At the end of April, threat actors known as Babuk indicated that they were closing up shop and switching to a different model: Babuk changes direction, we no longer encrypt information on networks, we will get to you and take your data, we will notify you about it if you do not get in touch…
Category: Malware
Claiming to be the “new generation,” threat actors declare, “No more discounts or long negotiations”
This week saw the emergence of a new group calling themself “Pay or Grief.” Or maybe they call themselves “Grief” or “Grief_List.” I really am not sure because they haven’t responded to simple questions like “What do we call you?” In any event, DataBreaches.net noted two of their attacks and now SuspectFile was able to…
How to Negotiate with Ransomware Hackers
Rachel Monroe has an interesting profile of a ransom negotiator in The New Yorker. But the piece also provides an answer to a puzzling claim in a blog post by REvil that referred to fraudulent middlemen. When the negotiator hired by a victim entered the chat, they discovered that someone had already been negotiating with…
Secret Chats Show How Cybergang Became a Ransomware Powerhouse
There’s an interesting piece by Andrew E. Kramer, Michael Schwirtz and Anton Troianovski in the New York Times: Secret Chats Show How Cybergang Became a Ransomware Powerhouse. The reporters obtained access to the internal dashboard that DarkSide customers used to organize and carry out ransom attacks and their piece provides some insights as to how DarkSide “support” dealt with…
CA: Azusa Police reveal ransomware attack in March
On March 17, the DoppelPaymer threat actors added Azusa Police Department in California to the leak site where they list ransomware victims who have refused to pay their ransom demands. On April 22, the threat actors increased the pressure on the department — or attempted to — by dumping some files as proof that they…
Au: BLK Sport reveals DarkSide attack
On May 26, BLK Sport disclosed that they had been attacked by DarkSide on April 21, 2021. Of note, the firm states that they have to assume that information may have been exfiltrated (because that’s how DarkSide normally operated), but they have been unable to actually determine the extent of any information theft. According to their…