Jaff Ransomware Family Emerges In Force

A new high-volume ransomware family called Jaff is making the rounds, which carries a smattering of characteristics similar to both the Dridex and Locky campaigns, according to Cisco Talos.

Although Jaff has several characteristics in its distribution and C2 traffic patterns similar to the other two ransomware campaigns, it carries little similarity in its codebase.

In the past 24 hours, Cisco Talos has noticed more than 100,000 emails under the Jaff high-volume spam campaign, which uses a PDF attachment with an embedded Microsoft Word document to act as the initial downloader for the ransomware.  

The attackers are using Necurs to distribute Jaff as multiple, high-volume spam campaigns, which leads Cisco Talos to speculate they may be the same cybercriminals who used Necurs to blast out Locky. But because Jaff's malware is distinct enough from Locky and Dridex, Cisco Talos notes it should be treated as a new ransomware variant.

Read more about Jaff here.