Ransomware Research

Matrix Ransomware

Matrix is a malicious ransomware strain that encrypts victim files and demands ransom payment for decryption. First observed in the wild on November 1, 2016, this ransomware has been actively targeting systems worldwide. Security researchers also track this malware under the aliases: Malta.

Quick Facts

Ransomware Family
Matrix
First Seen
November 1, 2016
Known Aliases
Malta

How Matrix Ransomware Works

Targeted Files

https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/93c8f48614215693053dbf9b0795c29b4e048978f1271b86b08f3c8353e5be8c?environmentId=100 https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/924b8baed15f41d4c78beb28cda7a9334b23fd12d1de30f2bd596bf4d8cc32f7?environmentId=100 https://app.any.run/tasks/019aa957-3277-4a5c-840c-15578d94f152/ https://app.any.run/tasks/c0db2176-29cd-40d9-ba43-2c1ce19f172e/ https://app.any.run/tasks/949fb065-0629-417e-b1de-cee83524684e/ Filename pattern -> [KOK08@QQ.COM].1DfIa992-gNYr4yXh.KOK08

File Encryption Patterns

Matrix modifies encrypted files using specific patterns to mark them as encrypted:

File extensions added after encryption:

..[barboza40@yahoo.com]..[JUCHE001@TUTANOTA.COM]..[Yourencrypt@tutanota.com]..FG69..matrix..b10cked..pyongyan001@yahoo.com._[RELOCK001@TUTA.IO]..[files4463@tuta.io]..[RestorFile@tutanota.com]..[oken@tutanota.com]..MTXLOCK..ATOM..ANN..CORE..FOX..KOK8..NEWRAR..FASTBOB..FASTB..KOK08..ITLOCK..EMAN..GMAN..EMAN50..NOBAD..THDA..GMPF..SPCT..GRHAN..GMBN..PLANT..PEDANT..GBLOCK..SBLOCK..SCR..CRYPTO..NGSC..PRCP..enc..RAD..[Kromber@tutanota.com]..QH24..MDRL..YDHM..DECP..ABAT..YDH3..PSAFE..DRSC..MT88..TMS5..BDDY..CHRB..BWNG..FDFK..MKES..ATKL..SNTG..AG88G..AL8P..AL8G..JB78..RE78P..MH24..AB89..FDFK22..BG85..J91D..S996..AW46..DEUS..TG33..M88P..BBGT..TRU8..JDPR..MMTA..CTRM..FRFO..[Bitmine8@tutanota.com]..[RestoreFile@qq.com]..[DATSUN987@TUTANOTA.COM]..[d3336666@tutanota.com]..[Vfemacry@mail-on.us]..FASTA..[poluz@tutanota.com]

Prefixes added to encrypted files:

[Citrteam@yahoo.com].[KOK08@QQ.COM][FastBob@protonmail.com][FridaFarko@yahoo.com][maihoandcryp@qq.com]

Ransom Note and Payment Demands

After encrypting files, Matrix displays ransom notes demanding payment for file recovery:

message

Ransom message:

notes/note.txt

Note locations:

Login
message

Ransom message:

notes/note1.txt

Note locations:

Login
fileReadme-Matrix.rtf
file/^WhatHappenedWithMyFiles[0-9]{0,2}\.rtf$/

Ransom message:

notes/WhatHappenedWithMyFiles22.rtf

Note locations:

Desktop
fileBl0cked-ReadMe.rtf
file!WhatHappenedWithMyFiles!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!WhatHappenedWithMyFiles!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#ANN_README#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#ANN_README#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_TRU8!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_TRU8!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!What-wrong-with-files!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!What-wrong-with-files!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#README_FASTA#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#README_FASTA#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileT0_Rest0re_Files_Read_This.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/T0_Rest0re_Files_Read_This.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileReadMe_T0_Rec0ver_Files.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/ReadMe_T0_Rec0ver_Files.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#KOK08_README#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#KOK08_README#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_FASTBOB!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_FASTBOB!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_KOK08!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_KOK08!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#ReadMe_T0_Decrypt_Files.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#ReadMe_T0_Decrypt_Files.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileWhat_Happened_With_Files.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/What_Happened_With_Files.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileWhatHappenedWithFiles.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/WhatHappenedWithFiles.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#NOBAD_README#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#NOBAD_README#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#How_to_return_files#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#How_to_return_files#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_CHRB!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_CHRB!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#_#FASTBOB_README#_#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#_#FASTBOB_README#_#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileFG69_README.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/FG69_README.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileCTRM_INFO.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/CTRM_INFO.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file/^Read_Me_T0_Rest0re_Files\d{1,2}\.rtf$/

Ransom message:

notes/Read_Me_T0_Rest0re_Files45.rtf

Note locations:

Desktop
file#_#Where-is-my-files#_#!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#_#Where-is-my-files#_#!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#_#WhatWrongWithMyFiles#_#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#_#WhatWrongWithMyFiles#_#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileFRFO_INFO.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/FRFO_INFO.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!OoopsYourFilesLocked!.rtf
file#What-Happened-With-Files#.rtf
fileT0_Rec0ver_Files_ReadME.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/T0_Rec0ver_Files_ReadME.rtf
file#NEWRAR_README#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#NEWRAR_README#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!ReadMe_To_Decrypt_Files!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!ReadMe_To_Decrypt_Files!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#Decrypt_Files_ReadMe#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#Decrypt_Files_ReadMe#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!ReadMe_How_To_Decrypt_Files!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!ReadMe_How_To_Decrypt_Files!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#What_Wrong_With_Files#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#What_Wrong_With_Files#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_ATOM!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_ATOM!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!T0_Rest0re_Y0ur_FilEs_ReadMe!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!T0_Rest0re_Y0ur_FilEs_ReadMe!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file!README_ITLOCK!.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/!README_ITLOCK!.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
fileRead_This_To_Rest0re_Files.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/Read_This_To_Rest0re_Files.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#README_ANN#.rtf
file/(#|!)?\w+_README(#|!)?\.rtf\b/

Ransom message:

notes/#CORE_README#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file/(#|!)?(README|Readme)_[A-Z0-9]{4,6}(#|!)?\.rtf\b/

Ransom message:

notes/#README_EMAN#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file/^_?!?[A-Z0-9]{4,6}_INFO!?\.rtf\b/
file!README PLANT!.rtf
file#_#RAD_README#_#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#_#RAD_README#_#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder
file#_#ReadMe#_#.rtf
file#How-to-return-files#.rtf

Ransom message:

notes/#How-to-return-files#.rtf

Note locations:

EveryFolder

Technical Indicators

Associated Executable Files

The following executable files are associated with Matrix ransomware:

  • Neo.exe
  • 1.exe
  • sample.bin
  • Roaming.exe
  • AAM Updates Notifier
  • AAM Updates Notifier.exe
  • FlashPlayer.exe
  • votd6frQ.exe
  • 1p2G6c7n.exe
  • SRCV7tcT.exe
  • ZUHKOy3b.exe
  • l4gr9gwv.exe
  • Hdv3TFk8.exe
  • fGLbFO2G.exe
  • dcUlriqe.exe
  • 7O0tvLaT.exe
  • 2017-04-03-EITest-Rig-EK-payload-matrix-ransomware-variant.exe
  • variant.exe
  • EITest-Rig-EK-payload-matrix-ransomware-variant.exe
  • 2017-04-03-eitest-rig-ek-payload-matrix-ransomware-variant.exe
  • OB4vMg6S.exe
  • JPyY9UbY.exe
  • matrix-ransomware-variant.exe
  • lkcagzj9.exe
  • jGeBmawt.exe
  • erzSKL3S.exe
  • Dijamikaji ni mocisorufi hihenoponu gayo mupo
  • OmdpDiJ1.exe
  • EK2xfZMr.exe
  • FILE_13.2
  • 1q0NOiyA.exe
  • get.phpyCZPw.exe
  • bzQVjoCM.exe
  • GE8fpQtM.exe
  • setup.exe
  • myfile.exe
  • install.exe
  • NWQN5bI6.exe
  • FoxRansomware (3).exe
  • NWN2bpww.exe
  • NWiTZ8Bk.exe
  • NWSq4AON.exe
  • NWlQjJJX.exe
  • NWWBEFLC.exe
  • NW9AZSCw.exe
  • 0b03bf1c7b596a862978999ee.exe
  • NW3kQoea.exe
  • NWsDaeki.exe
  • NWLlSeOR.exe
  • NWIFn2ys.exe
  • NW0V3MsI.exe
  • NWSEvUER.exe
  • NWkcsyHc.exe
  • 569.json
  • 2018-09-25 Matrix.exe
  • NWMtEi9n.exe
  • NWGDH8VR.exe
  • NWBa0FMG.exe
  • nwovkcyl.exe
  • drprov.dll
  • NWQxqJHm.exe
  • NWGLLBwj.exe
  • NWmVNXTd.exe
  • svhost.exe
  • Matrix (2).exe
  • nwzjnwcl.exe
  • cary.exe
  • NWUgfxIg.exe
  • sden.exe
  • m.exe
  • NWXfX7EK.exe
  • NWtykZIN.exe
  • NWazChGA.exe
  • NWGHCSD4.exe
  • bwng.exe
  • NWjmtMjw.exe
  • ab89.exe
  • NWGUQsM6.exe
  • NWPBholE.exe
  • bbgt.exe
  • NWsZDRC8.exe
  • new_jdpr.exe
  • Decrypt_new.exe
  • NWF7WOSl.exe
  • kok22.exe
  • fg69.exe

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About This Analysis

This Matrix ransomware analysis is part of Elastio's comprehensive ransomware detection database. Elastio provides advanced ransomware protection and recovery solutions, helping organizations defend against and recover from ransomware attacks like Matrix.

Last updated: July 30, 2025

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What is Matrix Ransomware? | Elastio