New Targeted Ransomware Hits Healthcare, Manufacturing

A new ransomware strain, Defray, that focuses on certain verticals in narrow and select attacks is making the rounds in the healthcare, education, manufacturing, and technology sectors.

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

August 25, 2017

1 Min Read
Dark Reading logo in a gray background | Dark Reading

A highly targeted ransomware strain emerged this month, with attackers focusing on specific industry verticals in small attacks, Proofpoint researchers stated this week.

The Defray ransomware attacks have hit the healthcare, education, manufacturing, and technology industries by distributing emails containing a Microsoft Word document embedded with an executable OLE packager shell object, according to Proofpoint, which discovered Defray.

The small campaigns usually only contain several messages in each effort and demand a ransom of $5,000. An Aug. 15 campaign against the manufacturing and technology sectors used a bogus email from a representative of a UK-based aquarium with offices across the globe as bait. That was followed up with a similar campaign against the healthcare and education industries on Aug. 22 from a purported director of information management and technology at a hospital.

Once the victim clicks on the attachment, the ransomware is activated and encryption takes place. Defray, however, may also disable startup recovery and delete shadow copy volumes, as well, according to Proofpoint. The researchers suspect Defray is not for sale like other ransomware strains and instead is being used by certain threat actors for their personal use.

Read more about Defray here.

About the Author

Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

Dark Reading is a leading cybersecurity media site.

Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights