Quote:A ransomware family used in attacks in July and August was posing as the infamous Locky ransomware that was highly active in 2016, Trend Micro researchers have discovered. 

Written in Python and dubbed PyLocky, the new malware is packaged with PyInstaller, a tool that turns Python applications into standalone executables. 

What makes PyLocky stand out from the crowd compared to other Python malware is anti-machine learning capability. It also uses the open-source script-based Inno Setup Installer and can pose a real challenge to static analysis methods, the security researchers say. 

Furthermore, PyLocky has seen a highly concentrated distribution, with several spam emails targeting European countries, particularly France. Initially low, the spam volume increased in time. 

A spam run observed in early August targeted French businesses, leveraging social engineering in an attempt to lure potential victims into clicking a link that redirects them to a malicious URL to download a ZIP file containing PyLocky.