Cryzip Ransomware Trojan Analysis

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Summary
In May 2005, a trojan called
PGPcoder was discovered in the wild by Websense Security Labs. The trojan's purpose was to encrypt a user's files, then demand a ransom for their decryption. Although this scheme seemed novel, it is actually predated by over 15 years, by a similar scam in 1989. LURHQ's Threat Intelligence Group has now discovered a third such scheme involving ransomware which we are calling Cryzip.

Unlike PGPcoder, which used a custom encryption scheme (which was subsequently reverse-engineered by LURHQ), Cryzip uses a commercial zip library in order to store files inside a password-protected zip. Although the zip encryption is stronger, a brute-force attack is still possible on the files, especially if one has a copy of the original file inside the zip.

File Details

Filename: vcmauth.dll
Filesize: 1,191,936 bytes
MD5: 86a48836bced8c4a0b59fca972800890
SHA1: 0b3a49b3172fc65db607fcb1b8029820ec11c5b6
Packer: none
Compiler: Visual C++ 6.0
Compile Date: Thu Mar 2 18:11:02 2006
CME Number: none assigned
Identifying Strings:

  • zippo.dll
  • ZippoCrypt
  • _zippo_crypter_v1.0_


Analysis
When run, Cryzip searches the C: drive (except for files in directories named "system" or "system32") for files which it will zip, overwrite with the text "Erased by Zippo! GO OUT!!!", and then delete, leaving only the encrypted zip file with the name original-file-name_CRYPT_.ZIP, where original-file-name is the original file name complete with the file extension.

Cryzip searches for and zips files with the following extensions:

  • .arh
  • .asm
  • .arj
  • .bas
  • .cdr
  • .cgi
  • .chm
  • .cpp
  • .db1
  • .db2
  • .dbf
  • .dbt
  • .dbx
  • .doc
  • .dpr
  • .dsw
  • .frm
  • .frt
  • .frx
  • .gtd
  • .gzip
  • .jpg
  • .key
  • .kwm
  • .lst
  • .man
  • .mdb
  • .mmf
  • .old
  • .p12
  • .pas
  • .pak
  • .pdf
  • .pgp
  • .pwl
  • .pwm
  • .rar
  • .rtf
  • .safe
  • .tar
  • .txt
  • .xls
  • .xml
  • .zip



After it has finished processing a directory, Cryzip leaves a text file in the directory named AUTO_ZIP_REPORT.TXT, which contains the following text:

OUR E-GOLD ACCOUNT: XXXXXXX

INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO GET YUOR FILES BACK
READ CAREFULLY. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, READ AGAIN.

This is automated report generated by auto archiving software.

Your computer catched our software while browsing illigal porn
pages, all your documents, text files, databases was archived
with long enought password.

You can not guess the password for your archived files - password
lenght is more then 10 symbols that makes all password recovery
programs fail to bruteforce it (guess password by trying all
possible combinations).

Do not try to search for a program what encrypted your information - it
is simply do not exists in your hard disk anymore.
If you really care about documents and information in encrypted files
you can pay using electonic currency $300.
Reporting to police about a case will not help you, they do not know
password. Reporting somewhere about our e-gold account will not help
you to restore files. This is your only way to get yours files back.

------------------------------

How to pay to get your information back.

1. click on this link to open your free e-gold account - the first
   screen is the e-gold "terms and conditions" page. You need to
   agree to these by clicking on the "I AGREE" button on the bottom
   on the page.
2. On the next page is the sign up form:
    1. "Account name" - here is where you name your account - tip:
        make it easy to remember (as you will be asked for it) and
          reasonably short, example, "John's e-gold", "My Money e-gold"
        or perhaps "Felix" (whatever you like, just make it easy for
        you to remember it).
    2. "User Name" - here just repeat the account name (from 1 above).
    3. "Point of Contact" - this is where you put our name, address,
        phone number and email address (any email address can be used
        here but it is recommended you use your ISP address - not a
        free hotmail, etc address).
        It is also recommended your also include a fax number
        (don't have a fax number? This company offers free fax to email
        services). Try and make it as easy as possible for e-gold to contact
you.
    4. "Passphrase" - this is the most important piece of information
        connected to any e-gold account. We can not stress enough how
        important it is that your passphrase is kept safe and secure.
    5. "Turing Number Entry" - type the 6 numbers you see there into the
input
        box below.
    6.  The last step click "Open"

On the next page it will tell you that your e-gold account number has been
emailed to you.

check your email - you can expect to wait up to 5 minutes for your account
number
to arrive. If it does not arrive after 5 minutes then that means the email
address
you supplied was incorrect and you will have to open another new account (go
through
and repeat what you just did above again).

To buy e-gold to your account please use official exchange services
http://www.me-gold.com/
http://www.goldex.net/
http://usece.com/

or try to search own way with
http://gold-pages.net/e-Gold__1MDC__Pecunix_Wizard_Links/Purchase_E-gold/index.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=buy+e-gold&btnG=Google+Search

FINALLY when you bought e-gold you have to transfer $300 to our e-gold
account.
In next 24 hours you will recieve $1 back to your account. Transfer details
of this $1 transfer will have a link to software that will automatically
unzip all your files back to normal state.

Next day login to your account https://www.e-gold.com/acct/login.html,
press History and press submit, you will see LINK TO UNZIP-software.

##########################################################################
Remember you are just $300 away from your files
##########################################################################

At the top of the AUTO_ZIP_REPORT.TXT file, the number of an E-Gold account is inserted. This number is picked at random from a list embedded in the DLL. By operating many accounts simultaneously, the trojan author is betting that even if E-Gold shuts down some of the accounts, he/she will still receive payment on some of the others. The complete list of E-Gold accounts is:

    2934363
    2917501
    2917505
    2917510
    2934369
    2934376
    2934380
    2934382
    2934383
    2934389
    2934392
    2934394
    2934396
    2934404
    2934409
    2934419
    2934421
    2934425
    2934427
    2897227
    2934430
    2897191
    2897193
    2934435
    2897209
    
    2897212
    2934441
    2897232
    2934446
    2934448
    2897243
    2897258
    2934452
    2897021
    2917497
    2934354
    2934356
    2917500
    2897263
    2934455
    2934459
    2934466
    2934469
    2934477
    2934491
    2934501
    2934506
    2934510
    2934515
    2934474
    
    2934782
    2934788
    2934799
    2934806
    2934814
    2934816
    2934820
    2934825
    2934829
    2934832
    2934837
    2934841
    2934849
    2934853
    2934860
    2934862
    2934866
    2934872
    2934869
    2934885
    2934880
    2934891
    2934895
    2934898
    2934903
    
    2934925
    2934929
    2934938
    2934948
    2934953
    2934956
    2934964
    2934480
    2934487
    2934775
    2934802
    2934811
    2934864
    2935277
    2935274
    2935268
    2935264
    2935260
    2935252
    2935244
    2935235
    2935232
    2935229
    2935223
    

The text of the AUTO_ZIP_REPORT.TXT file is encrypted inside the Cryzip DLL, using simple XOR (0x13) encoding. The password used to zip the files is also embedded inside the DLL but it is not encrypted - instead, the author decided to hide the password in plain sight, so to speak. The password is:

 

  • "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98" (without the quotes)


Because this string often appears inside projects compiled with Visual C++ 6, the author likely figured anyone who found the infecting DLL and examined its strings looking for the password would simply overlook it.

Conclusion
At this time the infection vector is unknown. Infection reports are not widespread, so it is not believed this is a mass threat by any means. Malware of this nature is actually more successful when it is delivered in low volumes, as it is less likely that anti-virus vendors will have detection for it, and more attention means the likely closing of the accounts used for the anonymous money transfer. As such, most users will probably not have to worry about this threat - keep in mind however that the two incidents in the last 10 months indicate the possible start of a trend of this type of malware, and future incidents may affect a wider swath of users. However, in most cases, simply having and using proper backup software would mitigate the risk from ransomware.

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