Ransomware Actor Knight Targets Consulting Firm

Ransomware actor Knight has claimed a new victim, Abel Santos & Asociados, a consulting company for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. No further information has been given. Knight is a RaaS platform that emerged in early summer of 2023 as a rebrand of the Cyclops ransomware operations that preceded it. As part of their operation, they continue to recruit affiliates through the RAMP hacking forum to enhance their ability to steal data from both Windows and Linux systems.

Knight Ransomware Operation Details

In addition to their regular encryptors, the Knight ransomware operation offers a 'lite' version suitable for spam, spray-and-pray, and batch distribution campaigns.

Deceptive Tactics Employed by Knight

The Knight ransomware gang employs an HTML attachment labeled 'TripAdvisor-Complaint-[random].PDF.htm,' which redirects users to a deceptive web browser interface impersonating TripAdvisor. Within this simulated browser window, users are prompted to review a restaurant complaint, but it is, in fact, a ruse. When users click on the 'Read Complaint' button, an Excel file titled 'TripAdvisor_Complaint-Possible-Suspension.xll' is downloaded onto their system. This download subsequently triggers the activation of ransomware.

Impact of the Knight Lite Ransomware

The Knight Lite ransomware encryptor, injected into a new explorer.exe process, is utilized to encrypt files on targeted computers. Following encryption, the encrypted files' names are appended with the '.knight_1' extension, where '1' indicates the lite version. Subsequently, the ransomware generates a ransom note in each folder on the compromised computer, demanding a payment of $5,000 to be sent to a provided Bitcoin address.