“The Avos Locker attackers were not only rebooting the machines into Safe Mode for the final stages of the attack They also modified the Safe Mode boot configuration so they could install and use the commercial IT management tool AnyDesk while the Windows computers were still running in Safe Mode. The Sophos Rapid Response team has so far seen AvosLocker attacks in the Americas, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, targeting Windows and Linux systems.Īlso Read: The Rise In Automation In The Middle East
Windows Safe Mode is an IT support method for resolving IT issues that disables most security and IT administration tools, while AnyDesk provides continuous remote access.ĪvosLocker is a relatively new ransomware-as-a service that first appeared in late June 2021 and is growing in popularity, according to Sophos. Sophos’ research explains how attackers attempt to bypass security controls by using a combination of Windows Safe Mode and the AnyDesk remote administration tool.
The reason for this is that many, if not most, endpoint security products do not run in Safe Mode - a special diagnostic configuration in which Windows disables most third-party drivers and software, and can render otherwise protected machines unsafe. The report explains how Sophos Rapid Response discovered that the attackers had booted their target computers into Safe Mode to execute the ransomware, as the operators of the now-defunct Snatch, REvil, and BlackMatter ransomware families had done in attacks we’ve documented here. Sophos, a leader in next-generation cybersecurity, released new research about AvosLocker ransomware in the article, AvosLocker Remotely Accesses Boxes, Even Running in Safe Mode.
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