Catalin Cimpanu reports: The US Federal Bureau of Investigations said today that the operators of the Cuba ransomware have earned at least $43.9 million from ransom payments following attacks carried out this year. In a flash alert sent out on Friday, the Bureau said the Cuba gang has “compromised at least 49 entities in five critical…
Category: Malware
Welcome surprise: threat actors give victim school district a free decryptor.
On November 23, DataBreaches.net reported that Avos Locker threat actors had added Beaverhead County High School in Montana to their leak site. At the time, this site reported: From their listing, Avos Locker is clearly aware that this is a tiny school district with only a few hundred students and less than two dozen teachers….
NY: Riverhead schools hit by ransomware attack, shutting down computer and tech infrastructure
Alek Lewis reports: The Riverhead Central School District was hit by a ransomware attack this morning, shutting down the district’s computer and technology infrastructure for what officials said could be several days. The district sent out a statement this morning at 8:48 a.m. on their social media alerting parents to what was then described as…
Snatch ransomware team adds health insurer victim to their leak site
In April, CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield posted a notice on its website concerning a ransomware attack in January. The health plan’s announcement reports that the preliminary assessments suggested that: the attack was limited to CHPDC. Early analysis also indicates that members of other CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield companies, the Federal Employees Program (FEP) and Federal…
Cyber attack on Kisters AG by orchestrated ransomware attack
On November 10-11, Kisters AG in Germany was hit by a ransomware attack. Because the firm is a critical infrastructure supplier for energy systems and with the potential for downstream compromise, this one has raised significant concerns. The following are some translated snippets from energie.blog, which has been providing updates on the attack: Update: 11/21/2021:…
Double Extortion Ransomware Victims Soar 935%
Phil Muncaster reports: Researchers have recorded a 935% year-on-year increase in double extortion attacks, with data from over 2300 companies posted onto ransomware extortion sites. Group-IB’s Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2021/2022 report covers the period from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021. During that time, an “unholy alliance” of initial access brokers and…