CISA, FBI Share Latest Threat Intelligence on Phobos Ransomware
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) have shared the latest threat intelligence about Phobos ransomware, which has been used to attack municipal and county governments, emergency services, education, public healthcare, and other critical infrastructure entities. Phobos ransomware is related to multiple ransomware variants, including Elking, Eight, Devos, Backmydata, and Faust ransomware. The Backmydata variant was used in a February 2024 attack in Romania that resulted in systems being taken offline at around 100 healthcare facilities.
Phobos ransomware is a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group that has been active since May 2019. The group commonly gains access to victims’ networks through phishing campaigns that deliver malware via spoofed attachments with hidden payloads, including the Smokeloader backdoor trojan. Affiliates also use IP scanning tools such as Angry IP Scanner to identify vulnerable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) ports that are subjected to brute force attacks, and affiliates have been observed leveraging RDP to attack Microsoft Windows devices. Attacks often involve Cobalt Strike, Bloodhound, and Sharphound, Mimikatz to obtain credentials, NirSoft, and Remote Desktop Passview to export browser client credentials.
Phobos engages in double extortion tactics, where sensitive data is exfiltrated in addition to file encryption and victims have to pay for the keys to decrypt data and to prevent the publication of their stolen data on the group’s data leak site. Volume shadow copies are deleted from Windows environments to hinder attempts to recover without paying the ransom. The ransom demands are often of the order of several million dollars.
The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center issued an alert about Phobos ransomware in July 2021 after several attacks on organizations in the healthcare and public health sector. The latest alert shares updated tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the group in attacks up to February 2024, along with the latest Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), MITRE ATT&CK techniques, and recommended mitigations.
Get The FREE
HIPAA Compliance Checklist
Immediate Delivery of Checklist Link To Your Email Address
Please Enter Correct Email Address
Your Privacy Respected
HIPAA Journal Privacy Policy
