{ "id": "3ff973e9-5568-4857-ae71-78716aeec161", "created_at": "2026-04-06T01:32:01.331073Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:13:08.349127Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "015c5194ed85cf7866e825f1adf5894bc2cfd10c", "title": "Diavol ransomware sample shows stronger connection to TrickBot gang", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 1655223, "plain_text": "Diavol ransomware sample shows stronger connection to TrickBot gang\r\nBy Ionut Ilascu\r\nPublished: 2021-08-18 · Archived: 2026-04-06 00:25:41 UTC\r\nA new analysis of a Diavol ransomware sample shows a more clear connection with the gang behind the TrickBot botnet and\r\nthe evolution of the malware.\r\nThe recent research is the second one that finds common ground in the code of the two threats, tying them to the same actor.\r\nEarly sample comes with hints\r\nPrevious analysis of Diavol (Romanian for Devil) ransomware from Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs revealed a set of similarities\r\nwith the TrickBot malware as well as differences that prevented high-confidence attribution of the code.\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/\r\nPage 1 of 4\n\n0:00\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/\r\nPage 2 of 4\n\nVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE\r\nFortinet’s assessment at the beginning of July noted that both Diavol and Conti - a ransomware family strongly connected\r\nwith TrickBot - used the same command-line parameters for a variety of tasks (logging, encryption, scanning).\r\nA report from the IBM X-Force threat analysts Charlotte Hammond and Chris Caridi provides clues pointing to a stronger\r\nconnection between Diavol ransomware and the TrickBot gang.\r\nUnlike the sample analyzed by Fortinet, which was a newer, “fully functional and weaponized piece of ransomware,” the\r\none that IBM examined is an older variant closer to a development version used for testing purposes.\r\nThe incomplete state of the malware contained the signs that allowed the researchers to reach a more reliable conclusion.\r\nIBM X-Force looked at a sample submitted to Virus Total on January 27, 2021, with a reported compilation date of March 5,\r\n2020. By comparison, the compilation date for the version in Fortinet’s analysis is April 30, 2021.\r\nThe researchers noticed that Diavol ransomware collected basic information from the infected system and generated a\r\nSystem or Bot ID that help the attacker track multiple intrusions from affiliates in the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS)\r\noperation.\r\nDiavol ransomware’s Bot ID format includes the hostname, username, and Windows version of the compromised system,\r\nand a global unique identifier (GUID). The format is “almost identical” to the one generated by TrickBot malware, the\r\nanalysts note.\r\n[hostname]-[username]_W[windows _version].[guid]\r\nA very similar Bot ID pattern has been seen with Anchor DNS, another piece of malware attributed to the TrickBot gang, the\r\nresearchers say in their report.\r\nThe victim IDs are important for malware operators because they can track the success of various campaigns and let\r\naffiliates know about it.\r\n“This is why these specific formatting and naming conventions could potentially point to the group responsible for the initial\r\ndeployment” - IBM X-Force\r\nThe researchers also note that the HTTP headers for the command and control (C2) server communication were “set to\r\nprefer Russian language content,” also favored by TrickBot operators.\r\nAnother clue pointing to the Russian threat actors is code for checking the language on the compromised system to filter out\r\nvictims in Russia or the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region.\r\nWhile Fortinet did not find this language check code in the Diavol ransomware sample they analyzed, IBM says that they\r\nfound indications in the development version that such code “may have been present or intended to be developed, even if it\r\nwas not activated in the compiled samples.”\r\n“A list of four-character hexadecimal strings was identified in the development sample. These strings are unused within the\r\ncompiled code but were recognized as potentially being language code identifiers, and further analysis confirmed that all are\r\nrelated to Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States languages” - IBM X-Force\r\nGiven the different development stages in the two Diavol ransomware variants and when they were found, it is clear that the\r\nmalware is evolving.\r\nIBM X-Force did not find definitive evidence to tie Diavol ransomware to the TrickBot gang but discovered new signs\r\nsuggesting a connection.\r\nBut between their report and Fortinet’s finding that the malware functions in a very similar way as Conti, the attribution\r\nbalance seems to tilt visibly towards TrickBot.\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/\r\nPage 3 of 4\n\nAutomated Pentesting Covers Only 1 of 6 Surfaces.\r\nAutomated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the\r\nother.\r\nThis whitepaper maps six validation surfaces, shows where coverage ends, and provides practitioners with three diagnostic\r\nquestions for any tool evaluation.\r\nSource: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/\r\nPage 4 of 4", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "Malpedia" ], "origins": [ "web" ], "references": [ "https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang/" ], "report_names": [ "diavol-ransomware-sample-shows-stronger-connection-to-trickbot-gang" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775439121, "ts_updated_at": 1775826788, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/015c5194ed85cf7866e825f1adf5894bc2cfd10c.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/015c5194ed85cf7866e825f1adf5894bc2cfd10c.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/015c5194ed85cf7866e825f1adf5894bc2cfd10c.jpg" } }