10. Maze Ransomware Was Discovered In May 2019
Maze ransomware was discovered on May 29, 2019, by Malwarebytes security researcher Jerome Segura. Previously known as ChaCha ransomware, Segura discovered that Maze was being distributed by the Fallout exploit kit through a fake site pretending to be a cryptocurrency exchange app, according to BleepingComputer.
The adversaries created a fake Abra cryptocurrency site in order to buy traffic from ad networks, Segura told BleepingComputer in May 2019. Visitors to the cryptocurrency site would then be redirected to the exploit kit landing page under certain conditions, according to BleepingComputer.
Maze ransomware utilizes RSA and ChaCha20 encryption as part of the process, and upon execution, the ransomware scans for files to encrypt and appends different extensions to the files, according to BleepingComputer. The creators of Maze ransomware said the ransom amount would be different depending on whether the victim is a home computer, server or workstation, BleepingComputer said.
