Recently,
Cisco Talos researchers observed Vice Society ransomware operators deploying a malicious Dynamic-link library (DLL) to exploit two PrintNightmare flaws (CVE-2021-1675 and CVE-2021-34527).
Vice Society ransomware (likely a HelloKitty spin-off) encrypts both Windows and Linux systems using OpenSSL (AES256 + secp256k1 + ECDSA), as ransomware expert Michael Gillespie
found in mid-June when the first samples surfaced.
The Vice Society gang mainly targets small or midsize victims in human-operated double-extortion attacks, with a notable focus on public school districts and other educational institutions.
Cisco Talos also made a list of Vice Society's favorite tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), including backup deletion to prevent victims from restoring encrypted systems and bypassing Windows protections for credential theft and privilege escalation.
"They are quick to leverage new vulnerabilities for lateral movement and persistence on a victim's network," Cisco Talos said. "They also attempt to be innovative on end-point detection response bypasses" and "operate a data leak site, which they use to publish data exfiltrated from victims who do not choose to pay their extortion demands."
