Globeimposter

Overview

Ransom:Win32/Globeimposter is a highly prevalent, aggressive crypto-ransomware family that became notorious for its devastating attacks on healthcare organizations, city governments, and enterprise networks. It is a 'Ransomware-as-a-Service' (RaaS) variant. The name 'GlobeImposter' originated because early versions explicitly copied the ransom note style and extension format of an earlier ransomware family called 'Globe', attempting to ride on its reputation.

Understanding GlobeImposter (Enterprise Ransomware)
To an end-user, a GlobeImposter attack is catastrophic: all files are encrypted, appended with unique extensions (like `.crypt`, `.doc`, `.707`, `.pscrypt`), and replaced with an HTML or TXT ransom note. For an enterprise, GlobeImposter is rarely a 'drive-by' infection. It is typically deployed manually by attackers ('hands-on-keyboard' attacks) who have already breached the network, escalated privileges, and disabled security tools, resulting in the simultaneous encryption of hundreds of servers.

Execution and Enterprise Encryption Mechanics
GlobeImposter operators frequently gain initial access by purchasing compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials from Initial Access Brokers or brute-forcing internet-exposed RDP servers (`T1021.001`). Once inside, they use tools like Mimikatz to steal Domain Admin credentials (`T1003.001`) and move laterally (`T1550.002`). The ransomware payload itself is often deployed enterprise-wide via PsExec or Group Policy (`T1047`). Upon execution on a host, GlobeImposter uses a batch script (`.bat`) to aggressively delete Volume Shadow Copies and disable Windows Startup Repair (`vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet`, `bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled No`) (`T1490`). It terminates database processes (SQL, Exchange) to ensure those files are unlocked and can be encrypted (`T1489`). It then encrypts files using RSA-2048 and AES-256 (`T1486`).

Indicators of Compromise & Impact
The impact is total operational paralysis and massive extortion demands. Host-based IoCs include EDR alerts for `vssadmin.exe` or `wmic.exe` executing shadow copy deletion commands, the sudden termination of critical database services, and massive spikes in disk I/O. The presence of specific file extensions and ransom notes (e.g., `how_to_back_files.html`) in every directory are definitive IoCs.

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework:

Generated Detections (Boilerplate)

These YARA and Sigma rules are auto-generated based on the family name and aliases. They must be heavily tuned before deployment in a production environment.

YARA Rule

rule MALWARE_WIN_GLOBEIMPOSTER {
    meta:
        description = "Detects Globeimposter (ransomware)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Boilerplate Generator"
        date = "2026-07-06"
    strings:
        $s1 = "globeimposter" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: Suspicious Globeimposter Activity
id: 967460e1a397fec0fa1421dd3e784ea9
status: experimental
description: Detects generic indicators of the globeimposter malware family.
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\cmd.exe'
            - '\powershell.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - "*globeimposter*"
    condition: selection
level: medium

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Immediately physically disconnect all compromised and highly suspect servers from the network (pull the Ethernet cable) to halt the lateral deployment of the encryptor.
2. Identify the initial point of entry (usually a compromised VPN account or an exposed RDP server) and disable the associated account/service immediately.
3. Do NOT reboot infected servers; capture a live memory image (RAM dump), as there have been historical flaws in certain GlobeImposter variants where keys could be recovered from memory.
4. Initiate a full enterprise-wide password reset, specifically targeting Domain Admin and service accounts, as the attackers likely hold complete control of Active Directory.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not pay the ransom without consulting professional incident response firms; paying funds criminal syndicates, and decryptors provided by GlobeImposter operators are notoriously buggy and often corrupt large files.
2. Avoid reconnecting restored servers to the network until the root cause (e.g., the open RDP port) has been permanently secured.

References & External Analysis

• Search "globeimposter" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Families (Category: ransomware)

Explore other malware families in the same category:

• Emogen
• Foler
• Gentromal
• Gena
• Jaiks

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://jordanricky1604-ship-it.github.io/malware-families-catalog/api/globeimposter.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.