Blue Locker Ransomware Launches Targeted Attacks on the Oil and Gas Sector in Pakistan

Pakistan’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT) has issued a high-alert advisory to 39 key ministries and institutions, warning of severe risks from the “Blue Locker” ransomware, which has compromised critical infrastructure including Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) in the oil and gas sector.

The attacks, coinciding with Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14, 2025, have disrupted operations, with PPL confirming an incident on August 6 that encrypted systems and deleted backups.

NCERT spokesperson Imran Haider reported that while some organizations were affected, deployed defenses are actively detecting and blocking the malware.

This ransomware, linked to the Proton family variants like Shinra, employs advanced tactics such as AES-RSA encryption, privilege escalation via registry modifications (T1547.001), and defense evasion through obfuscation (T1140) and timestomping (T1070.006).

Distributed via phishing emails, malicious attachments, and insecure remote access, Blue Locker appends “.Blue” extensions to encrypted files, skips critical system directories, and drops ransom notes like “restore_file.txt” demanding payment through anonymous channels including Protonmail and TOX IM.

Reverse engineering reveals it terminates processes like Chrome.exe using XOR-encoded strings to access and encrypt password databases, while deleting shadow copies with WMIC commands to inhibit recovery (T1490).

Technical Breakdown

Blue Locker’s payload, often delivered through PowerShell loaders, disables security defenses, escalates privileges (T1548.002), and ensures persistence by injecting into HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Run.

It enumerates processes (T1057), discovers file structures (T1083), and bypasses UAC (T1562.001) to encrypt targeted file types while excluding executables like .bat and .cmd to maintain system stability for prolonged evasion.

Indicators of compromise include SHA-256 hashes such as d3cc6cc4538d57f2d1f8a9d46a3e8be73ed849f7fe37d1d969c0377cf1d0fadc, and network domains that NCERT has since blocked.

Resecurity’s analysis connects Blue Locker to the Proton ransomware lineage, including Shinra (first seen in April 2024) with potential false-flag elements like Chinese strings (“ZhuDongFangYu”), though origins may trace to Iranian actors or Dark Web source code sales.

This suggests a Ransomware-as-a-Service model evolution, with similarities to Conti and Black Basta in double-extortion tactics encrypting data and threatening leaks of sensitive information like employee records and contracts.

Attribution remains blurred, potentially by nation-state actors masquerading as cybercriminals to target Asia’s technology, government, and energy sectors, exploiting vulnerabilities in Pakistan’s IT infrastructure amid geopolitical tensions.

Broader Implications

In response, NCERT recommends robust measures including multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, regular patch management, offline backups, and employee training on phishing detection to curb initial access vectors.

Incident response plans emphasize isolating infected systems, preserving forensic evidence, and avoiding ransom payments to deter attackers.

Experts like Tariq Malik, former CTO of Pakistan’s army, highlight systemic weaknesses in government cybersecurity frameworks, urging proactive policies, while Ammar Jaffri of the Pakistan Information Security Association stresses continuous adaptation to evolving threats.

Amid unverified Dark Web claims of data breaches possibly psychological operations to amplify panic PPL has activated protocols for forensic analysis and phased recovery.

This incident underscores a 350% global ransomware surge since 2018, with Blue Locker exemplifying sophisticated threats requiring cyber threat intelligence integration for early detection and resilience.

As attacks on critical infrastructure intensify, Pakistani organizations must prioritize layered defenses to mitigate operational disruptions and data exfiltration risks.

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