{
  "family": "urausy",
  "sample_count": 1,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Ransom:Win32/Urausy (also known as a 'Police Trojan') represents a massive, historical wave of screen-locking ransomware. Unlike modern crypto-ransomware that encrypts files, Urausy locks the user's desktop interface entirely (`T1486`) and displays a localized, highly realistic warning purportedly from a local law enforcement agency (like the FBI, Interpol, or local police). The warning claims the user was caught viewing illegal content and must pay a 'fine' (usually via pre-paid cards like Ukash or Paysafecard) to unlock the machine.<br><br><b>Understanding Urausy (Screen-Locking Ransomware)</b><br>To an end-user, the computer is completely unusable; upon boot, they are immediately presented with a full-screen police warning that cannot be closed. For a SOC analyst, Urausy is a legacy threat that highlights the evolution of ransomware from psychological extortion (scareware) to actual cryptographic damage.<br><br><b>Execution and Extortion Mechanics</b><br>Urausy was primarily distributed via exploit kits (like Blackhole or Fiesta) (`T1189`) injected into compromised websites. Upon successful exploitation, the payload is dropped and executes. It achieves persistence by replacing the default Windows shell (typically `explorer.exe`) in the registry (`HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell`) with its own executable (`T1547.004`). It actively monitors for and terminates task manager processes (`taskmgr.exe`) to prevent the user from killing the locker (`T1562.001`). Crucially, Urausy uses geolocation (via the victim's IP address) to display a customized ransom note in the correct language, featuring the logos of local law enforcement.<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is a total denial of access to the desktop environment, though the underlying files are *not* encrypted. Host-based IoCs include the modification of the Winlogon Shell registry key, the presence of the malicious executable in the `%AppData%` directory, and the inability to launch `taskmgr.exe`. Network IoCs involve initial connections to known exploit kit landing pages.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Urausy and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Urausy 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 Urausy establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Urausy 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 Urausy compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Urausy 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 Urausy employ during execution?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Urausy 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 Urausy, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Decryption availability for Urausy 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",
    "T1547.004",
    "T1562.001"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1486",
      "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact (Used here as a generic mapping for Ransomware, though Urausy primarily locks the screen rather than encrypting)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1547.004",
      "name": "Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Winlogon Helper DLL (Hijacking the shell to lock the screen upon boot)",
      "tactic": "Persistence"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1562.001",
      "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (Terminating Task Manager)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Boot the infected machine into Safe Mode with Command Prompt; this often bypasses the Winlogon Shell hijack.",
    "From the command prompt, launch `regedit.exe` and restore the `HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell` key back to `explorer.exe`.",
    "Locate and delete the malicious Urausy executable (often located in `%AppData%` or `%Temp%`).",
    "After rebooting normally, run a full AV scan to remove any secondary droppers that arrived with the exploit kit."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not format the drive or restore from backup immediately; unlike crypto-ransomware, Urausy infections can usually be removed without any data loss.",
    "Avoid paying the 'fine'; it goes directly to cybercriminals, not law enforcement."
  ],
  "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"
  ]
}