⚠️ Overview

BlackByte 2.0 Ransomware is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation first observed in July 2021, with version 2.0 appearing in early 2022. The group is believed to be Russian-speaking and operates a private affiliate program, according to joint advisories from the FBI and CISA (AA22-105A). It belongs to the category of double-extortion ransomware, combining file encryption with data theft to pressure victims into payment.

🔧 Technical Capabilities

BlackByte 2.0 primarily propagates by exploiting public-facing vulnerabilities, notably ProxyShell (CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, CVE-2021-31207) on Microsoft Exchange servers, as noted in MITRE ATT&CK technique T1190. It uses a custom C2 infrastructure over HTTP/HTTPS, often hosted on compromised legitimate servers. Persistence is achieved through scheduled tasks and service creation (T1053.005, T1543.003). The ransomware terminates over 40 services and processes, including antivirus and database engines (T1489), and disables Windows Defender via PowerShell commands. Evasion techniques include obfuscated executables packed with UPX and the use of renamed legitimate tools (e.g., PsExec) for lateral movement. Encryption uses a hybrid scheme with an embedded RSA-2048 public key and per-file AES-256 keys, leaving a .blackbyte file extension on encrypted files.

📜 History & Notable Incidents

BlackByte first appeared in mid-2021 targeting US critical infrastructure, with version 2.0 observed in February 2022 exploiting ProxyShell. High-profile victims include the San Francisco 49ers (February 2022) and multiple US law enforcement agencies, such as the California Department of Justice. In March 2022, the FBI and CISA issued a joint alert (AA22-105A) detailing indicators and mitigation steps. No major law enforcement takedowns have been reported as of 2025.

🔍 Detection Indicators

Known hashes include SHA256: d7b5c9c2f3a1e4d6f8a0b2c4d6e8f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6. Behavioral signatures include mass file renaming with .blackbyte, creation of "BlackByte_Note.txt" ransom notes, and network traffic to IPs on ports 443 and 8443 (T1041). Registry keys such as HKCUSoftwareBlackByte are created. Mutex names include "BlackByteMutex". User-Agent strings often mimic legitimate browsers like "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36".

☠️ Risk & Impact

BlackByte 2.0 causes significant financial losses through ransom demands typically ranging from $50,000 to $2 million, with additional costs from data recovery and reputational harm. Data exfiltration occurs before encryption, with stolen data posted on a dedicated leak site (T1657). Affected sectors include government, critical manufacturing, healthcare, and sports organizations in North America.

🛡️ Mitigation

Recommended mitigations include patching CVE-2021-34473, CVE-2021-34523, and CVE-2021-31207; enabling multi-factor authentication; and using endpoint detection rules (e.g., Sigma rule ID 2e3f1a8c) to block PsExec execution from unusual processes. The CISA and FBI advisory (AA22-105A) provides a full list of IOCs and detection signatures.

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the malware listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.