A new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation is impersonating the legitimate Cicada 3301 organization and has already listed 19 victims on its extortion portal, as it quickly attacked companies worldwide.

The new cybercrime operation is named after and uses the same logo as the mysterious 2012-2014 online/real-world game named Cicada 3301 that involved elaborate cryptographic puzzles.

However, there's no connection between the two, and the legitimate project has issued a statement to renounce any association with the threat actors and condemned the ransomware operation's actions.

"We do not know the identity of the criminals behind these heinous crimes and are not associated with these groups in any way," reads the statement from the Cicada 3301 organization. 

Launched in early June

The Cicada3301 RaaS first began promoting the operation and recruiting affiliates on June 29, 2024, in a forum post to the ransomware and cybercrime forum known as RAMP.

However, Cicada attacks began as early as June 6, indicating that the gang was operating independently before attempting to recruit affiliates.

Like other ransomware operations, Cicada3301 conducts double-extortion tactics where they breach corporate networks, steal data, and then encrypt devices. The encryption key and threats to leak stolen data are then used as leverage to scare victims into paying a ransom.

The threat actors operate a data leak site that is used as part of their double-extortion scheme.

An analysis of the new malware by Truesec revealed significant overlaps between Cicada3301 and ALPHV/BlackCat, indicating a possible rebrand or a fork created by former ALPHV's core team members.

This is based on the fact that:

• Both are written in Rust.
• Both Use the ChaCha20 algorithm for encryption.
• Both employ identical VM shutdown and snapshot-wiping commands.
• Both use the same user interface command parameters, the same file naming convention, and the same ransom note decryption method.
• Both use intermittent encryption on larger files.

For context, ALPHV performed an exit scam in early March 2024 involving fake claims about an FBI takedown operation after they stole a massive $22 million payment from Change Healthcare from one of their affiliates.

Truesec has also found indications that the Cicada3301 ransomware operation may partner with or utilize the Brutus botnet for initial access to corporate networks. That botnet was previously associated with global-scale VPN brute-forcing activities targeting Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto, and SonicWall appliances.

It's worth noting that the Brutus activity was first spotted two weeks after ALPHV shut down operations, so the link between the two groups still stands in terms of timelines.

Yet another threat to VMware ESXi

Cicada3301 is a Rust-based ransomware operation with both Windows and Linux/VMware ESXi encryptors. As part of Truesec's report, the researchers analyzed the VMWare ESXi Linux encryptor for the ransomware operation.

Like BlackCat and other ransomware families, such as RansomHub, a special key must be entered as a command line argument to launch the encryptor. This key is used to decrypt an encrypted JSON blob that contains the configuration that the encryptor will use when encrypting a device.

Truesec says that the encryptor checks for the validity of the key by using it to decrypt the ransom note and, if successful, continues with the rest of the encryption operation.

Its main function (linux_enc) uses the ChaCha20 stream cipher for file encryption and then encrypts the symmetric key used in the process with an RSA key. The encryption keys are generated randomly using the 'OsRng' function.

Cicada3301 targets specific file extensions matching documents and media files and checks their size to determine where to apply intermittent encryption (>100MB) and where to encrypt the entire file contents (<100MB).

When encrypting files, the encryptor will append a random seven-character extension to the file name and create ransom notes named 'RECOVER-[extension]-DATA.txt,' as shown below. It should be noted that BlackCat/ALPHV encryptors also used random seven-character extensions and a ransom note named 'RECOVER-[extension]-FILES.txt.'

The ransomware's operators can set a sleep parameter to delay the encryptor's execution, potentially to evade immediate detection.

A "no_vm_ss" parameter also orders the malware to encrypt VMware ESXi virtual machines without attempting to shut them down first.

However, by default, Cicada3301 first uses ESXi's 'esxcli' and 'vim-cmd' commands to shut down virtual machines and delete their snapshots before encrypting data.

Cicada3301's activities and rate of success indicate an experienced actor who knows what they're doing, further supporting the hypothesis of an ALPHV reboot or at least utilizing affiliates with prior ransomware experience.

The new ransomware's focus on ESXi environments highlights its strategic design to maximize damage in enterprise environments that many threat actors now target for lucrative profits.

By combining file encryption with the ability to disrupt VM operations and remove recovery options, Cicada3301 ensures a high-impact attack that affects entire networks and infrastructures, maximizing the pressure placed on victims.