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Ransomware victim Public Sector

The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency

Listed by Ransomhub on · organisation based in Afghanistan

nepa.gov.af/dfr.gov.af

Disclosed
May 4, 2024
Leak-site listing date
Threat group
Ransomhub
842 victims listed
Country
Afghanistan
#144 most targeted
Sector
Public Sector

ThreatAI analysis

Compiled from this incident record and the threat intelligence profile for Ransomhub. Figures and technique mappings are quoted from the source data, not inferred.

About the Ransomhub group

The group emerged in mid-February 2024 and has already listed several organizations as alleged victims of their attacks, resulting from extortion through encryption and data leaks. The announcement of the sale of the new Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) by RansomHub was published on one of the Russian-origin forums used by cybercrime to advertise malicious services, known as RAMP4U (or RAMP). A user with the nickname and persona of 'koley' announced the affiliate program on February 2, 2024. In the new RaaS announcement, it was mentioned that the money laundering operation of the paid ransoms is the responsibility of the affiliate. This means that all communication and sending of the decryptor to the victim are done through chat. The split of this RaaS would be 90% of the value for the affiliate and 10% for the developer, who in this case would be the persona of Koley. Furthermore, accordi Ransomhub has listed 842 victims since March 2023.

How Ransomhub is documented to operate

Valid Accounts T1078 Stealth Persistence

Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Compromised credentials may be used to bypass access controls placed on various resources on systems within the network and may even be used for persistent access to remote systems and externally available services, such as VPNs, Outlook Web Access, network devices, and remote desktop. Compromised credentials may also grant an adversary increased privilege to specific systems or access to restricted areas of the network.

Mitigations: Application Developer Guidance, User Training, Password Policies, User Account Management, Privileged Account Management, Multi-factor Authentication

MITRE ATT&CK reference
Exploit Public-Facing Application T1190 Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network. The weakness in the system can be a software bug, a temporary glitch, or a misconfiguration. Exploited applications are often websites/web servers, but can also include databases (like SQL), standard services (like SMB or SSH), network device administration and management protocols (like SNMP and Smart Install), and any other system with Internet-accessible open sockets. On ESXi infrastructure, adversaries may exploit exposed OpenSLP services; they may alternatively exploit exposed VMware vCenter servers.

Mitigations: Vulnerability Scanning, Limit Access to Resource Over Network, Filter Network Traffic, Network Segmentation, Privileged Account Management, Application Isolation and Sandboxing

MITRE ATT&CK reference
Windows Management Instrumentation T1047 Execution

Adversaries may abuse Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to execute malicious commands and payloads. WMI is designed for programmers and is the infrastructure for management data and operations on Windows systems. WMI is an administration feature that provides a uniform environment to access Windows system components. The WMI service enables both local and remote access, though the latter is facilitated by Remote Services such as Distributed Component Object Model and Windows Remote Management. Remote WMI over DCOM operates using port 135, whereas WMI over WinRM operates over port 5985 when using HTTP and 5986 for HTTPS.

Mitigations: Execution Prevention, Behavior Prevention on Endpoint, User Account Management, Privileged Account Management

MITRE ATT&CK reference

MITRE ATT&CK techniques attributed to Ransomhub across its recorded activity, not a finding about how The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency was reached.

Vulnerabilities Ransomhub is recorded exploiting

6 of these 6 are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, 6 of them recorded by CISA as used in ransomware campaigns. CVEs attributed to Ransomhub across its reported activity. There is no indication that any of these was involved in the The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency incident — the source data does not record an entry point.

Incident analysis

The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency was listed by Ransomhub ransomware, a group with 842 victims recorded in this database. The listing appeared on the group's leak site on May 4, 2024.

The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency is based in Afghanistan and operates in the Public Sector sector. Afghanistan ranks #144 worldwide for ransomware disclosures, with 3 victims in this database.

Sector context. Organisations in this sector hold valuable data and operational systems that ransomware groups seek to exploit for financial gain through encryption and data exfiltration.

Ransomhub typically follows a double extortion model: data is exfiltrated from the victim's systems before files are encrypted, so the victim faces two demands at once — pay to restore access, and pay to keep stolen data unpublished. The leak site, where this listing appeared, is the lever for the second demand.

Source. Public leak-site disclosures aggregated via the ransomware.live API. The disclosure date is when the listing was published, which can differ from the date of compromise. This site does not publish or link to stolen data. Last updated .

Frequently asked questions

Was The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency attacked by ransomware?

Yes. The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency was listed as a victim of the Ransomhub ransomware group on May 4, 2024. The organisation is based in Afghanistan and operates in the Public Sector sector. The disclosure appeared on the group's dark web leak site.

Which ransomware group attacked The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency?

The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency was attacked by Ransomhub ransomware. Ransomhub is one of the most active ransomware groups, having claimed 842 victims globally. The group typically employs a double-extortion model: encrypting the victim's files and threatening to publish stolen data.

When did the The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency ransomware attack occur?

The ransomware attack on The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency was disclosed on May 4, 2024. This date reflects when the victim was published on the threat group's leak site, which may differ from the actual date of initial compromise.

What data was stolen in the The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency ransomware attack?

The specific data stolen from The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency has not been independently verified by this platform. Ransomware groups typically exfiltrate data before encrypting systems and use the threat of publication to pressure victims. As a Public Sector organisation, The Islamic Emirat of Afghanistan National Environmental Protection Agency likely held sensitive business data, client information, and operational records.

How can organisations protect against Ransomhub attacks?

To defend against Ransomhub and similar threat actors, organisations should: maintain regular offline backups tested for restoration; implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement; deploy multi-factor authentication on all remote access; use endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools; conduct regular phishing and security awareness training; and monitor threat intelligence feeds for indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with active groups.