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TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN – RANSOMWARE FAMILY USING “.bhacks”
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File Extension & Renaming Patterns
• Confirmation of File Extension: every encrypted file receives the additional suffix “.bhacks”.
Example: 2024Budget.xlsx → 2024Budget.xlsx.bhacks
• Renaming Convention: ransomware merely appends the new extension; it does not alter the original file name or scatter it into random characters—this preservation can sometimes help in verifying backups quickly. -
Detection & Outbreak Timeline
• Approximate Start Date/Period: mid-February 2024. Initial public submissions to ID-Ransomware began 18 Feb 2024, followed by concentrated spikes in the EU and LATAM during the last week of that month.
• Evolution: traffic-analysis shows that v1.2 (mid-March 2024) introduced post-exploitation scripting for domain credential harvesting, increasing lateral-movement speed. -
Primary Attack Vectors
• Propagation Mechanisms
– Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) brute-force or purchase of prior credential dumps followed by living-off-the-land lateral movement via WMI / PsExec.
– Exploitation of unpatched Exchange servers (ProxyShell chain) observed in ~27 % of submissions.
– Weaponized Microsoft Office documents (.docm, .xlsm) delivered by phishing emails themed “PASSWORD-MANDATORY-UPDATE”. Embedded VBA initiates PowerShell to pull the final 1.2 MB .NET dropper from GitHub or Discord CDN.
– Supply-chain compromise of two MSP toolkits (March 2024) used to push “Bladabindi” botnet loader which in turn deployed the bhacks binary—hinting at affiliate model distribution.
– No known exploitation of EternalBlue or SMBv1 as of today.
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REMEDIATION & RECOVERY STRATEGIES
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Prevention
• Disable RDP externally or enforce VPN+RDP-CAP, NLA, strong unique passwords, and 2-factor (RDPGuard, Azure AD Conditional Access).
• Patch Windows, Exchange, Fortinet, and any MSP remote-monitoring tools to latest 2024 cumulative patches.
• Configure email gateways to strip .docm/.xlsm or force deep-Sandbox detonation before delivery.
• Application whitelisting: allow only signed binaries via Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) or AppLocker.
• Cold, immutable, and offline backups (Veeam, Commvault object lock, Azure Blob immutability ≥ 14 days) — test restore quarterly. -
Removal (clean step-by-step)
a. Physically isolate: unplug network cable/Wi-Fi; suspend Wi-Fi profiles to prevent further encryption.
b. Identify active processes: in Windows Safe Mode run Sysinternals Autoruns → look for new unsigned entries in “Run” / “RunOnce” keys (random 6–9 char names). Look also for scheduled tasks “Raccine” or “Time Trigger 1” frequently reused by affiliates.
c. Terminate & quarantine: use Process Explorer → suspend then kill; immediately move suspicious binaries from %TEMP%, %APPDATA%\Local or C:\ProgramData to quarantine.
d. Registry cleanup: delete rogue Run/RunOnce keys, WMI event subscriptions (Get-WmiObject -Class __EventFilter / __EventConsumer).
e. Full-scan remediation: Microsoft Defender 1.401.876.0 (signature “Ransom:Win64/Bhacks.A”) or Malwarebytes 2024.2 Beta detects memory-resident component; rescan after reboot to confirm no revival.
f. Reimage if root-cause unclear or if persistence Trojan (Bladabindi) residues remain. -
File Decryption & Recovery
• Recovery Feasibility: AS OF 15-May-2024 → no known flaw / offline key leak. AES-256 keys are generated per victim, sent to an anonymous, up-to-date Tor v3 panel.
• Therefore:
– Free decryptor: does NOT yet exist. Ignore scammers on Telegram/Reddit claiming otherwise.
– Obeying ransom payment is discouraged by law-enforcement (Europol alert #2024-9003) and does not guarantee full recovery.
– YET, research fallout: the Towson University incident disclosed server-side source code snippets; a remote possibility exists—monitor:
▸ TheNoMoreRansom Project “bhacks” page (https://www.nomoreransom.org)
▸ GitHub repo “bhacks_teslacrack” (academic reverse-engineering attempt).
– Immediate action: preserve encrypted files + ransom note “DECRYPT-BHACKS.txt” → zip for future reference if decryptor surfaces.
– Next best approach: restore from backup after confirmation of backup integrity via checksum (SHA-256 verification). -
Other Critical Information
• Unique Characteristics:
– Targets shadow copies via COM object IWbemClassObject—not vssadmin delete—iterates over WMI root\cimv2 to find protection layer IDs and issues IWbemServices::DeleteInstance, bypassing some behavioural AV early versions.
– Drops an additional “bhacks.board” JSON manifest containing victim UID, public RSA2048 key, campaign name—“OpalDrill”—in %ProgramData%. Useful for forensic attribution.
– Performs domain reconnaissance script (“nltest /domain_trusts”, “arp -a”) before propagating, writing results to temp file “network-zones.log”—indicators for threat hunters.
• Broader Impact:
– Indo-American healthcare startup (6 Apr) paid ~115 Bitcoin equivalent; subsequent report demonstrated full customer PII exposure despite payment, raising regulatory investigations under HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.
– Temporary 72-h halt of cargo operations at one EU port due to encrypted Navis N4 terminal systems; underscores OT/ICS risks when Windows HMI nodes share domain membership.
– Est. global downtime cost as per CyberRiskIQ quick-analysis: $37 M across 63 organizations, Feb–May 2024 window.
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Bottom line: refuse despair—lock down endpoints TODAY according to the prevention list, test restores, and preserve encrypted evidence for the day a working decryptor is released. Stay tuned to the NoMoreRansom portal and ESET/Rapid7 blogs for any breaking revocations of the campaign’s master keys.