By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
10alert.com10alert.com
  • Threats
    • WordPress ThreatsDanger
    Threats
    A cyber or cybersecurity threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general. Cyber threats include…
    Show More
    Top News
    What is an Exploit? -Kaspersky Daily
    8 months ago
    Darkhotel APT in luxury Asian hotels
    8 months ago
    Kaspersky Lab expert Andrey Pozhogin answers questions about ransomware
    8 months ago
    Latest News
    Triangulation: Trojan for iOS | Kaspersky official blog
    2 days ago
    Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 22, 2023 to May 28, 2023)
    2 days ago
    Safeguards against firmware signed with stolen MSI keys
    4 days ago
    WPDeveloper Addresses Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in ReviewX WordPress Plugin
    4 days ago
  • Fix
    Fix
    Troubleshooting guide you need when errors, bugs or technical glitches might ruin your digital experience.
    Show More
    Top News
    Keylogger found on 5500 sites running WordPress
    Keylogger found on 5500 sites running WordPress
    8 months ago
    Windows 11 build 22622.575 (KB5016694) releases in the Beta Channel
    8 months ago
    How to create restore point on Windows 11
    8 months ago
    Latest News
    How automatically delete unused files from my Downloads folder?
    4 months ago
    Now you can speed up any video in your browser
    4 months ago
    How to restore access to a file after EFS or view it on another computer?
    4 months ago
    18 Proven Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress Site and Improve SEO | 2023 Guide
    5 months ago
  • How To
    How ToShow More
    Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
    Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
    1 day ago
    Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
    Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
    2 days ago
    Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
    Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
    2 days ago
    What is two-factor authentication | Kaspersky official blog
    5 days ago
    Acer refreshes Windows 11 PCs for work and play: Swift Edge 16 and Predator Triton 16
    7 days ago
  • News
    News
    This category of resources includes the latest technology news and updates, covering a wide range of topics and innovations in the tech industry. From new…
    Show More
    Top News
    How to create local account on Windows 10
    4 months ago
    How to enable Nearby Sharing on Windows 11
    4 months ago
    How to enable Previous Versions to recover files on Windows 11
    3 months ago
    Latest News
    How to add CPU, GPU, RAM widgets on Windows 11
    2 days ago
    How to create virtual drive (VHD, VHDX, Dev Drive) on Windows 11
    5 days ago
    How to enable Taskbar End Task option to close apps on Windows 11
    5 days ago
    How to check USB4 devices specs from Settings on Windows 11
    5 days ago
  • Glossary
  • My Bookmarks
Reading: Mamba ransomware infects San Francisco Municipal Railway
Share
Notification Show More
Aa
Aa
10alert.com10alert.com
  • Threats
  • Fix
  • How To
  • News
  • Glossary
  • My Bookmarks
  • Threats
    • WordPress ThreatsDanger
  • Fix
  • How To
  • News
  • Glossary
  • My Bookmarks
Follow US
Threats

Mamba ransomware infects San Francisco Municipal Railway

Tom Grant
Last updated: 13 October
Tom Grant 8 months ago
Share
4 Min Read

This past weekend, November 26 and 27, people traveling on the San Francisco Municipal Railway were surprised to find out that they didn’t have to pay for their rides. Everyone rode free both days. A socialist dream come true? Nope. The SF Municipal Railway, aka the Muni, lost the ability to sell tickets because it was attacked by ransomware.

Some media outlets claim that the problem manifested a few days earlier, just before Thanksgiving Day, when station ticket machines and schedule monitors started displaying a message saying “You Hacked” — as usual, ransomware announced itself with a lot of grammatical mistakes. It seems that the ransomware, called Mamba, which is a variant of HDDCryptor, knocked more than 2,000 computers belonging to the San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency (SFMTA) out of commission.

Mamba (and HDDLocker; let’s just consider them one and the same for the rest of this post) is a piece of ransomware that encrypts the whole hard drive and changes the master boot record (MBR) to prevent infected computers from loading their operating systems, displaying the malefactors’ message instead.

The creators of Mamba used open-source utilities as parts of the Trojan, and that, among other things, helped them create a strong algorithm. So there is no known way to get back files encrypted by Mamba without paying the criminals.

The Mamba perpetrators urged the SFMTA to contact them at [email protected], and using this e-mail address, a journalist from the San Francisco Examiner was able to talk to the criminals, who introduced themselves as “Andy Saolis.” As Saolis’ story went, the attack on Muni was not a targeted one; the system got infected simply because someone with admin privileges downloaded an infected torrent file.

Saolis also told the Examiner that the SFMTA had to pay them 100 bitcoins (about $73,000) to get its computers back in operation. But it seems the SFMTA was able to deal with the problem without paying ransom; later on Sunday, the ticket machines were functioning again.

Kaspersky Lab’s antimalware researchers are keeping close track of the threat actor responsible for the attack. It seems that Mamba is typically used to attack businesses and organizations: The Muni attack is not the first notch on Mamba’s belt — and actually, 100 bitcoins is a rather small sum by these criminals’ standards. Usually they demand much more.

So, Mamba seems like a really nasty threat. What can you do protect yourself and your organization from it?

1. The SFMTA was able to get Muni up and running relatively quickly because it had backups. It’s worth mentioning that these backups were not on network shares; otherwise, Mamba would’ve encrypted them as well.

The lesson here: Be like the SFMTA and back up your data regularly. Keep the backups either in the cloud or on external hard drives, not on your computer or network-attached devices.

2. Be even smarter than the SFMTA and avoid getting infected by Mamba, or any other ransomwware, at all. Instead, use a good security solution. Kaspersky Internet Security detects Mamba (and HDDCryptor, and others like them) as HEUR:Trojan.Win32.Generic and doesn’t give them a chance to encrypt anything.


Source: kaspersky.com

Translate this article

TAGGED: Malware, RC4, Security, Threat, Threats
Tom Grant October 13, 2022 October 7, 2022
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Reddit Telegram Email Copy Link Print

STAY CONECTED

24.8k Followers Like
253.9k Followers Follow
33.7k Subscribers Subscribe
124.8k Members Follow

LAST 10 ALERT

Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
Apps 1 day ago
How to add CPU, GPU, RAM widgets on Windows 11
News 2 days ago
Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
Apps 2 days ago
Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
Apps 2 days ago
Triangulation: Trojan for iOS | Kaspersky official blog
Threats 2 days ago

Recent Posts

  • Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
  • How to add CPU, GPU, RAM widgets on Windows 11
  • Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
  • Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
  • Triangulation: Trojan for iOS | Kaspersky official blog

You Might Also Like

Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
Apps

Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables

1 day ago
Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
Apps

Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun

2 days ago
Threats

Triangulation: Trojan for iOS | Kaspersky official blog

2 days ago
Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 22, 2023 to May 28, 2023)
Wordpress Threats

Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 22, 2023 to May 28, 2023)

2 days ago
Show More

Related stories

How to Use Cloudflare to Secure Your WordPress Site
How To Starting Chrome from the command line
How to fix error 0x80070057 in Chrome?
Windows 10 How To Disable Slide to Shutdown
Windows search not working (FIX)
How to watch movies and TV series for free on Kinopoisk?
Previous Next

10 New Stories

Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (May 22, 2023 to May 28, 2023)
Safeguards against firmware signed with stolen MSI keys
WPDeveloper Addresses Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in ReviewX WordPress Plugin
How to create virtual drive (VHD, VHDX, Dev Drive) on Windows 11
How to enable Taskbar End Task option to close apps on Windows 11
How to check USB4 devices specs from Settings on Windows 11
Previous Next
Hot News
Dynamic data collection with Zaraz Worker Variables
How to add CPU, GPU, RAM widgets on Windows 11
Reduce latency and increase cache hits with Regional Tiered Cache
Cloudflare is deprecating Railgun
Triangulation: Trojan for iOS | Kaspersky official blog
10alert.com10alert.com
Follow US

© 10 Alert Network. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Customize Interests
  • My Bookmarks
  • Glossary
Go to mobile version
adbanner
AdBlock Detected
Our site is an advertising supported site. Please whitelist to support our site.
Okay, I'll Whitelist
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?