{
  "family": "paradise",
  "sample_count": 4,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Ransom:Win32/Paradise is a prolific crypto-ransomware family operating under a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model. It allows affiliates to distribute the malware while the core developers maintain the payment portals and decryption infrastructure. It is characterized by appending the `.paradise` (or similar variations) extension to encrypted files and dropping an HTML ransom note.<br><br><b>Understanding Paradise (Ransomware-as-a-Service)</b><br>To an end-user, Paradise represents a catastrophic loss of access to all personal and business files. For an enterprise, an infection often indicates a broader failure in email filtering (as it is heavily distributed via malspam) or a failure to secure remote access points. Because it operates as a RaaS, the initial access techniques can vary wildly depending on which affiliate is conducting the attack.<br><br><b>Execution and Extortion Mechanics</b><br>Paradise is frequently delivered via spear-phishing campaigns containing malicious IQY (Internet Query) files, macros, or `.js` scripts that download the payload (`T1566.001`). Upon execution, Paradise often attempts to disable antivirus software and services related to SQL databases or Exchange servers to ensure those files are unlocked for encryption (`T1489`). It achieves persistence via Registry Run keys (`T1547.001`). Before encrypting, it executes commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies (`vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet`) (`T1490`). It uses strong encryption (often RSA-1024 or Salsa20) (`T1486`), iterating through local drives and network shares, explicitly targeting high-value data files while avoiding critical Windows system files to keep the OS bootable so the victim can view the ransom note.<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is severe data encryption and operational downtime. Host-based IoCs include files renamed with the `__{ID}_{Email}.paradise` format, EDR alerts for `vssadmin.exe` execution, and the sudden termination of database processes. The presence of the ransom note (often `Instructions with your files.txt` or `.html`) on the desktop is a definitive indicator.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Paradise and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Paradise 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 Paradise establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Paradise 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 Paradise compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Paradise 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 Paradise employ during execution?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Paradise 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 Paradise, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Decryption availability for Paradise 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",
    "T1489",
    "T1490",
    "T1566.001"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1486",
      "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1490",
      "name": "Inhibit System Recovery (Deleting Shadow Copies)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1489",
      "name": "Service Stop (Stopping databases to encrypt them)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1566.001",
      "name": "Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment",
      "tactic": "Initial Access"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Immediately sever the network connection of the infected endpoint to prevent the ransomware from traversing SMB shares and encrypting network drives.",
    "Identify the initial delivery vector (e.g., a specific phishing email) and purge similar emails from all corporate inboxes.",
    "Do NOT reboot the infected machine if possible; capture a live memory image (RAM dump). Some older variants of Paradise had cryptographic flaws where keys could be recovered.",
    "Initiate recovery procedures from isolated, offline backups."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not pay the ransom without exhausting all other options; funding RaaS operations encourages further attacks, and affiliates often fail to provide working decryptors.",
    "Avoid reconnecting restored servers to the network until the initial vulnerability (e.g., lack of MFA on RDP or poor email filtering) is resolved."
  ],
  "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,
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows Server 2022",
    "Windows Server 2019"
  ]
}