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Interlock ransomware has been highlighted as a threat actor that gains initial access through ClickFix-style social engineering and fake CAPTCHA lures rather than relying on a software exploit. The activity described shows operators tricking users into executing malicious actions, then harvesting credentials and moving laterally by abusing identity, access, and configuration weaknesses inside enterprise environments before deploying ransomware.
Reporting on the broader ransomware landscape says the threat remains highly effective at scale, with Recorded Future tracking 13,000 victims and 834 ransomware families or brands over the past two years. The coverage points to Interlock as an example of how modern ransomware operations can bypass defenses focused mainly on CVE patching and compliance checklists, reinforcing CISA-linked guidance that organizations should prioritize mitigation of attack paths, credential abuse, and lateral movement risks alongside traditional vulnerability management.
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A Picus Security analysis published on July 23, 2025 discusses CISA Alert AA25-203A covering Interlock ransomware, its tradecraft, and mitigation considerations. This is the explicit anchored event in the provided references.
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Reporting and research published in mid-January 2026 highlights continued **high ransomware activity** and rapid evolution in initial-access and evasion tradecraft. A Symantec/Carbon Black Threat Hunter Team study cited by *Help Net Security* reports ransomware actors claimed **4,737 attacks in 2025**, with only brief slowdowns after major disruptions; the abrupt April 2025 shutdown of **RansomHub** was followed by affiliates quickly shifting to other operations, while **LockBit** failed to recover after late-2024 law-enforcement action. The same reporting notes a broader shift toward **extortion models that don’t rely on encryption**, emphasizing data theft and coercion as groups diversify pressure tactics. Multiple technical reports describe how attackers are improving delivery and resilience. *BleepingComputer* says **Gootloader** now uses heavily malformed ZIP files—concatenating **500–1,000** ZIP archives and manipulating ZIP structures (e.g., truncated `EOCD`)—to crash or defeat common analysis tools while still extracting via Windows’ default utility, supporting its role as an initial-access vector often preceding ransomware. *The Register* reports **DeadLock** ransomware uses **Polygon smart contracts** to frequently rotate proxy infrastructure for victim communications (via an HTML wrapper pointing victims to the *Session* messenger), complicating blocking and takedown efforts; Group-IB notes DeadLock also departs from typical double-extortion by lacking a public data-leak site and instead threatening underground data sales. Separately, Microsoft-observed phishing described by *KnowBe4* shows threat actors exploiting **email routing/spoofing misconfigurations** to make phishing appear internal (often leveraging **Tycoon2FA**), while ReliaQuest’s trend report and a separate write-up on **CastleLoader** describe human-driven initial access (spearphishing/drive-by) and social-engineering lures such as **ClickFix** being used to stage loaders and follow-on payloads—underscoring that access-broker and loader ecosystems continue to feed ransomware and broader intrusion activity.
Jun 29, 2026
Researchers reported continued expansion of **ClickFix** as an initial-access technique, with attackers using fake CAPTCHA or verification pages to trick users into executing clipboard-delivered commands on Windows systems. In one campaign, **LeakNet** shifted away from relying on initial access brokers and instead used compromised legitimate websites hosting fake Cloudflare Turnstile checks to broaden victim acquisition and reduce network-based detection. ReliaQuest linked the activity to LeakNet through overlapping infrastructure and consistent TTPs, and noted the group paired ClickFix with a stealthy, memory-resident loader built on the **Deno** JavaScript runtime to support ransomware operations. A separate ClickFix campaign analyzed by Atos used the same user-executed command pattern to map attacker-controlled network drives with `net use`, then download a trojanized but legitimately signed *WorkFlowy* application whose modified `asar` archive executed malicious code in the **Node.js** main process with the logged-in user’s privileges. Other reporting on **Hive0163** also identified ClickFix as one of several initial-access methods used in **Interlock** ransomware intrusions, although that article focused primarily on the group’s likely AI-generated **Slopoly** malware rather than a specific ClickFix incident. Reporting on **Operation Covert Access** in Argentina’s judicial sector was unrelated, describing spear-phishing with fake court documents to deliver **COVERT RAT** via a different intrusion chain.
Jun 29, 2026
Fortinet/FortiGuard Labs reported that the **Interlock** ransomware group—described as a smaller, non-**RaaS** operation—ran a months-long intrusion campaign primarily targeting the **education sector** in the US and UK. Initial access was observed via **MintLoader**, including “ClickFix” social-engineering lures, followed by post-compromise activity using a JavaScript implant referred to as **NodeSnakeRAT**, lateral movement with valid accounts and living-off-the-land techniques, and broad discovery prior to impact. The operation follows a **double-extortion** pattern, with data exfiltration (including use of `AZcopy`) preceding ransomware deployment, and has been observed impacting both Windows endpoints and **Nutanix** hypervisor environments. A key technical finding is Interlock’s use of a **Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD)** technique to neutralize endpoint defenses. Researchers identified a custom tool dubbed **“Hotta Killer”** (associated with `polers.dll`) that drops a kernel driver `UpdateCheckerX64.sys`, described as a renamed vulnerable anti-cheat driver (`GameDriverx64.sys`, **CVE-2025-61155**). Because the driver is legitimate and digitally signed, it can pass initial trust checks; once loaded, it is abused for kernel-level process termination to **kill EDR/AV processes**, with reporting noting targeting of **Fortinet** security tooling specifically, enabling subsequent ransomware execution with reduced detection and response capability.
Jun 29, 2026