The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday disclosed that ransomware actors are targeting unpatched SimpleHelp Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) instances to compromise customers of an unnamed utility billing software provider.
“This incident reflects a broader pattern of ransomware actors targeting organizations through unpatched versions of SimpleHelp RMM since January 2025,” the agency said in an advisory.
Earlier this year, SimpleHelp disclosed a set of flaws (CVE-2024-57727, CVE-2024-57728, and CVE-2024-57726) that could result in information disclosure, privilege escalation, and remote code execution.
The vulnerabilities have since come under repeated exploitation in the wild, including by ransomware groups like DragonForce, to breach targets of interest. Last month, Sophos revealed that a Managed Service Provider’s SimpleHelp deployed was accessed by the threat actor using these flaws, and then leveraged it to pivot to other downstream customers.
CISA said that SimpleHelp versions 5.5.7 and earlier contain multiple vulnerabilities, including CVE-2024-57727, and that the ransomware crews are exploiting it to access downstream customers’ unpatched SimpleHelp instances for double extortion attacks.
The agency has outlined the below mitigations that organizations, including third-party service providers that make use of SimpleHelp to connect to downstream customers, can implement to better respond to the ransomware activity –
- Identify and isolate SimpleHelp server instances from the internet and update them to the latest version
- Notify downstream customers and instruct them to take actions to secure their endpoints
- Conduct threat hunting actions for indicators of compromise and monitor for unusual inbound and outbound traffic from the SimpleHelp server (for downstream customers)
- Disconnect affected systems from the internet if they have been encrypted by ransomware, reinstall the operating system, and restore data from a clean backup
- Maintain periodic clean, offline backups
- Refrain from exposing remote services such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) on the web
CISA said it does not encourage victims to pay ransoms as there is no guarantee that the decryptor provided by the threat actors will help recover the files.
“Furthermore, payment may also embolden adversaries to target additional organizations, encourage other criminal actors to engage in the distribution of ransomware, and/or fund illicit activities,” CISA added.
Fog Ransomware Attack Deploys Employee Monitoring Software
The development comes as Broadcom-owned Symantec detailed a Fog ransomware attack targeting an unnamed financial institution in Asia with a combination of dual-use and open-source pentesting tools not observed in other ransomware-related intrusions.
Fog is a ransomware variant first detected in May 2024. Like other ransomware operations, the financially motivated crew employs compromised virtual private network (VPN) credentials and system vulnerabilities to gain access to an organization’s network and encrypt data, but not before exfiltrating it.
Alternate infection sequences have employed Windows shortcut (LNK) files contained within ZIP archives, which are then distributed via email and phishing attacks. Executing the LNK file leads to the download of a PowerShell script that’s responsible for dropping a ransomware loader containing the Fog locker payload.
The attacks are also characterized by the use of advanced techniques to escalate privileges and evade detection by deploying malicious code directly in memory and disabling security tools. Fog is capable of targeting both Windows and Linux endpoints.
According to Trend Micro, as of April 2025, the Fog threat actors have claimed 100 victims on its data leak site since the start of the year, with a majority of the victims associated with technology, education, manufacturing, and transportation sectors.
“The attackers used a legitimate employee monitoring software called Syteca (formerly Ekran), which is highly unusual,” Symantec said. “They also deployed several open-source pen-testing tools – GC2, Adaptix, and Stowaway – which are not commonly used during ransomware attacks.”
While the exact initial access vector used in the incident is unknown, the threat actors have been found to use Stowaway, a proxy tool widely used by Chinese hacking groups, to deliver Syteca. It’s worth noting that GC2 has been used in attacks carried out by the Chinese state-sponsored hacking group APT41 in 2023.
Also downloaded were legitimate programs like 7-Zip, Freefilesync, and MegaSync to create compressed data archives for data exfiltration.
Another interesting aspect of the attacks is that the attackers created a service to establish persistence on the network, several days after the ransomware was deployed. The threat actors are said to have spent about two weeks before dropping the ransomware.
“This is an unusual step to see in a ransomware attack, with malicious activity usually ceasing on a network once the attackers have exfiltrated data and deployed the ransomware, but the attackers in this incident appeared to wish to retain access to the victim’s network,” Symantec and Carbon Black researchers said.
The uncommon tactics have raised the possibility that the company may have been targeted for espionage reasons, and that the threat actors deployed the Fog ransomware either as a distraction to mask their true goals or to make some quick money on the side.
LockBit Panel Leak Reveals China Among Most Targeted
The findings also coincide with revelations that the LockBit ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme netted around $2.3 million within the last six months, indicating that the e-crime group continues to operate despite several setbacks.
What’s more, Trellix’s analysis of LockBit’s geographic targeting from December 2024 to April 2025 based on the May 2025 admin panel leak has uncovered China to be one of the most heavily targeted countries by affiliates Iofikdis, PiotrBond, and JamesCraig. Other prominent targets include Taiwan, Brazil, and Turkey.
“The concentration of attacks in China suggests a significant focus on this market, possibly due to its large industrial base and manufacturing sector,” security researcher Jambul Tologonov said.
“Unlike Black Basta and Conti RaaS groups that occasionally probe Chinese targets without encrypting them, LockBit appears willing to operate within Chinese borders and disregard potential political consequences, marking an interesting divergence in their approach.”
The leak of the affiliate panel has also prompted LockBit to announce a monetary reward for verifiable information about “xoxo from Prague,” an anonymous actor who claimed responsibility for the leak.
On top of that, LockBit appears to have benefitted from the sudden discontinuation of RansomHub towards the end of March 2025, causing some of the latter’s affiliates, including BaleyBeach and GuillaumeAtkinson, to transition to LockBit and compel it to reactivate its operations amid ongoing efforts to develop the next version of the ransomware, LockBit 5.0.
“What this leak truly shows is the complex and ultimately less glamorous reality of their illicit ransomware activities. While profitable, it’s far from the perfectly orchestrated, massively lucrative operation they’d like the world to believe it is,” Tologonov concluded.
