Olympic Destroyer | Malware attacks Winter Olympics | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Malware attack disrupted the Pyongyang Winter Olympics, with characteristics of ransomware; speculation on origin.

Key Insights

• 👊 The malware attack at the Pyongyang Winter Olympics was a targeted disruption rather than a ransomware attack.
• 😥 The origin of the malware attack is uncertain, with speculation pointing to Russia.
• 🐕‍🦺 The malware had modules for stealing system credentials, deleting shadows, and disabling system services.
• 🤯 Specific admin-related strings suggest the malware attack was aimed at the Olympics site.
• 💱 The malware created and executed multiple processes with changing names to avoid detection.
• 🤯 The malware deployed VSS admin to delete shadows and carried out various tasks.
• 😀 The malware stored its different modules in the users' app data local temp directory.

Transcript

hello and welcome to the PC security Channel as you all probably know the Pyongyang Winter Olympics was kind of disrupted by malware today we're gonna talk about that briefly and take a look at the malware sample involved the reason why this malware is kind of interesting is because it bears a lot of characteristics of typical ransomware which puts... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What was the purpose of the malware attack at the Pyongyang Winter Olympics?

The malware attack was meant to disrupt the events and cause trouble rather than demanding a ransom. It had modules for stealing system credentials, deleting shadows, and disabling system services.

Q: Is the malware attack believed to originate from Russia?

It is not clear whether the malware attack was conducted by the Russian government or random individuals in Russia. Speculation remains on the origin of the attack.

Q: What were the key characteristics of the malware attack?

The malware attack showed characteristics of ransomware, but it did not display any ransom messages. It was designed for effect rather than show, with specific strings related to the Olympics site administration.

Q: How did the malware execute its operations?

The malware created and executed multiple processes, with changing names to avoid detection. It used VSS admin to delete shadows and performed various tasks in a specific order.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The malware attack at the Pyongyang Winter Olympics was not a typical ransomware attack, but rather a targeted disruption with destructive modules that deleted shadows and disabled certain system services.

• The malware showed characteristics of ransomware but did not involve a ransom, leading to speculation on whether it originated from the Russian government or random individuals in Russia.

• The malware had specific admin-related strings suggesting it was aimed at the Olympics site, causing it to go down.