GoodWill ransomware detected in India, reveals CloudSEK

Digital risk monitoring firm, CloudSEK, has revealed that new ransomware, ‘GoodWill,’ has been detected in India. The GoodWill ransomware makes victims donate clothes to the homeless, feed kids, and provide financial assistance to those in need of urgent medical attention. CloudSEK has warned that the GoodWill ransomware could also result in the loss of company data.

“GoodWill ransomware was identified by CloudSEK researchers in March 2022. As the threat group’s name suggests, the operators are allegedly interested in promoting social justice rather than conventional financial reasons,” CloudSEK said in a report.

The GoodWill ransomware worm encrypts documents, photos, videos, and other important files before making them inaccessible without a decryption key.

“The actors suggest that victims perform three socially driven activities in exchange for the decryption key – donate new clothes to the homeless, record the action, and post it on social media, take five less fortunate children to Dominos Pizza Hut or KFC for a treat, take pictures and videos, and post them on social media and provide financial assistance to anyone who needs urgent medical attention but cannot afford it, at a nearby hospital, record audio, and share it with the operators,” the report said.

In the following steps, victims must write a note on social media (Facebook or Instagram) on “how you transformed yourself into a kind human being by becoming a victim of a ransomware called GoodWill.” Upon verification of the posts by Goodwill, the complete decryption kit is shared with the victims to recover important files. The kit includes the primary decryption tool, password file, and a video tutorial on recovering data.

“Our researchers were able to trace the email address, provided by the ransomware group, back to an India-based IT security solutions & services company that provides end-to-end managed security services,” the report said.

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