SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.medusalocker (Back to overview)

MedusaLocker

aka: AKO Ransomware, AKO Doxware, MedusaReborn
VTCollection    

A Windows ransomware that will run certain tasks to prepare the target system for the encryption of files. MedusaLocker avoids executable files, probably to avoid rendering the targeted system unusable for paying the ransom. It uses a combination of AES and RSA-2048, and reportedly appends extensions such as .encrypted, .bomber, .boroff, .breakingbad, .locker16, .newlock, .nlocker, and .skynet.

References
2025-09-29 ⋅ Cyderes ⋅ ManojKumar Kshirsagar
MedusaLocker v3 Ransomware Explained: Technical Analysis, Tactics and Protection
MedusaLocker
2023-11-13 ⋅ Medium shaddy43 ⋅ Shayan Ahmed Khan
Decrypting the Mystery of MedusaLocker
MedusaLocker
2023-03-15 ⋅ Cybleinc ⋅ Cyble
Unmasking MedusaLocker Ransomware
MedusaLocker
2023-03-08 ⋅ AhnLab ⋅ ASEC
GlobeImposter Ransomware Being Distributed with MedusaLocker via RDP
GlobeImposter MedusaLocker
2022-09-30 ⋅ Cloudsek ⋅ Anandeshwar Unnikrishnan
Technical Analysis of MedusaLocker Ransomware
MedusaLocker
2022-08-08 ⋅ Medium CSIS Techblog ⋅ Benoît Ancel
An inside view of domain anonymization as-a-service — the BraZZZerSFF infrastructure
Riltok magecart Anubis Azorult BetaBot Buer CoalaBot CryptBot DiamondFox DreamBot GCleaner ISFB Loki Password Stealer (PWS) MedusaLocker MeguminTrojan Nemty PsiX RedLine Stealer SmokeLoader STOP TinyNuke Vidar Zloader
2022-07-01 ⋅ CISA ⋅ CISA, Department of the Treasury (Treasury), FBI, FINCEN
Alert (AA22-181A): #StopRansomware: MedusaLocker
MedusaLocker
2022-06-30 ⋅ CISA ⋅ CISA, Department of the Treasury (Treasury), FBI, FINCEN
CSA (AA22-181A): #StopRansomware: MedusaLocker
MedusaLocker
2022-01-19 ⋅ Mandiant ⋅ Adrian Sanchez Hernandez, Ervin James Ocampo, Paul Tarter
One Source to Rule Them All: Chasing AVADDON Ransomware
BlackMatter Avaddon BlackMatter MedusaLocker SystemBC ThunderX
2021-05-10 ⋅ DarkTracer ⋅ DarkTracer
Intelligence Report on Ransomware Gangs on the DarkWeb: List of victim organizations attacked by ransomware gangs released on the DarkWeb
RansomEXX Avaddon Babuk Clop Conti Cuba DarkSide DoppelPaymer Egregor Hades LockBit Mailto Maze MedusaLocker Mespinoza Mount Locker Nefilim Nemty Pay2Key PwndLocker RagnarLocker Ragnarok RansomEXX REvil Sekhmet SunCrypt ThunderX
2021-02-23 ⋅ CrowdStrike ⋅ CrowdStrike
2021 Global Threat Report
RansomEXX Amadey Anchor Avaddon BazarBackdoor Clop Cobalt Strike Conti Cutwail DanaBot DarkSide DoppelPaymer Dridex Egregor Emotet Hakbit IcedID JSOutProx KerrDown LockBit Mailto Maze MedusaLocker Mespinoza Mount Locker NedDnLoader Nemty Pay2Key PlugX Pushdo PwndLocker PyXie QakBot Quasar RAT RagnarLocker Ragnarok RansomEXX REvil Ryuk Sekhmet ShadowPad SmokeLoader Snake SUNBURST SunCrypt TEARDROP TrickBot WastedLocker Winnti Zloader Evilnum OUTLAW SPIDER RIDDLE SPIDER SOLAR SPIDER VIKING SPIDER
2020-12-10 ⋅ US-CERT ⋅ FBI, MS-ISAC, US-CERT
Alert (AA20-345A): Cyber Actors Target K-12 Distance Learning Education to Cause Disruptions and Steal Data
PerlBot Shlayer Agent Tesla Cerber Dridex Ghost RAT Kovter Maze MedusaLocker Nanocore RAT Nefilim REvil Ryuk Zeus
2020-11-19 ⋅ Cybereason ⋅ Assaf Dahan, Tom Fakterman
Cybereason vs. MedusaLocker Ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-10-06 ⋅ CrowdStrike ⋅ The Crowdstrike Intel Team
Double Trouble: Ransomware with Data Leak Extortion, Part 2
Maze MedusaLocker REvil VIKING SPIDER
2020-09-25 ⋅ CrowdStrike ⋅ The Crowdstrike Intel Team
Double Trouble: Ransomware with Data Leak Extortion, Part 1
DoppelPaymer FriedEx LockBit Maze MedusaLocker RagnarLocker REvil RobinHood SamSam WastedLocker MIMIC SPIDER PIZZO SPIDER TA2101 VIKING SPIDER
2020-09-24 ⋅ CrowdStrike ⋅ CrowdStrike Intelligence Team
Double Trouble: Ransomware with Data Leak Extortion, Part 1
DoppelPaymer Gandcrab LockBit Maze MedusaLocker RagnarLocker SamSam OUTLAW SPIDER OVERLORD SPIDER
2020-08-25 ⋅ KELA ⋅ Victoria Kivilevich
How Ransomware Gangs Find New Monetization Schemes and Evolve in Marketing
Avaddon Clop DarkSide DoppelPaymer Mailto Maze MedusaLocker Mespinoza Nefilim RagnarLocker REvil Sekhmet
2020-08-06 ⋅ Theta ⋅ Hamish Krebs
Part 3: analysing MedusaLocker ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-08-05 ⋅ Theta ⋅ Hamish Krebs
Part 2: Analysing MedusaLocker ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-08-04 ⋅ Theta ⋅ Hamish Krebs
Part 1: analysing MedusaLocker ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-06-03 ⋅ VMWare Carbon Black ⋅ Brian Baskin
Medusa Locker Ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-04-28 ⋅ Microsoft ⋅ Microsoft Threat Protection Intelligence Team
Ransomware groups continue to target healthcare, critical services; here’s how to reduce risk
LockBit Mailto Maze MedusaLocker Paradise RagnarLocker REvil RobinHood
2020-04-23 ⋅ Cisco Talos ⋅ Amit Raut, Edmund Brumaghin
Threat Spotlight: MedusaLocker
MedusaLocker
2020-01-17 ⋅ Secureworks ⋅ Keita Yamazaki, Tamada Kiyotaka, You Nakatsuru
Is It Wrong to Try to Find APT Techniques in Ransomware Attack?
Defray Dharma FriedEx Gandcrab GlobeImposter Matrix Ransom MedusaLocker Phobos REvil Ryuk SamSam Scarab Ransomware
2020-01-09 ⋅ ID Ransomware ⋅ Andrew Ivanov
Ako, MedusaReborn
MedusaLocker
2020-01-09 ⋅ Twitter (@siri_urz) ⋅ Twitter (@siri_urz)
Tweet on AKO Ransomware
MedusaLocker
2020-01-01 ⋅ Blackberry ⋅ Blackberry Research
State of Ransomware
Maze MedusaLocker Nefilim Phobos REvil Ryuk STOP
2019-11-05 ⋅ Dissecting Malware ⋅ Marius Genheimer
Try not to stare - MedusaLocker at a glance
MedusaLocker
2019-10-15 ⋅ Andrew Ivanov
MedusaLocker Ransomware
MedusaLocker
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_medusalocker_auto (20260917 | Detects win.medusalocker.)
rule win_medusalocker_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-09-17"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.medusalocker."
        info = "autogenerated rule brought to you by yara-signator"
        tool = "yara-signator v0.6.0"
        signator_config = "callsandjumps;datarefs;binvalue"
        malpedia_reference = "https://malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de/details/win.medusalocker"
        malpedia_rule_date = "20260916"
        malpedia_hash = "53a643781c18e08f4a50949af60172d837a0b6f6"
        malpedia_version = "20260917"
        malpedia_license = "CC BY-SA 4.0"
        malpedia_sharing = "TLP:WHITE"

    /* DISCLAIMER
     * The strings used in this rule have been automatically selected from the
     * disassembly of memory dumps and unpacked files, using YARA-Signator.
     * The code and documentation is published here:
     * https://github.com/fxb-cocacoding/yara-signator
     * As Malpedia is used as data source, please note that for a given
     * number of families, only single samples are documented.
     * This likely impacts the degree of generalization these rules will offer.
     * Take the described generation method also into consideration when you
     * apply the rules in your use cases and assign them confidence levels.
     */


    strings:
        $sequence_0 = { 8b45ec 83e001 740c 8365ecfe 8d4d9c e8???????? }
            // n = 6, score = 400
            //   8b45ec               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp - 0x14]
            //   83e001               | and                 eax, 1
            //   740c                 | je                  0xe
            //   8365ecfe             | and                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x14], 0xfffffffe
            //   8d4d9c               | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 0x64]
            //   e8????????           |                     

        $sequence_1 = { 894df4 8b4510 8945f8 6a00 8d4df8 }
            // n = 5, score = 400
            //   894df4               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0xc], ecx
            //   8b4510               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp + 0x10]
            //   8945f8               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 8], eax
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   8d4df8               | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 8]

        $sequence_2 = { e8???????? c645fc00 8d4dd8 e8???????? 8b4d0c 51 e8???????? }
            // n = 7, score = 400
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   c645fc00             | mov                 byte ptr [ebp - 4], 0
            //   8d4dd8               | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 0x28]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8b4d0c               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 0xc]
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   e8????????           |                     

        $sequence_3 = { ba01000000 85d2 742d 8b4d0c e8???????? 6a00 6840420f00 }
            // n = 7, score = 400
            //   ba01000000           | mov                 edx, 1
            //   85d2                 | test                edx, edx
            //   742d                 | je                  0x2f
            //   8b4d0c               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 0xc]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   6840420f00           | push                0xf4240

        $sequence_4 = { 8d8d58ffffff e8???????? 8945c4 8b4dc4 894dc0 }
            // n = 5, score = 400
            //   8d8d58ffffff         | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 0xa8]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8945c4               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x3c], eax
            //   8b4dc4               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x3c]
            //   894dc0               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x40], ecx

        $sequence_5 = { 52 e8???????? 83c40c 8b4510 2b45f4 50 }
            // n = 6, score = 400
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c40c               | add                 esp, 0xc
            //   8b4510               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp + 0x10]
            //   2b45f4               | sub                 eax, dword ptr [ebp - 0xc]
            //   50                   | push                eax

        $sequence_6 = { 894db8 8b4db8 e8???????? c745fc00000000 8d4dd8 }
            // n = 5, score = 400
            //   894db8               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x48], ecx
            //   8b4db8               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x48]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   c745fc00000000       | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 4], 0
            //   8d4dd8               | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 0x28]

        $sequence_7 = { e8???????? 83c404 8945d0 837dd000 7464 8b4d0c 51 }
            // n = 7, score = 400
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c404               | add                 esp, 4
            //   8945d0               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x30], eax
            //   837dd000             | cmp                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x30], 0
            //   7464                 | je                  0x66
            //   8b4d0c               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 0xc]
            //   51                   | push                ecx

        $sequence_8 = { 8b5514 52 e8???????? 83c404 50 8b4510 }
            // n = 6, score = 400
            //   8b5514               | mov                 edx, dword ptr [ebp + 0x14]
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c404               | add                 esp, 4
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   8b4510               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp + 0x10]

        $sequence_9 = { c785d0fdffff00000000 68???????? 8b95d0fdffff 52 8b8ddcfdffff e8???????? }
            // n = 6, score = 400
            //   c785d0fdffff00000000     | mov    dword ptr [ebp - 0x230], 0
            //   68????????           |                     
            //   8b95d0fdffff         | mov                 edx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x230]
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   8b8ddcfdffff         | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x224]
            //   e8????????           |                     

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 1433600
}
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