Free Tool Enables Recovery of Files Encrypted by ThiefQuest Mac Malware
martyb writes:
Free Tool Enables Recovery of Files Encrypted by ThiefQuest Mac Malware:
Researchers at endpoint security company SentinelOne have created a tool that enables users to recover files encrypted by the Mac malware named ThiefQuest, which poses as ransomware.
ThiefQuest, initially named EvilQuest, is designed to encrypt files on compromised systems, but also allows its operators to log keystrokes, steal files, and take full control of the infected device.
[...] ThiefQuest is delivered as trojanized installers for macOS applications such as the Ableton and Mixed in Key DJ apps and the Little Snitch firewall. Once the malware has been installed, it starts encrypting files found on the device, after which it informs victims, via text files and a modal window, that their files have been encrypted and a $50 ransom needs to be paid in bitcoin to recover them.
[...] Furthermore, Apple security expert Patrick Wardle noticed that the decryption routine is not called anywhere in the malware code, which indicates that it never gets executed. Malwarebytes researchers pointed out that the malware doesn't always encrypt files, even if it claims it has done so, which further indicates that the ransomware capabilities are just a distraction.
For Mac users whose files have been encrypted by the malware, SentinelOne has released a free decryption tool. The company's researchers analyzed ThiefQuest and noticed that its developer left the decryption function in the malware code. Once they were able to recover the key needed to decrypt the files, they used the malware's own decryption function to restore encrypted files.
[...] Wardle's analysis of the threat revealed that it also looks for executable files and adds malicious code to those files. This would allow it to spread like a virus, which is highly uncommon for Mac malware.
Previously:
(2020-07-05) New Mac Ransomware is Even More Sinister than it Appears
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