Updated Guidance on Play Ransomware

CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, and the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre ASD’s ACSC have issued an updated advisory on Play ransomware, also known as Playcrypt. This advisory highlights new tactics, techniques, and procedures used by the Play...

Play Ransomware Exploited Windows CVE-2025-29824 as Zero-Day to Breach U.S. Organization

Threat actors with links to the Play ransomware family exploited a recently patched security flaw in Microsoft Windows as a zero-day as part of an attack targeting an unnamed organization in the United States. The attack, per the Symantec Threat Hunter Team, part of Broadcom, leveraged...

North Korean Hackers Team Up with Play Ransomware in Global Attack

State-Sponsored Espionage Meets Ransomware!...

How Trend Micro Managed Detection and Response Pressed Pause on a Play Ransomware Attack

Using the Trend Micro Vision One platform, our MDR team was able to quickly identify and contain a Play ransomware intrusion attempt...

New Linux Variant of Play Ransomware Targeting VMware ESXi Systems

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Linux variant of a ransomware strain known as Play aka Balloonfly and PlayCrypt that's designed to target VMware ESXi environments. "This development suggests that the group could be broadening its attacks across the Linux platform, leading to an...

FBI issues advisory over Play ransomware

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, and the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre ACSC have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA about Play ransomware. According to the FBI, Play made around 300 victims...

Play Ransomware A Global Threat Impacting Businesses

Summary: The Play ransomware group, active since June 2022, employs a double-extortion model, impacting businesses globally. Utilizing legitimate tools for malicious activities, the group has affected approximately 300 entities. Threat Level - Red | Attack Report For a detailed threat advisory,...

Double-Extortion Play Ransomware Strikes 300 Organizations Worldwide

The threat actors behind the Play ransomware are estimated to have impacted approximately 300 entities as of October 2023, according to a new joint cybersecurity advisory from Australia and the U.S. "Play ransomware actors employ a double-extortion model, encrypting systems after exfiltrating dat...

FBI, CISA, and ASD’s ACSC Release Advisory on Play Ransomware

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA, and the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre ASD's ACSC released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA, StopRansomware: Play Ransomware, to disseminate Play ransomware...

Play Ransomware Goes Commercial - Now Offered as a Service to Cybercriminals

The ransomware strain known as Play is now being offered to other threat actors "as a service," new evidence unearthed by Adlumin has revealed. "The unusual lack of even small variations between attacks suggests that they are being carried out by affiliates who have purchased the...

Play ransomware gang compromises Spanish bank, threatens to leak files

Ransomware is creating additional work for a major Spanish bank. Globalcaja, said to have more than 300 offices in Spain and close to half a million customers, has fallen victim to the Play ransomware gang. The gang claim to have swiped both private and personal information in the attack--includi...

Babuk Source Code Sparks 9 Different Ransomware Strains Targeting VMware ESXi Systems

Multiple threat actors have capitalized on the leak of Babuk aka Babak or Babyk ransomware code in September 2021 to build as many as nine different ransomware families capable of targeting VMware ESXi systems. "These variants emerged through H2 2022 and H1 2023, which shows an increasing trend o...

Ransomware Hackers Using AuKill Tool to Disable EDR Software Using BYOVD Attack

Threat actors are employing a previously undocumented "defense evasion tool" dubbed AuKill that's designed to disable endpoint detection and response EDR software by means of a Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver BYOVD attack. "The AuKill tool abuses an outdated version of the driver used by version...

A week in security (March 6 - 12)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: 8 cybersecurity tips to keep you safe when travelling National Cybersecurity Strategy Document: What you need to know Intel CPU vulnerabilities fixed. But should you update? Warning issued over Royal ransomware Play ransomware gang leaks City of Oakland data...

Rackspace Confirms Play Ransomware Gang Responsible for Recent Breach

Cloud services provider Rackspace on Thursday confirmed that the ransomware gang known as Play was responsible for last month's breach. The security incident, which took place on December 2, 2022, leveraged a previously unknown security exploit to gain initial access to the Rackspace Hosted...

Ransomware Hackers Using New Way to Bypass MS Exchange ProxyNotShell Mitigations

Threat actors affiliated with a ransomware strain known as Play are leveraging a never-before-seen exploit chain that bypasses blocking rules for ProxyNotShell flaws in Microsoft Exchange Server to achieve remote code execution RCE through Outlook Web Access OWA. "The new exploit method bypasses...