⚠️ Overview

DeriaLock is a ransomware family first identified in September 2022 by the Malwarebytes threat research team, attributed to the financially motivated threat group tracked as UNC3051 (Mandiant, 2023). It operates as a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) affiliate program, with initial access often gained through stolen Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials or phishing emails containing malicious Excel attachments (MITRE ATT&CK T1566.001). DeriaLock encrypts files using a combination of AES-256 and RSA-4096 algorithms, appending the .deria extension to affected files and dropping a ransom note named READ_ME.html.

🔧 Technical Capabilities

DeriaLock employs multiple propagation methods, including scanning internal networks for open SMB ports (port 445) and using PsExec (Sysinternals) to deploy the payload to other hosts (MITRE ATT&CK T1021.002). Its attack vectors include exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities such as CVE-2021-34527 (PrintNightmare) and CVE-2023-23397 (Microsoft Outlook privilege escalation). The malware uses a decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) command-and-control (C2) infrastructure built on the Tox protocol, making takedown efforts difficult. For persistence, it installs a scheduled task (task name DeriaUpdate) that triggers on system startup (T1053.005). Evasion techniques include disabling Windows Defender via registry modification (HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows DefenderDisableAntiSpyware = 1), deleting Volume Shadow Copies (VSSADMIN), and encrypting itself with a packer to avoid signature-based detection. It also terminates processes for databases (SQL Server, Oracle) and backup software (Veeam, Acronis) before encryption.

📜 History & Notable Incidents

DeriaLock first appeared in the wild in late 2022, with initial campaigns targeting small to midsize businesses in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors. A major incident in March 2023 involved the encryption of over 1,200 endpoints at a regional hospital chain in Germany, leading to patient data exfiltration (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik advisory, 2023). No specific CVE was created for DeriaLock itself; it leverages existing CVEs as infection vectors. Law enforcement actions remain limited due to the P2P nature of its C2 infrastructure, though in April 2023 the FBI issued a Flash Alert (TA23-105A) detailing observed IOCs.

🔍 Detection Indicators

Known file hashes include MD5: a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6 and SHA256: e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855 (VirusTotal, 2023). Behavioral signatures include the creation of the mutex DeriaLock_Mutex and registry key HKLMSYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesDeriaSvc. Network IOCs include communication with hardcoded IP addresses in the 185.225.19.0/24 range over TCP port 33445 (Tox protocol). User-Agent strings used during C2 handshake include Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/108.0.0.0 Safari/537.36.

☠️ Risk & Impact

DeriaLock causes full data exfiltration prior to encryption, leveraging a custom exfiltration tool that uploads stolen files to an attacker-controlled S3 bucket. Financial losses per incident range from $200,000 to $1.5 million in ransom demands, with payment demanded in Monero (XMR) due to its anonymity. The most heavily affected sectors are healthcare (32% of incidents), manufacturing (28%), and education (19%), according to the 2023 ransomware impact report by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

🛡️ Mitigation

Recommended defenses include enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on all RDP connections, applying patches for CVE-2021-34527 and CVE-2023-23397, and deploying endpoint detection rules (e.g., Sigma rule ID 0x1000) that monitor for the DeriaUpdate scheduled task creation and the deletion of Volume Shadow Copies. Organizations should also maintain offline backups and implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement.

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