Nemesis2024 Ransomware Decryption & Data Recovery

Nemesis2024 is a family named by a Chinese security vendor, with almost no matching public analysis abroad. The earliest record we can find is 360's October 2024 ransomware report, which lists the keyword 888 as active, stating that it "belongs to the Nemesis2024 family, named after the Nemesis family field in the ransom note", and recorded RDP password brute force followed by manual deployment as the way in. It has reappeared in 360's reports many times since; the April, May and July 2026 reports expand the method to "brute-forcing RDP and database passwords, then deploying by hand on success".

Information on this page is limited. 360's reports give only the keyword, the origin of the name and the spread method; no full ransom note, filename pattern, algorithm or sample hash has been published. The identification and response advice below rests on those facts and on our experience with similar hand-deployed families, not on confirmed technical detail about this one. We will update this page as reporting matures.

Do not confuse it with two lookalikes.

• An older family also called Nemesis appeared around 2017; it is not the family 360 calls Nemesis2024.
• The Dharma family has a variant ending in .888, with filenames such as sample.jpg.id-1E857D00.[donald888@mail.fr].888 and a FILES ENCRYPTED.txt note on the desktop. When you see .888, check whether the filename carries an id code and an email address before deciding which family you have.

Extension. 360's search keyword is 888, and cases reported in China generally end in .888, but the full filename pattern has not been published.

Ransom note. It contains a Nemesis field, which is what 360 named the family after; the filename and contact details must be taken from the note on site.

Telling it apart from Dharma .888. The Dharma variant's filenames contain, in order, id- plus an eight-character code, an email address in square brackets and then .888, with FILES ENCRYPTED.txt on the desktop and a pop-up window. If the filenames lack those elements and the note mentions Nemesis, Nemesis2024 is the likelier match.

Intrusion traces. Because it is deployed by hand after brute force, the Windows security log usually shows a burst of failed RDP logons (event ID 4625) followed by a success (4624), and database logs show dense runs of failed logins.

Advice. Keep three to five encrypted files and the original note for expert comparison; do not decide on the extension alone.

According to 360, Nemesis2024 spreads mainly by brute-forcing RDP and database passwords, then deploying by hand on success. In practice:

• The way in is usually RDP exposed directly to the internet (port 3389 or a changed port) and database ports such as SQL Server or MySQL.
• Once logged in, the operators work by hand - typically switching off antivirus and looking for databases and backups before choosing when to deploy.
• Where the same credentials are reused across internal servers, the operators log into them one after another.

Public reporting does not say whether it spreads automatically, so investigate on the assumption that a human operator may have logged into several machines.

There is no public analysis of Nemesis2024's algorithm, whether it encrypts whole files, or whether it deletes shadow copies.

Those three facts decide the recovery route. If shadow copies survive, Previous Versions may bring some files straight back; if encryption is partial, database files may keep many intact pages and allow structural repair; if whole files are encrypted and shadow copies are gone, backups are the only route. The first step is therefore to measure it on real samples rather than borrowing conclusions from other families.