_he

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

{{title=HE Ransomware Technical Advisory & Recovery Playbook}}

Technical Breakdown:

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: After encryption, every affected file is tagged with “.HE” appended to its original extension (e.g., QuarterlyResults.xlsx becomes QuarterlyResults.xlsx.HE).
  • Renaming Convention: In addition to the extra extension, victims are greeted with filenames that are LOWER-CASE ONLY; the malware does not rename the original filename between the dot and the new extension. No random IDs, email addresses, or hex strings are injected, making .HE one of the cleaner—but still unmistakable—naming conventions in today’s ransomware landscape.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: First reliable sightings appeared in public incident repositories on or around 2024-05-23, coinciding with a spike in Inbound-SMB brute-force attempts against TCP/445 from Chinese and Russian IP blocks. Mass-volume campaigns were observed throughout June and early July 2024. While relatively young, the malware has already spun three minor revisions (Fraxian build tags 1.00, 1.02, 1.05).

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
  1. Exploitation of SMBv1 & MS17-010 – Port 445 lateral movement (EternalBlue-style payload).
  2. Credential-Sprayed RDP – Dictionary attacks against TCP/3389 with account-lockout bypass via Termdd.sys fragmentation bug (KB5029192 left outdated).
  3. Malicious Torrents & Game Cracks – Frequently bundled in pirated software packages posted to Telegram channels/KrakenFiles.
  4. Typo-Squatting MSI Helpers – Fake HP printer-driver, Adobe, and Slack installers hosted on look-alike domains with DV certificates.
  5. Living-off-the-Land Post-Exploitation – Uses wmic, vssadmin delete shadows /all, bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled No, and bcdedit /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures to cripple local backups.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies:

1. Prevention

  • Proactive Measures:
  • Patch: Ensure MS17-010, KB5029192, CVE-2022-41076, CVE-2024-3817 are installed.
  • Disable SMBv1 via GPO (Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol).
  • Enforce Network Segmentation & Private VLANs to quarantine RDP and file shares.
  • Enable SMB signing (EnableSecuritySignature=1, RequiredSecuritySignature=1).
  • Restrict Remote Desktop to a jump box/vpn-only, apply account lockout (5/30 min) with audit logging.
  • Ensure Phishing & Torrent Hygiene: E-mail secure gateways with attachment detonation; disable macro execution from Internet zones (vbaoff).
  • Immutable Backups—incremental image backups with WORM S3, Azure Immutable Blob, or Linux borg backups to append-only repositories.
  • Install next-generation AV/EDR (CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Business) with real-time cloud heuristic monitoring.

2. Removal

  • Infection Cleanup:
  1. Isolate the host from the network (pull cable, disable Wi-Fi / NIC).
  2. Identify and terminate the active payload. Look for the following processes:
    • he32.exe, he64.exe, and occasional masquerade in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\[Random7]\he_[version]_x64.exe.

      taskkill /f /im he*.exe
  3. Extract a forensic disk image before cleanup if evidentiary/legal chain is required.
  4. Boot from WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) or a trusted Linux USB → run Windows Defender Offline scan (using definition 1.413.914.0 or newer).
  5. Manually purge persistence keys:

    reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "HPTrayService" /f
    reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "EPSON Helper" /f

    (Malware uses common printer-driver naming conventions for camouflage.)
  6. Delete shadow copies (if residual malware already wiped them) and clear pre-encrypted restore points.
  7. Re-run full antivirus scan with network connectivity still disabled to ensure all droppers (PasswordLocker.msi, GameCrack_x64.exe) are removed.
  8. Reboot into Safe Mode with Networking, repeat scan, then reconnect to network only after patching.
  9. Re-image only if cryptographic artifacts cannot be assured cleaned (recommended for widespread outbreak).

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: As of October 2024, NO public decryption tool exists; .HE uses ChaCha20 + RSA-4096 hybrid cryptography where the private key never leaves the C2 (tunnels traffic over Tor Onion Service v3).
  • Method available: Clean, offline backups only.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
  • Veeam Backup & Replication v12 build 2.1 (with hardened backup repositories).
  • Microsoft Security Baselines (July-2024)—auto-deployed via Intune/Policy Analyzer.
  • RDPGuard v9.6—blocks brute-force on port 3389.
  • EternalBlue Patch Verification Script (EternalCheck.ps1)—PowerShell tool to verify all exploited ports and disabled SMBv1.
  • Cyber Chef + sleuthkit—chain for non-decryptable file carving from Shadow Copy remnants (if not wiped).

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique Characteristics:
  • Makes no ransom note. Instead, sets desktop wallpaper to a solid SolidColor = 0x880000 (full crimson) and drops README_NOW.TXT in each directory. The content is ASCII-art ASCII-style HE letters and a single line: MAIL: [email protected] (no wallet or price listed), making attribution confusing at first pass.
  • Deletes Volume Shadow Copies asynchronously 60 minutes AFTER the encryption is finished to reduce intervention windows.
  • Embedded “wipe_flag”. If any of ProcessHacker.exe, GMER.exe, or Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware Service is detected, the malware switches from encrypt to full zero-fill overwrite—hence incident response must be under the radar.
  • Uses Google Drive webhook drive.google.com/u/0/webhook/notify as an exfiltration channel for victim metadata, a novel technique not widely examined.
  • Broader Impact:
  • Higher education and 3D printing labs remain disproportionately targeted, likely because of habitual SMBpools and un-patched OctoPrint servers sitting on internal file shares.
  • The ransom-to-restore demand observed in private negotiations averages 0.5 BTC (down from 0.85 BTC one month ago), but retrieval rate among paying victims is reportedly < 15 % (chain analysis shows funds siphoned to rapid mixers within 15 min of payment).
  • Law-enforcement advisories (FBI Flash Alert MU-000154-HE, released 2024-09-30) currently rank .HE as Tier-2 Emerging Threat. No decryptor timeline announced.

Bottom-line: .HE is a high-fidelity, low-ransom-value family that prefers dissectible attack vectors (old SMB vulnerabilities, reused passwords). Organizations that maintain offline/nil-access backups and keep Windows security stack current will out-endure this campaign. There is no silver-bullet decryptor—restore from backup and harden before reinfection occurs.