A Deep-dive Analysis of LOCKBIT 2.0

LOCKBIT 2.0 is a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation that performs double extortion by exfiltrating victim data (using tools such as StealBIT) and then encrypting files with a .lockbit extension; affiliates deploy customized variants and use Cobalt Strike, Metasploit, AD/LDAP enumeration, service termination, Defender policy modification, process injection, and VMware shared-folder propagation. The report provides static and dynamic analysis of a Windows x86 sample, describes victim-facing artifacts (ransom notes, desktop changes, TOR leak site), lists targeted/terminated services and a SHA-256 indicator, and offers defensive recommendations such as MFA, updates, AV, and offline backups.