WastedLocker definition
WastedLocker is a ransomware program that started hitting businesses and other organizations in May 2020 and is known for its high ransom demands reaching millions of dollars per victim. It is the creation of a group of highly skilled cybercriminals that have been operating for over a decade despite being criminally indicted in the US.
Evil Corp and the Dridex botnet
The group behind WastedLocker calls itself as Evil Corp and some of the individuals associated with it have a long history in the cybercrime world. The group is best known for operating the Dridex malware and botnet since 2011 but has also been responsible for creating and distributing ransomware programs over the years.
Dridex, also known as Cridex or Bugat, started out as a Trojan program designed to steal online banking credentials from victims by injecting fake login pages into their browsers. In December 2019, the US Department of Justice indicted two Russian nationals named Maksim Yakubets and Igor Turashev for creating and operating the Dridex malware together with other individuals.