Trend Micro has recently revealed details of the new type of ransomware, apparently targeting the APIs ‘Everything’ search tool to attack English and Russian-speaking Windows users. 

The malware was discovered by the security firm researchers in June 2022 and was named ‘Mimic.’ According to the researchers, the malware has been “deleting shadow copies, terminating multiple applications and services, and abusing Everything32.dll functions to query target files that are to be encrypted.” 

The researchers also found that some of the code in Mimic shared similarities with the infamous Conti ransomware, which was leaked in early 2022 following a number of high-profile incidents. 

Mimic Attacks 

Mimic ransomware attack begin with targeted victims receiving executable, most likely via an email, that retrieves four files from the target system, including the main payload, ancillary files, and tools to disable Windows Defender. 

The researchers’ findings reveal that the ransomware attack largely constituted legitimate files, of which one file contains the malicious payloads. Mimic is a sophisticated strain of ransomware that may use command-line options to target specific files and multiple processor threads to encrypt data more rapidly. 

According to Trend Micro, this combination of several active threads and the way it abuses Everything's APIs enable it to operate with minimum resource consumption, leading to a more effective execution and attack. 

What Could be the Solution? 

One of the best measures advised to the companies is by implementing a multilayered approach, which will provide the most efficient security, including data protection, backup and recovery measures. 

Utilizing a range of software that are designed to prevent, mitigate and combat the attacks on personal and business computers will add another layer of protection to the systems. 

Moreover, conducting regular vulnerability assessment and patching those vulnerabilities in the systems as soon as security updates become available will additionally aid in combating potential ransomware attack.