and v3 payloads is the format of the embedded
ransom note. In Conti v2 payloads, the ransom note text is stored as plaintext
in the .data section of the PE file. In Conti v3 executables, the ransom note is
encrypted using the ChaCha8 algorithm.

D.J. Bernstein created this algorithm and threat actors implemented it in both
Conti v2 and v3 to encrypt files. In Conti v3, it’s also used to decrypt the
instructions for payment.

Comparing the leaked v2 and v3 encryptor source code confirms that only v3
expects the ransom note to be encrypted. In the leaked Conti v2 search.cpp
source file (shown in Figure 9 below), although there are several references to
the word “Decrypt,” there is no actual decryption performed before the ransom
note is written to disk.



Figure 9 - Conti v2 search.cpp with no ransom note decryption

In contrast, the leaked Conti v3 search.cpp source file (shown in Figure 10)
includes code to perform ChaCha8 decryption:



Figure 10 - Conti v2 search.cpp with ransom note decryption

The ChaCha8 algorithm uses a 32-byte key and an 8-byte nonce. A nonce, or number
used once, is similar to an initialization vector (IV). It is incorporated into
the algorithm to add randomness, so that using the same key to encrypt the same
content produces different ciphertext (i.e., it helps mitigate replay attacks).

The structure of the key, nonce, and encrypted text in a typical Conti v3
payload is shown in Figure 11 below. Only an excerpt of the ciphertext is shown.



Figure 11 - Typical Conti v3 payload with key and nonce

Compare the above values with the corresponding bytes in the payload we
discovered, shown in Figure 12 below:



Figure 12 - Our payload with anomalous key and nonce values

As you can see, both the key and nonce in this payload are zero-byte values.
Just as the Conti v2 builder dynamically generates the 4096-bit public RSA key
before embedding it in the payload, we would also expect the ransom note key and
nonce values to be generated during the build process.

This suggests that the attacker did not have access to the builder and instead
manually inserted a ChaCha8 encrypted ransom note, file extension and RSA public
key into the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe executable.


DETECTING THE DIFFERENCES

Due to the absence of a key and nonce, we crafted a signature to find samples
that reference “MONTI.” In the payload discovered during this incident, the
bytes 20 19 57 65 03 62 D0 AE F4 D1 68 are decrypted to “MONTI strain.”

Searching for these bytes on VirusTotal resulted in three files with the
following SHA-256 hashes:

 * b45fe91d2e2340939781d39daf606622e6d0b9ddacd8425cb8e49c56124c1d56
 * 158dcb26239a5db7a0eb67826178f1eaa0852d9d86e59afb86f04e88096a19bc
 * 702099b63cb2384e11f088d6bc33afbd43a4c91848f393581242a6a17f1b30a0

All files have a VirusTotal imphash (import hash) value that matches the payload
we found. All files were also first submitted to VirusTotal in June 2022, the
same month as the incident under investigation.

Among the samples on VirusTotal with the imphash
5036747C069C42A5E12C38D94DB67FAD, we did find one more sample that did not have
a ChaCha8 key or nonce. It was first submitted to VirusTotal on 2022-04-26
20:13:02 UTC. However, the ransom note for this payload did not reference
“MONTI” (or any “strain”), so the connection with the Monti actor is unclear.


VEEAM CREDENTIAL DUMPER

During our investigation, we also found malware named veeamp.exe, with SHA-256
hash 9AA1F37517458D635EAE4F9B43CB4770880EA0EE171E7E4AD155BBDEE0CBE732. This file
attempts to dump credentials from a SQL database for Veeam backup management
software. (The credential dumper is briefly mentioned in this Symantec blog.)

Some researchers associate this malware with Yanluowang ransomware. It is
important to clarify that this credential dumper might have been used by threat
actors that also deployed Yanluowang ransomware, but veeamp.exe is not
ransomware, and is only capable of dumping Veeam credentials.

The file is a 32-bit .NET binary. The code employs control-flow flattening,
which is an obfuscation technique that makes it more challenging to understand
the flow of execution.

When launched, the malware attempts a connection to a SQL database named
VeeamBackup. If it cannot connect to the specified database, no further action
is taken. However, if a connection is established, the file runs the following
command:

select [user_name],[password],[description] FROM
[VeeamBackup].[dbo].[Credentials]

The program then attempts to decrypt any user passwords that are returned by
this command.

As discussed in this Veeam documentation, passwords can be encoded and/or
encrypted using several approaches, including simple base64 encoding, or through
the use of Microsoft’s ProtectedData class.

The credential dumper uses these approaches to attempt decryption. If it’s
successful, it prints to the screen the following information:

 * Username
 * Encrypted password
 * Decrypted password
 * Description for each user in the Credentials table
   

It prints this information in the following format:

user: {0} encrypted pass: {1} decrypted pass: {2} description: {3}

The database name, SQL command, and output format string are all encoded in the
executable, using a single-byte XOR key that varies for each string.

Two similar Veeam credential dumpers are currently available on VirusTotal
(first link, second link). At the time of this writing, both have low detection
rates (i.e., 15 detections or less). Both files have similar code to the
credential dumper we found, but they are also obfuscated with Eazfuscator.NET.


CONCLUSION


While the activity of the Monti group itself seems to have been short lived,
there is more we can learn from its copycat techniques. As additional
Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) solution builders and source code become leaked,
either publicly or privately, we could continue to see these doppelganger-like
ransomware groups proliferate.

General familiarity with the TTPs of known groups can help us identify any
unique traits of these lookalike crews. The more we can identify these unique
traits, the better we will be able to associate known analysis methodologies
with these new cases while keeping our eye out for differences.


YARA RULE


The following YARA rules were authored by the BlackBerry Research & Intelligence
Team to catch the threats described in this document:

rule monti_ransom {
      meta:
            description = "Detects ChaCha8 encrypted 'MONTI Strain' text (using
all-zero key and nonce) embedded in ransomware payload"
            author = "BlackBerry Threat Research Team"
            date = "August 15, 2021"
            license = "This Yara rule is provided under the Apache License 2.0
(https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) and open to any user or
organization, as long as you use it under this license and ensure originator
credit in any derivative to The BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team"

      strings:
            $s = {20 19 57 65 03 62 D0 AE F4 D1 68}

      condition:
            uint16be(0) == 0x4d5a and filesize < 2MB
            and $s
}

rule veeam_dumper {
      meta:
            description = "Detects Veeam credential Dumper"
            author = "BlackBerry Threat Research Team"
            date = "August 15, 2021"
            license = "This Yara rule is provided under the Apache License 2.0
(https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) and open to any user or
organization, as long as you use it under this license and ensure originator
credit in any derivative to The BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team"
      strings:
            $s1 = "SqlCommand" fullword ascii wide
            $s2 = "SqlConnection" fullword ascii wide
            $s3 = "SqlDataReader" fullword ascii wide
            $s4 = "veeamp.exe" fullword ascii wide
            $s5 = "veeamp.pdb" fullword ascii wide

      condition:
            uint16be(0) == 0x4d5a and filesize < 60KB
            and 4 of them
}

 


INDICATORS OF COMPROMISE (IOCS)

"MONTI” payload SHA-256 hashes:

 1. b45fe91d2e2340939781d39daf606622e6d0b9ddacd8425cb8e49c56124c1d56
 2. 158dcb26239a5db7a0eb67826178f1eaa0852d9d86e59afb86f04e88096a19bc
 3. 702099b63cb2384e11f088d6bc33afbd43a4c91848f393581242a6a17f1b30a0

Veeam Credential Dumper SHA-256 hashes:

 * 9aa1f37517458d635eae4f9b43cb4770880ea0ee171e7e4ad155bbdee0cbe732
 * df492b4cc7f644ad3e795155926d1fc8ece7327c0c5c8ea45561f24f5110ce54
 * 78517fb07ee5292da627c234b26b555413a459f8d7a9641e4a9fcc1099f06a3d


REFERENCES

MalwareHunterTeam. (2022). “Monti strain.” Retrieved from
https://twitter.com/malwrhunterteam/status/1542595315915710465?s=20&t=Y7d3POTgnMSB_JcyEeF5_g

Martire, Ragusa, & Mella. (2022). “Conti Ransomware Source Code: A Well-designed
COTS Ransomware.” Retrieved from
https://yoroi.company/research/conti-ransomware-source-code-a-well-designed-cots-ransomware/


BLACKBERRY ASSISTANCE

If you’re battling this malware or a similar threat, you’ve come to the right
place, regardless of your existing BlackBerry relationship.

The BlackBerry Incident Response team is made up of world-class consultants
dedicated to handling response and containment services for a wide range of
incidents, including ransomware and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) cases.

We have a global consulting team standing by to assist you, providing
around-the-clock support where required, as well as local assistance. Please
contact us
here: https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/forms/cylance/handraiser/emergency-incident-response-containment

Related Reading:

 * Threat Thursday: Conti Ransoms Over 400 Organizations Worldwide
 * Log4U, Shell4Me: A BlackBerry Guide to the Log4J Vulnerability
 * Babuk Ransomware Shifts Attack Methods to Double Extortion
 * Yashma Ransomware, Tracing the Chaos Family Tree  




ABOUT ANUJ SONI

Principal Threat Researcher, BlackBerry

Anuj Soni is a Principal Threat Researcher at BlackBerry, where he performs
malware research and reverse engineering. Anuj also brings his problem-solving
abilities to his position as a SANS Certified Instructor, which gives him the
opportunity to impart his deep technical knowledge and practical skills to
students.

As a co-author and instructor for Reverse-Engineering Malware and instructor
for Advanced Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Anuj emphasizes
establishing goals for analysis, creating and following a process, and
prioritizing tasks. In addition to teaching SANS courses, Anuj frequently
presents at industry events such as the U.S. Cyber Crime Conference, SANS DFIR
Summit, and the Computer and Enterprise Investigations Conference (CEIC).

Anuj holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, and
has certifications in GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) and as a EnCase
Certified Examiner (EnCE) and Certified Information Systems Security
Professional (CISSP). 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ABOUT RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan Chapman is Principal Incident Response & Forensics Consultant, BlackBerry.

As an author, instructor, and information security professional with over 18
years’ experience, Ryan runs and works incidents for clients to provide
response, assessment, and training in the digital forensics and incident
response (DFIR) realm at BlackBerry. His primary case types involve digital
forensics investigations (e.g. ransomware cases), compromise assessments,
business email compromises, tabletop exercises, and more. Ryan loves the fact
that the security industry is an ever-evolving creature.

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