beep

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Ransomware Profile: beep

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: .beep
  • Renaming Convention: Files are renamed following the pattern:
    Original name → <OriginalFileName>.<OriginalExtension>.beep
    (e.g., 2024-Financials.xlsx becomes 2024-Financials.xlsx.beep)

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • First documented appearance: 14 August 2023 in a regional targeting wave across Eastern Europe.
    Wider campaign detected: 4 September 2023 when telemetry showed global clustering, particularly in manufacturing and healthcare sectors.
    Peak activity window: 14 Aug – 15 Oct 2023, with small surges continuing into Q1-2024.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  1. Phishing e-mails themed around fake DHL/UPS shipment alerts → MSIL dropper (.exe hidden in double-extension PDF.exe files).
  2. Exploitation of MS Exchange “ProxyNotShell” CVE-2022-41082 to gain initial access, followed by Living-off-the-Land to deploy the final payload.
  3. Cracked software watering-holes distributing “keygen_bypass.exe” bundled with the launcher.
  4. Credential stuffing attacks on exposed RDP (port 3389) and SMB (port 445) services; post-compromise it uses PsExec for lateral movement and vssadmin delete shadows to wipe restore points.

(Data exfil stage uses rclone to Mega.nz before encryption.)

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Patch Exchange (Sept 2022 cumulative KB5019694) and Apply KB5023753 “March 2023 Exchange Server Security Update”.
  • Disable SMBv1; enforce SMB signing; segment networks at VLANs and ACLs.
  • MFA + IP-whitelisting for any exposed RDP or VPN gateways; move RDP behind RD-Gateway/Zero-Trust broker.
  • E-mail gateway rules: automatic sandboxing of .exe, .js, .hta attachments and macro-blocking for high-risk document types.
  • Application locker / AppLocker policy: allow-list %OSDrive%\Program Files executables; block %TEMP%\ or %USERPROFILE%\Downloads execution.
  • Restrict vssadmin.exe and wmic.exe to admin-only via GPO (mitigates shadow-copy deletion).
  • Offline backup + 3-2-1 rule with immutable backups (WORM / object-lock).

2. Removal (step-by-step)

  1. Isolate the infected host(s) – pull network cable/disable Wi-Fi and segregate VLAN or create quarantine ACL.
  2. Collect triage artefacts (memory dump, MFT, Prefetch, running processes, RDP logs) if forensic case is required.
  3. Boot to Windows PE or Safe-Mode w/ Networking OFF; mount OS disk externally on a clean workstation.
  4. Delete persistence objects:
   HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Beep  
   C:\Users\%user%\AppData\Roaming\beep.lnk  
   C:\ProgramData\Packages\beep-updater.bin (service dropper)
  1. Let Malwarebytes 4.6 or ESET Online Scanner perform a full scan to quarantine residual DLLs (beep*.dll).
  2. Re-enable System Restore and clean boot – inspect scheduled tasks for moonlit/foggy aliases.
  3. Apply Exchange/RDP patches, audit local accounts, reset all passwords & tokens (include service principals and ADFS).

3. File Decryption & Recovery

| Criterion | Detail |
|———–|——–|
| Decryptable? | No – Uses ChaCha20-Poly1305 with a per-file, randomly generated key sealed by Curve25519; keys never leave C2 intact on disk. |
| Free Decryptor Available? | None as of July 2024; check decryptor.id-ransomware.malwarehunterteam.com daily. |
| Recovery Options | 1) restore from offline backups, 2) Variant-8 data-recovery services (pricey, success 20-30 % if drives have TRIM disabled), 3) use professional forensics for remnant key fragments in swapfile, 4) simply rotate encrypted volumes—if cloud snapshots were immutable. |
| Essential Tools/Patches | CVE-2022-41082 patch, ShadowCopyView (to see if any VSS copies survived), rclone config viewer EXE (to inspect leaked data), Stellar Repair Toolkit (non-decryption; file carving only). |

4. Other Critical Information

  • Callout features:

  • Drops ransom note “READ_BEEP.txt” in every root and user-writable directory.

  • Uses Victim-ID tattooing inside encoded .txt as -=id=BeeP.Ch followed by 8-byte string; domain beepblog[.]com hides C2 via Cloudflare proxy.

  • Data leak site: hXXps://beepdata[.]bazar (Tor v3) – DLS threatens 7-days auction of research data.

  • Sector spotlight: The group specifically hunts for ICS/SCADA assets, attempting to pivot from IT to OT networks via OPC-UA ports (4840/TCP). Monitor for alerts on these anomalous lateral logs.

  • Psychological twist: BAUDSMS e-mails victim that “your good neighbor beeper is just kidding” if payment misses window – some orgs misread this as testing; it’s only social-engineering to extort more.

Summary Checklist for Incident Leads

  • Detach & isolate within 15 min of IOC alert.
  • Replace Windows credentials (Kerberos + NTLM) enterprise-wide if even one endpoint shows .beep.
  • Verify immutability of your last backup day before the attack; beep wipes VMs in DISA-configured ESXi clusters.
  • Report case to law-enforcement (FBI IC3, EUROPOL) and share ransom note – threat-intel teams use the Victim-ID to track payment flows.