Ransomware-impersonating data wipers distributed through adult sites

Data wipers posing as ransomware are being distributed through malicious adult websites, BleepingComputer reports. Threat actors have leveraged websites with host names suggesting that they were offering nude photos, which seek users to download the SexyPhotos.JPG.exe executable, a report from Cyble revealed. Double-clicking the JPG-impersonating executable prompts the deployment and execution of four other executables and a batch file, which then copies the executables to the Windows Startup folder to build persistence. One of the executables dubbed "windowss.exe" triggers the delivery of the "windows.bat" file tasked for file renaming, while another executable "windll.exe" prompts the delivery of ransom notes. While no data has been stolen by the fraudulent ransomware strain, it has been found to have the capability to delete nearly all files within victims' drives, according to researchers. "Even if a decryptor is provided, renaming files to their original file name is impossible as the malware is not storing them anywhere during the infection," researchers added.