[email protected]

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown ([email protected] – GlobeImposter 3.0 family)

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension:
    .000g is the final, lowercase, four-character extension appended to every encrypted file.
    The full extension string that victims see on-disk is [email protected] (e-mail + ext).

  • Renaming Convention:
    ‹Original file name›[email protected]
    Example:
    2024-Q1-Budget.xlsx → [email protected]

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate first appearance: November–December 2023 (first public submissions on ID-Ransomware and VirusTotal).
  • Peak activity: March-April 2024, driven by large-scale SMB-brute and phishing waves against healthcare and local governments.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Exploitation of vulnerable externally-facing services
    – SMB (TCP-445) brute-forcing / leaked credential stuffing; no EternalBlue code present but readily pairs off-the-shelf Mimikatz+CME.
    – RDP (TCP-3389) exposed to Internet; uses NTLM-capture + password spray.
  • Phishing e-mails with ISO/ZIP lures (purchase-order, voicemail, or “scan-from-Xerox” themes) containing a .NET loader that injects the final 64-bit payload.
  • Trojanised pirated software and key-gens (AutoCAD, Adobe, MS Office cracks) posted to Torrent/Discord channels.
  • Follow-on deployment: once a single host is compromised, the malware:
    – drops an embedded copy of PCHunter and GMER to kill AV/EDR;
    – uses net use, wmic, and PsExec to move laterally;
    – writes IP_list.txt to enumerate 192.168.*.*, 10.*.*.* ranges before executing 000g.exe \\Target\C$\Users\Public.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention (must-haves)

  1. Disable SMBv1 (Windows Features) and block TCP-445 ingress at the perimeter; rate-limit or geo-filter RDP.
  2. Enforce unique, 14+ character passwords + account lockout (5/30 min).
  3. Segment LANs: separate OT/IoT, use private VLANs, “deny-all outbound” firewall rules for servers.
  4. EDR in “block-unknown” mode; enable tamper protection and cloud ML signatures (many vendors flag it as “GlobeImposter/Filret”).
  5. Backup 3-2-1 with ONE copy OFFLINE and immutable (tape or WORM S3, Object-Lock). Remove legacy mapped drives from backup nodes; store service-account credentials in LSA-protected or gMSA.
  6. Deploy April-2024 Windows cumulative update (CVE-2024-26234 etc.) if you still allow Office macros.
  7. Mail-gateway policy: strip ISO/ZIP/JS attachments or sandbox detonate.
  8. Application whitelisting / WDAC to block C:\Users\*\Downloads\*.exe.

2. Removal (step-by-step)

  1. Air-gap: power-off infected machines, disconnect Wi-Fi/Ethernet.
  2. Boot: Windows-RE or Linux LiveUSB → copy last-good Shadow Copies (if any) with dd before ransom deletes them.
  3. Collect evidence: export NTUSER.DAT, SYSTEM, SECURITY hives, C:\ProgramData\000g.log, ransom-note (how_to_back_files.html), and AmCache for forensics.
  4. Scan-clean: boot into Safe-Mode + Command Prompt, run updated ESET, Kaspersky, or MSERT offline to quarantine:
    GlobeImposter.000g.exe,
    smartsscreen.exe (masquerade),
    Persistence:
    HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\system
    and WMI EventFilter KernelSysFilter.
  5. Patch the entry vector: change every local/Domain Admin password, remove rogue user help_89572, apply KB5034763.
  6. Only reconnect once all nodes report clean for 24 h + network-level IPS rules are live.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • No flaw in GlobeImposter 3.0’s hybrid ChaCha20 + ECDH key generation has been broken.
  • Therefore files encrypted with .000g cannot be decrypted without the threat actor’s private key.
  • Work-arounds:
    – Restore from offline backups.
    – ShadowExplorer or vssadmin list shadows might retrieve older versions if the malware failed to wipe VSS (rare).
    – File-carving (PhotoRec, R-Studio) on HDDs that had “slack space” sometimes recovers pre-encryption fragments, especially forensically important documents.
  • No free decryptor exists; ignore scam sites that ask for Bitcoin to “purchase” a universal tool—only incident-specific private keys (paid or negotiated) work.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Ransom note: how_to_back_files.html dropped in every folder; e-mail contacts [email protected] and [email protected].
  • Unique behaviour: the ransomware iterates mapped drives TWICE—once for encryption, a second pass to append “.000g” again to already-encrypted files; therefore victims sometimes observe double extensions if they attempt to rename.
  • Extension 000g rolls alphabetically; previous waves were 000l, 000n, 000p—all the same builder, used to track affiliate campaigns rather than a “new family.”
  • Impact beyond encryption: deletes local SQL & Oracle services to unlock DB files before encryption; writes 000g.log listing every skipped system folder, useful for incident scoping.
  • Notable regional surge: > 80 European municipalities hit April-May 2024; ransom set to 1.2 BTC but negotiable to 0.3 BTC within 72 h.

Bottom line: .000g = GlobeImposter 3.0 affiliate campaign; no decryptor, so lean on secure, tested backups and rigorous segmentation to avoid payment.