Snatch Ransomware Group's Attack on Unitex

Snatch ransomware group claimed an attack on Unitex. The group 9.5GB of sensitive corporate data. Unitex operates in the medical uniform and linen rental industry. Snatch is a RaaS first emerged way back in 2018 but did not become significantly active until 2021.

How Snatch Operates

Snatch can evade security tools and deletes Volume Shadow Copies to prevent rollbacks and any local Windows backups to thwart recovery. There has also been a Linux version observed. Snatch attack volume has been modest compared to leading ransomware operators but is on pace to increase about 50% in 2023 compared to 2022 levels.

Ransom Demands and Payment

Snatch ransom demands are relatively low compared to leading ransomware operators, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars.

Technical Details

Snatch is written in Go and is somewhat unique in that the ransomware reboots in safe mode to make sure the security tools are not running. Persistence and privilege escalation are not byproducts of the reboot. Snatch abuses legitimate tools like Process Hacker, Uninstaller, IObit, BCDEDIT, PowerTool, and PsExec. Snatch deletes Volume Shadow Copies to prevent encryption rollbacks.

Targeting and Affiliates

Snatch targeting varies widely based on their affiliates preferences. Snatch is one of the more traditional RaaS platforms, where most of the targeting and attack sequence structure is left to the individual affiliates, including whether to exfiltrate data for double extortion.