Gray Hat Hacking The Ethical Hacker's Handbook, Fifth Edition, 5th Edition

CHAPTER 19

Dissecting Ransomware

This chapter dissects a unique family of malware known as ransomware. This malware is able to take control of a system unless a ransom is paid to its creators.

In this chapter, we cover the following topics:

•   History of ransomware

•   Options for paying a ransom

•   Dynamic and static analysis of Ransomlock

•   Decoding in memory

•   Anti-debugging checks

•   Taking control of the Desktop

•   Identifying and analyzing Wannacry encryption

The Beginnings of Ransomware

Ransomware is a unique family of malware that is able to take full control of a machine until a ransom is paid by the victim. In order to increase the chances of getting money, the malicious program will pretend to look like it’s coming from ...