{
  "family": "crysis",
  "sample_count": 24,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Ransomware:Win32/Crysis (also widely known as Dharma) is a highly prolific, long-running Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) family. It is infamous for its aggressive targeting of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) through the brute-forcing of Internet-exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) services.<br><br><b>Understanding Crysis (Dharma)</b><br>To the victim organization, a Crysis infection is devastating. Critical servers and workstations are rapidly encrypted, with filenames appended with extensions like `.dharma`, `.wallet`, or `.crysis`, along with an attacker email address. For incident responders, Crysis represents a failure in network perimeter security. Unlike ransomware distributed via complex exploit kits or phishing, Crysis operators rely heavily on simple, manual network penetration techniques to gain interactive access to the victim's network before deploying the payload.<br><br><b>Execution, RDP Brute-forcing, and Encryption</b><br>The primary initial access vector for Crysis is exploiting poorly secured RDP endpoints (TCP 3389) (`T1133`). Attackers use automated scanners to find open RDP ports and brute-force Administrator credentials (`T1110.001`). Once logged in interactively, the attacker manually disables antivirus using tools like Process Hacker or IObit Uninstaller (`T1562.001`). They then deploy the Crysis payload. The ransomware uses `vssadmin.exe` to delete shadow copies (`T1490`) and utilizes a combination of RSA and AES cryptography to lock the files (`T1486`). It often establishes persistence via Registry Run keys to ensure any new files created after reboot are also encrypted.<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is a total halt of business operations. EDR platforms must alert on the rapid execution of `vssadmin` or the manual disabling of security agents. Network logs will show massive, sustained RDP brute-force attempts leading up to the infection. The presence of encrypted files with an email address embedded in the extension (e.g., `document.txt.id-[ID].[email@domain.com].dharma`) is the definitive IoC.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [],
  "faq_count": 0,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1486",
    "T1110.001",
    "T1490",
    "T1133",
    "T1562.001"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1133",
      "name": "External Remote Services",
      "tactic": "Initial Access"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1110.001",
      "name": "Brute Force: Password Guessing",
      "tactic": "Credential Access"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1486",
      "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1490",
      "name": "Inhibit System Recovery",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1562.001",
      "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Instantly sever the infected endpoint or server from the network by pulling the physical cable; the attacker likely has active, interactive RDP access.",
    "Do not reboot the server if it is actively encrypting; rebooting can destroy cryptographic material in RAM.",
    "Audit firewall rules immediately to identify and close all Internet-facing RDP ports (TCP 3389) to prevent reinfection.",
    "Begin the incident response process to restore the data from secure, offline, and immutable backups."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not pay the ransom. Paying funds the RaaS ecosystem and there is no guarantee the affiliates will provide a working decryption tool.",
    "Avoid restoring from backups onto the same server without first completely wiping it and securing the RDP access vector."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Global / Opportunistic"
  ],
  "motivation": "Opportunistic",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ]
}