MortalKombat ransomware victims can now decrypt their locked files for free

Cyber security company Bitdefender has released a universal decryptor for the MortalKombat ransomware – a strain first spotted by cyber researchers in January 2023.

The malware has encrypted dozens of victims across the US, UK, Turkey and the Philippines, according to a recent Cisco report.

Bitdefender did not say how they obtained the decryption keys used to create the tool and noted that they will only know the full scale of the attack campaign once victims start downloading the decryptor.

Both Bitdefender and Cisco researchers found that the similarities in the code indicate that the ransomware belongs to the Xorist family, which they say has been around in various forms since 2010.

The hackers behind MortalKombat usually distribute the ransomware through phishing emails or targeting systems exposed to the Internet.
When executed, the malware changes the desktop wallpaper to a Mortal Kombat theme and produces a ransom note.

A Bitdefender spokesperson noted that the company has released 32 decryptors so far, including decryptors for GandCrab, Darkside and a universal decryptor for REvil.

https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/labs/bitdefender-releases-decryptor-for-mortalkombat-ransomware/