enkripsipc

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown:

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: .enkripsipc
  • Renaming Convention:
    The malware keeps the original file name but appends “.enkripsipc” as a secondary extension.
    Example:
    2024-sales-report.xlsx → 2024-sales-report.xlsx.enkripsipc
    It does not wipe the original extension, which helps forensics teams quickly identify the original file type.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period:
    First upload to ID-Ransomware on 19 Oct 2023; clusters peaked in SEA & LATAM through Q1-2024.
    Continues to appear in regional SMBs that expose TCP 445 and UDP 3389 (RDP) to the Internet.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  1. SMBv1 broadcast exploit – embedded “eternalblue-like” scanner (MS17-010) for lateral movement.
  2. RDP brute-force & credential stuffing – dictionary of ≈ 1.4 M stolen credentials.
  3. Malvertising→Fake ITSM installer “AnyView远程助手.exe”. Delivers dropper that sideloads wbemcomn.dll to bypass AV.
  4. Follina (CVE-2022-30190) loader – Rich Text or DOCX lure downloads the dotnet stager via HTML smuggling, which in turn pulls the .enkripsipc binary from a Discord CDN URL.
  5. USB worms – autorun.inf + hidden LNK classic technique still observed in OT plants with legacy Windows 7 machines.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies:

1. Prevention

  • Disable SMBv1 at group-policy level and patch MS17-010 (KB4013389).
  • NLA + account lock-out on RDP; restrict TCP 3389 to VPN tunnel only.
  • Deploy Office “block macros from Internet” policy; patch CVE-2022-30190 (KB5014697).
  • Application whitelisting (WDAC/AppLocker) – forbid execution from %TEMP%, %PUBLIC%, C:\Perflogs.
  • EDR in “block-until-explicit-allow” mode; enkripsipc uses living-off-the-land binaries (LOLBas) such as arp.exe, reg.exe – flag anomalous parent/child chains.
  • Offline, versioned backups (3-2-1 rule). Disconnect repositories (Veeam hardened repo, immutable S3) – enkripsipc runs ‘vssadmin delete shadows /all’ and ‘wbadmin delete catalog -quiet’ to cripple Windows Server Backup catalogues.

2. Removal (step-by-step)

  1. Isolate: pull network cable / enable host-based firewall rule dropping all outbound.
  2. Identify patient-zero: collect EVTX 4624/4648 events and C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Temp\23p9b7.log (dropper log).
  3. Boot to safe-mode-with-networking or WinPE (to prevent driver-level protection).
  4. Remove persistence:
  • Registry HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\svcsync → “C:\Users\Public\svcsync.exe”
  • Scheduled task Microsoft\Windows\Servicing\CleanupSync – execute every 30 min.
  1. Quarantine/Delete malware artefacts (svcsync.exe, wbemcomn.dll, demangle.bin).
  2. Run a reputable AV/EDR full scan (Defender 1.403.1238.0+ signatures detect as Ransom:MSIL/Enkripsipc.A).
  3. Reboot normally – verify steganographic service clr_optimization_v6.0.30319_32 is gone.
  4. Before restoring data, patch the exploited vector (RDP, Office, or SMB) or re-image the host.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: “No free decryptor at time of writing (2024-05-01).”
    – Encryption is AES-256-CRT per file with a randomly generated 256-bit key; that key is RSA-2048-encrypted with a hard-coded attacker public key embedded in the binary. Keys are not exfiltrated.
  • Victim portal (hxxp://venus[.]prolificate.top) offers paid decryptor after a Tor check.
  • If you possess uncorrupted Volume Shadow Copies (ransomware sometimes misses non-system drives) use:
    ShadowCopyView or vssadmin list shadows → mklink /d → robocopy original.
  • Linux/ESXi variant (.vmenkripsipc) may leave .tmp files behind; carve AES key remnants with photorec/scalpel – success rate <3%.
  • Back-ups remain the only reliable route; check offline tape/disk for .enkr marker to ensure images pre-date breach.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Contact e-mail given in ransom note (RESTORE-FILES.txt) is [email protected] (changes per campaign).
  • Malware sets an animated galaxy wallpaper (%ProgramData%\galaxy.jpg) and modifies legal notice to display “YOUR SYSTEM IS LOCKED BY ENKRIPSIPC – READ RESTORE-FILES.txt”.
  • Notable quirk: deletes its own executable only if it detects RU keyboard layout – researchers suspect a possible “safe-harbour” rule to avoid scrutiny from certain CIS regions.
  • Wider Impact: Heaviest damage seen in Indonesian & Philippine university subnets and small garment factories that share un-patched Win7 sewing-machine PCs; causes multi-week production halts when pattern files (.DXF) are lost.
  • Under the hood it is written in C# (.NET 4.5) but packed with ConfuserEx 1.6; static strings suggest overlap with crypto-routine used by “Ever101” family – possible fork or affiliate re-brand.

Stay vigilant—never pay unless life-critical services are at stake; payment only fuels the ecosystem and is not guaranteed to work. Share IoCs (SHA-256, C2, BTC wallets) with your local CERT and the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).