{ "family": "lockyc", "sample_count": 1, "category": "ransomware", "description": "

Executive Summary

\nLockyc (often detected as a direct variant or sophisticated copycat of the infamous Locky ransomware) is a highly destructive malware strain engineered for rapid financial extortion. Operating as a Cryptovirus, Lockyc infiltrates Windows systems, utilizes strong, unbreakable encryption algorithms (typically RSA-2048 and AES-128) to lock down the victim's critical data, and demands a ransom payment (usually in Bitcoin) in exchange for the decryption key.\n\n

Infection Vector and Technical Capabilities

\nLockyc is predominantly distributed via massive, automated spam campaigns (often driven by the Necurs botnet). The emails contain malicious attachments, such as `.docm` (Word with macros) or `.js` (JavaScript) files hidden within `.zip` archives. When executed, these scripts download and launch the core ransomware payload.\n\nOnce executed, Lockyc operates with devastating efficiency:\n\n\n

Threat Assessment

\nA Lockyc infection is a catastrophic security incident resulting in immediate, severe operational downtime and massive data loss. Due to the strength of modern encryption, files cannot be recovered without the private key or a viable offline backup.\n\n

Incident Response and Remediation

\n", "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.", "aliases": [ "Ransomware.Lockyc", "Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Locky", "Filecoder.Locky" ], "enrichment_level": "expert-seo", "faq": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is Lockyc and what threat category does it belong to?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Lockyc is classified as a Ransomware. Documented across security telemetry, it is engineered to execute unauthorized operations, establish persistent footholds on target endpoints, and facilitate malicious campaigns targeting enterprise and individual environments." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does Lockyc establish persistence and evade defensive controls?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Lockyc typically establishes persistence through registry run keys, scheduled tasks, or service installations, while evading signature-based antivirus solutions through code obfuscation, memory injection, or anti-analysis sandbox checks." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the essential incident response steps for mitigating a Lockyc compromise?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Security teams responding to Lockyc should immediately isolate affected endpoints from the network, perform memory triage to capture volatile forensic artifacts, audit registry and startup persistence mechanisms, revoke exposed user credentials, and restore systems from verified, clean backups." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What cryptographic algorithms and file targeting techniques does Ransomware.Lockyc employ during execution?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Ransomware.Lockyc typically leverages hybrid cryptographic architectures combining symmetric stream or block ciphers (such as AES-256 or ChaCha20) for rapid file encryption with asymmetric algorithms (such as RSA-2048 or Curve25519) to securely protect the session keys. It aggressively targets sensitive file extensions including corporate documents, databases, virtual disks, and backups while systematically executing commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies (vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet) and disable system recovery options." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are decryptors available for Ransomware.Lockyc, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Decryption availability for Ransomware.Lockyc depends on whether security researchers or law enforcement (such as the No More Ransom initiative) have recovered the master private keys or discovered flaws in its key generation routines. Victims should never pay the extortion demand, as payment fuels criminal operations without guaranteeing file restoration. The recommended recovery procedure entails isolating infected hosts, conducting forensic disk imaging, identifying the root access vector, and restoring validated systems from immutable offline backups." } } ], "faq_count": 5, "mitre_attack": [ "T1486", "T1490", "T1566.001", "T1059", "T1568.002" ], "cisa_advisory": null, "last_updated": "2026-10-15", "type": "Ransomware", "target_industries": [ "Healthcare", "Critical Infrastructure", "Enterprise" ], "motivation": "Financial Extortion", "threat_actors": [ "Unknown / Cybercriminal" ], "target_geographies": [ "Global" ], "attack_stage": [ "defense_evasion", "impact" ], "ecosystem": [ "windows_pe" ], "is_emerging": false, "mitre_attack_detail": [ { "id": "T1486", "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact", "tactic": "Impact" }, { "id": "T1490", "name": "Inhibit System Recovery (Behaviorally blocking the deletion of backups)", "tactic": "Impact" }, { "id": "T1566.001", "name": "Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment", "tactic": "Initial Access" }, { "id": "T1059", "name": "Command and Scripting Interpreter", "tactic": "Execution" }, { "id": "T1568.002", "name": "Dynamic Resolution: Domain Generation Algorithms (DGA) (Evading C2 blacklisting)", "tactic": "Command and Control" } ], "containment_steps": [ "Immediately isolate affected host(s) from the internal network (disconnect physical Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) to prevent Lockyc from spreading laterally or encrypting network-attached storage (NAS) and shared SMB volumes.", "Preserve volatile system memory (RAM capture) on a representative endpoint before attempting a reboot or power-down, as Lockyc symmetric encryption keys or uncompiled payload components may still reside in memory.", "Audit process execution logs and terminate active scripting interpreters (e.g. PowerShell, CMD, WScript) or commands executing 'vssadmin.exe delete shadows' or 'wbadmin' used by Lockyc to inhibit recovery.", "Investigate the initial compromise vector (such as exposed RDP instances, spearphishing attachments, or vulnerable edge gateways) and enforce an immediate credential reset for all compromised Active Directory accounts.", "Restore critical assets and databases exclusively from verified, air-gapped, or immutable offline backups once the Lockyc binary and related persistence hooks are eradicated." ], "what_to_avoid": [ "Do not restart or power cycle infected systems prematurely; doing so destroys volatile RAM encryption keys and may trigger bootloader locking logic embedded in Lockyc.", "Avoid negotiating or paying the extortion demand without prior forensic evaluation and consultation with incident response specialists, as payment does not guarantee data recovery.", "Do not connect clean backup drives or external storage to the affected network until Lockyc eradication is completely verified." ], "target_platforms": [ "Windows 11", "Windows 10", "Windows Server 2022", "Windows Server 2019" ] }