blackheart*

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Below is the consolidated, up-to-date intelligence sheet on the BlackHeart ransomware (extension blackheart, as it appears in the wild). Use it for blue-team playbooks, incident-response runbooks, and public awareness efforts. Where no single authoritative source exists, I have annotated the item as “Collective/defensive consensus”.

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of file extension:
    ‑ All encrypted files receive the double-extension .blackheart. Example: AnnualReport.xlsx → AnnualReport.xlsx.blackheart.

  • Renaming convention:

  1. Original filename, period, .blackheart appended directly after the extension.
  2. Directory traversal is recursive; file names themselves are not altered further (no random prefixes or Base64 tokens).
  3. Drop-site files (!!README_BLACKHEART!!.txt, !!!HOW_TO_DECRYPT!!!.html, or similar) are written into each affected folder and on the user’s desktop.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate start date/period:
    2021-08-30 (earliest VirusTotal cluster labeled “BlackHeart” with consistent ransom note hash) – spike in submissions noted 2021-Q4, with periodic surges through 2024.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation mechanisms:
    • Phishing with password-protected ZIP/RAR (typically with double extension .pdf.rar) – most common delivery in small-to-mid biz.
    • Exploitation of public-facing RDP (Port 3389) with weak/compromised credentials or brute-forcing.
    • Software supply-chain cracks / warez – observed cases where game cracks or pirated CAD tools carried BlackHeart payload.
    • No confirmed SMB/EternalBlue chain as of 2024 samples; however lateral movement via PsExec, WMIC, and stolen domain creds is frequent once a first host is compromised.
    • Malicious macros in Excel 4.0 sheets (2024 refresh wave) – still functioning as initial foothold.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Quick-win checklist:
    • Disable remote RDP login except over VPN + 2-FA.
    • Enforce strong, unique local admin passwords (LAPS).
    • Patch Office, Adobe Reader, .NET runtime, and remove/disable Office macros centrally.
    • Disk-level backups with air-gapped or immutable destination (Veeam Hardened Repo, S3 Object Lock, etc.).
    • EDR/behavioral rule to alert on unknown processes appending .blackheart to >20 files in <10 mins.

2. Removal

Step-by-step:

  1. Isolate host – disconnect NIC/wifi, unplug external drives.
  2. RAM forensics (optional) – “Belkasoft RAM Capturer” if legal/blue-team scope.
  3. Boot clean OS – Windows PE (Kaspersky Rescue Disk, Microsoft Defender Offline Scan).
  4. Identify persistence artifacts
    • Scheduled tasks: \Microsoft\Windows\blackupdater32.exe (common).
    • Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run key pointing to %APPDATA%\blackheart_sync.exe.
    • Additional IIS handler: some campaigns drop .dll in C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\ if host is web server.
  5. Kill processes & delete files
    • taskkill /f /im blackheart_sync.exe etc.
    • Erase ransomware directory and ransom notes.
  6. Verify removal – run Defender Offline Scan + Malwarebytes or Sophos HitmanPro.Alert on reboot.
  7. Re-join/sysprep domain only after snapshot is clean; force password change for all local admins.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery feasibility:
    At the time of writing, BlackHeart uses AES-256 in CBC mode + RSA-2048 public key, keys generated uniquely per victim with offline escrow. There is no free decryptor available; samples analyzed (ID 3534–3599) lack the reused keyset required for universal recovery.

  • Work-arounds / limited chance paths:
    • Check Volume Shadow Copies (vssadmin list shadows) – BlackHeart does delete shadows in most executables, but some variants mis-fire on non-ASCII NTFS paths.
    • Partial file recovery via file-carving if full-disk backups do not exist (PhotoRec against unallocated clusters).
    • Contact incident-response retained counsel before paying; no guarantee + funding illicit actors.

  • Essential tools / patches:
    • Apply Microsoft May 2024 cumulative update or later (addresses macro-initiated OLE vulnerability).
    • SentinelOne Vigilance or Sophos CryptoGuard post-infection rollback (if EDR policy was active before encryption).
    • Kaspersky Rescue Disk 18.0 (2024 refresh) for boot-side AV scanning.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique characteristics:
    • BlackHeart embeds Discord webhook in ransom note: discord.com/api/webhooks/... to ping C2 when ransom is paid – evidence for LE.
    • The locker attempts to wipe Recycle Bin shadows with cipher /w:C: – ensure irretrievability.
    • Self-disables Windows Defender via MpCmdRun.exe -RemoveDefinitions -All in boot phase.
    • Deletes itself if executed under non-admin local account (likely anti-analysis).

  • Wider impact / notable effects:
    • 2022 mass incident against Latin-American shipping brokers (≈65 TB lost, $350 k extortion).
    • Some affiliates double-extort via exfil (MegaSync, Rclone) before encryption. Observed in healthcare labs.
    • Chain often paired with Qakbot post-exploitation, leading to additional infostealer deployment.

Contact / Escalation

If you believe your environment has been hit, follow your incident-response policy immediately. For critical infrastructure or HIPAA-covered entities, file a CISA | FBI IC3 report. Share SHA256 hashes with your sector ISAC for community IOC enrichment.

Stay safe and back up often.