The provided information pertains to a variant of the Locky ransomware, identified as "M2M - Locky 2017-11-08." Locky ransomware is a well-known malware family that encrypts victims' files and demands ransom payments for decryption keys. This specific variant appears to use a social engineering tactic by disguising its payload or delivery mechanism as an invoice document, e.g., "Invoice AX1234567" or "Invoice-AX1234567.doc," which is a common lure to entice users to open malicious attachments. The mention of ".asasin" could indicate a file extension or a marker used by the malware to identify or encrypt files. The threat is classified as malware with a low severity rating by the source, CIRCL, and is tagged as ransomware. There are no known exploits in the wild specifically tied to this variant, and no affected software versions or patches are listed, suggesting this is a malware campaign rather than a software vulnerability. The technical details show a threat level of 3 (likely on a scale where higher is more severe) and minimal analysis data. The ransomware operates offline, which may indicate it does not require active command and control communication to execute its payload once deployed. Overall, this Locky variant continues the trend of ransomware campaigns leveraging phishing emails with malicious attachments to compromise systems and encrypt user data.

For European organizations, the impact of this Locky ransomware variant primarily involves data confidentiality and availability. If successful, the ransomware encrypts critical files, potentially disrupting business operations, causing data loss, and leading to financial costs associated with ransom payments, recovery efforts, and reputational damage. The use of invoice-themed attachments targets financial and administrative departments, increasing the likelihood of infection in organizations handling large volumes of invoices and financial documents. Although rated low severity, the impact can be significant for small to medium enterprises lacking robust backup and incident response capabilities. The offline nature of the ransomware means it can operate without network connectivity, complicating detection and containment. European organizations in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, and services, which frequently process invoices, may be particularly vulnerable. Additionally, regulatory frameworks like GDPR impose strict data protection requirements, and ransomware incidents can lead to compliance violations and penalties if personal data is affected or if incident response is inadequate.

To mitigate this threat, European organizations should implement targeted measures beyond generic advice: 1) Enhance email security by deploying advanced filtering solutions that detect and quarantine emails with suspicious invoice attachments or unusual file extensions like ".asasin." 2) Conduct regular user awareness training focused on recognizing phishing emails, especially those impersonating financial documents. 3) Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized or unknown file types, particularly in user directories where email attachments are saved. 4) Maintain robust, offline, and immutable backups of critical data to enable recovery without paying ransom. 5) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capable of identifying ransomware behavior patterns, including file encryption activities. 6) Monitor network and endpoint logs for indicators of compromise related to Locky ransomware campaigns. 7) Develop and regularly test incident response plans specific to ransomware scenarios, ensuring rapid containment and recovery. 8) Restrict macro execution in Office documents and disable automatic execution of scripts embedded in attachments. These focused steps address the specific tactics used by this ransomware variant and reduce the risk of successful infection and impact.