Description

The Abyss Locker operation, which is thought to have begun in March 2023, is the most recent to create a Linux encryptor to target VMware's ESXi virtual machine platform in attempts to steal data for double-extortion and encrypt network devices. Since VMware ESXi is one of the most popular virtual machine platforms, nearly every ransomware gang has started to create Linux encryptors that encrypt all virtual servers on a device. The threat actors claim to have stolen ranging from 35 GB to 700 GB of data from several companies. The stolen material is then used as leverage, with threats of file leaks if a ransom is not paid. To release the stolen files, the threat actors established the 'Abyss-data' Tor data leak site, which now has fourteen victims. The encryptor uses the command-line VMware ESXi management tool 'esxcli' to first identify all accessible virtual machines before terminating them. Also, the encryptor ends all virtual machines in order to correctly encrypt the related virtual discs, snapshots, and metadata by encrypting all files with the following extensions:.vmdk (virtual disks),.vmsd (metadata), and.vmsn (snapshots). Post encrypting the ransomware apply the.crypt extension to the filenames in addition to virtual machines. The encryptor will additionally create a file with a for each file.The ransom note, README_TO_RESTORE, contains information on what happened to the files as well as a unique link to the threat actor's Tor negotiation site.