Emerging Yurei Ransomware Claims First Victims
Summary
Yurei is a recently observed ransomware operator that has already leaked stolen data from several victims, including Sri Lanka’s MidCity Marketing, and additional targets in India and Nigeria. Researchers at Check Point say Yurei uses a lightly modified variant of the open-source Prince-Ransomware (written in Go), which lowers the barrier to entry for cybercriminals. Crucially, the Yurei build fails to remove Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) snapshots, a flaw that lets organisations partially recover encrypted files without paying a ransom. Despite that recovery avenue, the group continues to use public data-leak threats to extort payments.
Author’s take: This is a sharp example of how readily available ransomware code can be weaponised by less-experienced actors — sometimes with sloppy mistakes that defenders can exploit. But don’t be complacent: the extortion angle (data leaks) still creates real pressure to pay.
Key Points
- Yurei first appeared on 5 Sept and has publicly posted victims and leaked data to pressure payments.
- The group repurposes Prince-Ransomware (an open-source Go binary), demonstrating how open-source malware lowers the skill barrier.
- A major flaw: Yurei does not delete Windows VSS shadow copies, allowing partial file recovery if snapshots are enabled.
- Despite recoverability, the primary extortion tactic is data theft and threatened public disclosure — meaning operational recovery alone may not prevent payment.
- Defensive recommendations include enabling and preserving VSS snapshots, regular backups, and using the IoCs published by Check Point to detect compromise.
Context and Relevance
Yurei illustrates two ongoing trends: (1) malware authors increasingly use Go for cross-platform builds and to evade some AV detections, and (2) open-source ransomware projects accelerate the rise of lower-skill actors. For sectors with sensitive supply chains — the article specifically cites potential impacts on food supply chains — the reputational and operational harm from data leaks can be as damaging as encryption.
For security teams, the story is a useful reminder to validate backup and snapshot policies, review incident response playbooks for double-extortion scenarios, and scan for the IoCs released by Check Point to spot early compromises.
Why should I read this?
Quick and practical: if you look after backups, incident response, or data protection, this one matters. It flags a recoverable flaw defenders can exploit right now (VSS snapshots), explains how easy it is for novice gangs to start extorting victims using open-source code, and underlines why you still need plans for data-leak extortion — not just file recovery.