The FBI first identified Ranzy Locker ransomware in late 2020 when the variant began to target victims in the United States. Unknown cyber criminals using Ranzy Locker ransomware had compromised more than 30 US businesses as of July 2021. The victims include the construction subsector of the critical manufacturing sector, the academia subsector of the government facilities sector, the information technology sector, and the transportation sector. A majority of victims reported the actors conducted a brute force attack targeting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials to gain access to the victims’ networks. Recent victims reported the actors leveraged known Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities and phishing as the means of compromising their networks. The actors attempted to locate important files to exfiltrate, such as customer information, PII related files, and financial records. Ranzy Locker is deployed to encrypt files on compromised Windows host systems (including servers and virtual machines) and attached network shares. The Ranzy Locker executable leaves a ransom note in all directories where encryption occurred demanding the victim pay a ransom in exchange for a decryption tool. In an example of double extortion techniques, Ranzy actors in some cases have demanded a second ransom from the victim in exchange for not leaking the data on the Internet.
