Paradise

Overview

Ransom:Win32/Paradise is a prolific crypto-ransomware family operating under a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model. It allows affiliates to distribute the malware while the core developers maintain the payment portals and decryption infrastructure. It is characterized by appending the `.paradise` (or similar variations) extension to encrypted files and dropping an HTML ransom note.

Understanding Paradise (Ransomware-as-a-Service)
To an end-user, Paradise represents a catastrophic loss of access to all personal and business files. For an enterprise, an infection often indicates a broader failure in email filtering (as it is heavily distributed via malspam) or a failure to secure remote access points. Because it operates as a RaaS, the initial access techniques can vary wildly depending on which affiliate is conducting the attack.

Execution and Extortion Mechanics
Paradise is frequently delivered via spear-phishing campaigns containing malicious IQY (Internet Query) files, macros, or `.js` scripts that download the payload (`T1566.001`). Upon execution, Paradise often attempts to disable antivirus software and services related to SQL databases or Exchange servers to ensure those files are unlocked for encryption (`T1489`). It achieves persistence via Registry Run keys (`T1547.001`). Before encrypting, it executes commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies (`vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet`) (`T1490`). It uses strong encryption (often RSA-1024 or Salsa20) (`T1486`), iterating through local drives and network shares, explicitly targeting high-value data files while avoiding critical Windows system files to keep the OS bootable so the victim can view the ransom note.

Indicators of Compromise & Impact
The impact is severe data encryption and operational downtime. Host-based IoCs include files renamed with the `__{ID}_{Email}.paradise` format, EDR alerts for `vssadmin.exe` execution, and the sudden termination of database processes. The presence of the ransom note (often `Instructions with your files.txt` or `.html`) on the desktop is a definitive indicator.

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

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

Tactical Mitigations

Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:

• T1566.001: Scan email attachments for malicious macros, scripts, or suspicious archive files.

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

Sigma Rule

title: Suspicious Paradise Activity
id: 96ac9a11d94d8f982ba476aa4b5ef503
status: experimental
description: Detects generic indicators of the paradise malware family.
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith:
            - '\cmd.exe'
            - '\powershell.exe'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - "*paradise*"
    condition: selection
level: medium

Containment & Response Steps

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

1. Immediately sever the network connection of the infected endpoint to prevent the ransomware from traversing SMB shares and encrypting network drives.
2. Identify the initial delivery vector (e.g., a specific phishing email) and purge similar emails from all corporate inboxes.
3. Do NOT reboot the infected machine if possible; capture a live memory image (RAM dump). Some older variants of Paradise had cryptographic flaws where keys could be recovered.
4. Initiate recovery procedures from isolated, offline backups.

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 exhausting all other options; funding RaaS operations encourages further attacks, and affiliates often fail to provide working decryptors.
2. Avoid reconnecting restored servers to the network until the initial vulnerability (e.g., lack of MFA on RDP or poor email filtering) is resolved.

References & External Analysis

• Search "paradise" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Families (Category: ransomware)

Explore other malware families in the same category:

• Resdro
• Amber
• Jaiks
• Couponmarvel
• Ranos

Machine-readable

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