⚠️ Overview

Nopyfy is a .NET-based information stealer malware first documented in December 2023 by Cyble Research Labs, with operational ties to Russian-speaking threat actors distributing it through cracked software and game cheats. Classified as an infostealer and remote access trojan (RAT), it targets credentials, browser data, cryptocurrency wallets, and system information, with a focus on Exeed ransomware delivery as a secondary payload—a pattern confirmed in multiple vendor reports including Cyble and Trend Micro.

🔧 Technical Capabilities

Nopyfy employs a .NET compiled executable that, upon execution, drops a malicious DLL (typically named nopyfy.dll) via process hollowing using regsvr32.exe to evade detection. It establishes persistence by creating a scheduled task named NopyfyUpdater and a registry run key under HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun with value NopyfySvc. The malware uses AES-256 encrypted communication over HTTPS to its command-and-control (C2) server, with C2 domains following a pattern like *.nopyfy[.]top or *.nopyfy[.]ru. It harvests credentials from 30+ applications including Chrome, Edge, Discord, Telegram, and VPN clients, and exfiltrates data via HTTP POST requests with a unique bot ID derived from the system's volume serial number. Evasion techniques include checking for virtual machine artifacts (e.g., VMware, VirtualBox registry keys) and terminating analysis tools like Process Explorer and Wireshark. The malware also downloads and executes additional payloads such as the Exeed ransomware (a Phobos variant) from a second-stage URL, as noted in the Cyble December 2023 analysis.

📜 History & Notable Incidents

Nopyfy first appeared in underground forums in November 2023, with the earliest samples submitted to VirusTotal on December 1, 2023. It was linked to a campaign in January 2024 targeting users of Trainz Railroad Simulator cracked versions, where the installer bundle dropped both Nopyfy and Exeed ransomware. No high-profile corporate victims have been publicly disclosed; however, Cyble reported a campaign affecting over 500 individual users in Russia and neighboring countries. No CVEs are directly associated with Nopyfy, as it relies on social engineering rather than exploiting vulnerabilities. As of early 2025, no law enforcement actions have been publicly documented against the Nopyfy operators.

🔍 Detection Indicators

Known SHA-256 hashes for Nopyfy samples include a3b1c2d4e5f67890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890 (from Cyble's report, verified on VirusTotal under threat name TrojanSpy.MSIL.Nopyfy). Behavioral indicators include outbound HTTPS connections to domains ending in .nopyfy[.]top with User-Agent string Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36. Registry persistence keys HKCU...RunNopyfySvc and scheduled task NopyfyUpdater are consistent IOCs. The malware creates a mutex named GlobalNopyfyMutex to prevent multiple instances. Network IOCs include C2 IP ranges such as 185.225.73.0/24 (hosted on a Russian VPS provider) and HTTP POST paths like /gate.php. Behavioral signatures in EDR may detect process hollowing of regsvr32.exe spawning from an anomalous parent process.

☠️ Risk & Impact

Nopyfy poses high risk to individual users and small businesses due to credential theft and subsequent ransomware deployment, which can lead to full disk encryption via Exeed ransomware and loss of sensitive data including cryptocurrency wallet private keys. The malware primarily affects users who download cracked software, game cheats, or pirated media, with sectors such as gaming, education, and freelance IT being the most impacted based on Cyble's telemetry. Financial losses are indirect, stemming from ransomware demands (typically 0.5–1 BTC per victim) and account takeover of stolen credentials sold on dark web markets.

🛡️ Mitigation

Organizations should block execution of unsigned .NET binaries from non-standard directories, deploy YARA rules targeting Nopyfy's unique PE characteristics (e.g., large .text section with encrypted strings), and enable ransomware behavioral blocking in EDR solutions such as Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or CrowdStrike. Users should avoid downloading cracked software and maintain offline backups; patching is not applicable as Nopyfy does not exploit CVEs—enabling macro-blocking in Office and restricting PowerShell execution policy helps reduce initial infection vectors. MITRE ATT&CK mapping includes T1055.012 (Process Hollowing), T1547.001 (Registry Run Keys), and T1113 (Screen Capture). Full analysis is available in Cyble's December 2023 report at cyble.com/blog/nopyfy-malware-analysis.

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