{
	"id": "3ac6d0df-19dc-4c95-b5fd-277d257ceff7",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T00:17:27.009569Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:21:48.027801Z",
	"deleted_at": null,
	"sha1_hash": "f5a3ae2b725f2988f8328a992e11c1d99c282fd2",
	"title": "CryptoFortress mimics TorrentLocker but is a different ransomware",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_size": 768421,
	"plain_text": "CryptoFortress mimics TorrentLocker but is a different\r\nransomware\r\nBy Marc-Etienne M.Léveillé\r\nArchived: 2026-04-02 10:56:00 UTC\r\nRansomware\r\nESET assess the differences between CryptoFortress and TorrentLocker: two very different strains of ransomware.\r\n09 Mar 2015  •  , 1 min. read\r\nLast week, Kafeine published a blog post about a ransomware being distributed by the Nuclear Pack exploit kit.\r\nThis ransomware identify itself as “CryptoFortress”, but the ransom message and payment page both looks like an\r\nalready known ransomware: TorrentLocker.\r\nAfter further analysis, ESET researchers found out is the two threats are in fact very different. It appears the\r\ngroup behind CryptoFortress has stolen the HTML templates with its CSS. The malware code and the\r\nscheme are actually very different. Here is a table summering the similarities and differences:\r\n  TorrentLocker CryptoFortress\r\nPropagation Spam Exploit kit\r\nFile encryption AES-256 CBC AES-256 ECB\r\nHardcoded C\u0026C\r\nserver\r\nYes No\r\nRansom page location Fetched from C\u0026C server Included in malware\r\nPayment page location\r\nOnion-routed (but same server as the hardcoded\r\nC\u0026C)\r\nOnion-routed\r\nAES key encryption RSA-1024 RSA-1024\r\nCryptographic library LibTomCrypt Microsoft CryptoAPI\r\nEncrypted portion of\r\nfiles\r\n2 Mb at beginning of file\r\nFirst 50% of the file, up to 5\r\nMb\r\nPayment Bitcoin (variable amount) 1.0 Bitcoin\r\nhttps://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/\r\nPage 1 of 4\n\nCryptoFortress ransom page\r\nhttps://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/\r\nPage 2 of 4\n\nTorrentLocker ransom page\r\nDifferences in the HTML pages\r\nLast Friday, Renaud Tabary from Lexsi published a complete analysis of the new ransomware. ESET researchers\r\nhave independently analyzed the CryptoFortress samples before Lexsi released the details. The technical details\r\ndescribed in the article matches our findings.\r\nESET Telemetry also shows TorrentLocker campaign is still propagating via spam messages. Both campaign are\r\nnow running in parallel.\r\nReferences\r\nCryptoFortress: Teerac.A (aka TorrentLocker) got a new identity,\r\nhttp://malware.dontneedcoffee.com/2015/03/cryptofortress-teeraca-aka.html\r\nCryptoFortress, http://www.lexsi-leblog.com/cert-en/cryptofortress.html\r\nSample analyzed\r\nCryptoFortress public key\r\n-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\r\nMIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDmeXVlPGxKoOyvZgLUoyDdzPEH\r\n8D6gKlAdZVKmbv2RTjjTAcyOY/40zloPX+iJupuvwO1B/yXlsHZD8y0x/jv7v6ML\r\njHxetmZxUjqv9gLQJE8mJBbU/h0qwc9R7LQwcMapLxvv9O6aMa3Bimjp7bP7WY/9\r\nhttps://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/\r\nPage 3 of 4\n\nfXgr1m/wA6Tz/kxF+wIDAQAB\r\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\r\nLet us keep you\r\nup to date\r\nSign up for our newsletters\r\nSource: https://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/\r\nhttps://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/\r\nPage 4 of 4",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"Malpedia"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://www.welivesecurity.com/2015/03/09/cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware/"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"cryptofortress-mimics-torrentlocker-different-ransomware"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
	"ts_created_at": 1775434647,
	"ts_updated_at": 1775791308,
	"ts_creation_date": 0,
	"ts_modification_date": 0,
	"files": {
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}