Category: BlackCat

This is unimaginable, but is taking place in practical, seriously! Russian ransomware gang BlackCat Ransomware group has targeted a hospital operating in Pennsylvania this time and are threatening to leak intimate photos of the patient, say their private parts, taken during a radiology or some kind of scan tests.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), Lackawanna County, is the healthcare organization that has been attacked and cyber crooks stole patient information related to her radiation oncology treatment.

BlackCat aka ALPHV is threatening to leak the data related to the single patient and will follow a similar process in the near future if their demands are not met on time.

Based on the condition of anonymity, a source reveals that the criminal gang also had access to some sensitive data of some female patients and are threatening to leak the information, if the organization doesn’t play heed to their demands.

This reveals us the desperation and willingness of the criminals to do anything and everything to mint money from the targets who refuse to pay.

A few days ago, Medusa Ransomware gang was also trending on the Google news headlines for stealing some sensitive details of school pupil related to Minneapolis Public Schools. They demanded $1 million ransomware and, as the victims failed to pay the crypto currency on time; they leaked some screenshots related to the scanned copies of some handwritten notes related to two male and female students facing allegations of Se$u@l Assault.

NOTE- So, if the law enforcement doesn’t take serious action against these gangs, they can turn heinous and take this crime to the next level, where victims can suffer a lot than what they are suffering, currently. From the Biden government’s POV, they are already taking steps to curb such incidents on national infrastructure and have also implemented strict laws such as slapping sanctions against criminals and keeping a track of the digital currency payments taking place in the crypto world. On the victims’ part, first they should start proactively securing their infrastructure and try to keep such criminals at bay from their network. And if the unfortunate happens, then consider recovery measures and stop paying the criminals. As such prompt payments not only increase crime but also don’t guarantee a decryption key for sure.

 

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A mining firm shut down its operations in Southern British Columbia in order to contain the repercussions developed from a ransomware attack. The Canadian Copper Mountain Mining Corporation is the firm that had to shut down its offices in Vancouver during the weekend as most part of its corporate computer network was held hostage by a file encrypting malware demanding millions to offer a decryption key.

The copper and precious metals mining company says that it is suspecting Lockbit ransomware group behind the incident. But chose to reveal confirmed details after thorough investigation.

In other news that is related to ransomware, but shows us the humanity side of the criminals is related to a Hospital for Sick Children. If we go into the details, as soon as the LockBit Ransomware gang learnt it encrypted the network of SickKids, they immediately apologized for the incident and handed over a free decryption key, showing us their kind heartedness.…. unbelievable… isn’t it?

Cybersecurity Insiders learnt that the attack took place on December 18th of last year, causing delays to diagnosis and treatment of patients. However, the criminals gang realized their mistake and returned the decryption key, thus helping the staff to restore their systems on priority.

Third is the news related to BlackCat Ransomware, also known as ALPHV. The ransomware gang has not only introduced an innovation into their threatening tactics but also implemented it in the new year.

As per the details available, Alphv hacked into the network of a financial company and stole their data. And as the victim failed to pay attention to their demands, they released the stolen details for sale on the dark web.

Not stopping by this deed, BlackCat also created a replication of the victim’s company website and published all the stolen data into the website, to surprise and gather logins from the web portal users.

Port of Lisbon, the busiest seaport in Europe, stated that it has reportedly become a victim of a cyber attack of ransomware genre. Portuguese News resource Publico made this news official and confirmed that the incident took place on the Christmas day, a week ago.

LockBit malicious software spreading gang is suspected behind the Christmas season attack and the ransom they are demanding is $1.5 million and that too they want the payment by January 18th of this year.

 

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FBI has issued a ransomware attack alert to the agriculture sector in the United States as the current time seems to be the busiest for the said sector. Hackers are planning to hit a big blow to the agriculture sector to create production and supply shortages across the United States.

As the law enforcement alerted the critical infrastructures like power, water and transit from malware attacks, the hackers might have shifted their focus towards the agriculture sector. One is because other sectors are following healthy cyber hygiene that is strong to breach. And two, because of the reality that the agri-sector doesn’t bother much about cyber attacks and so is showing laxity.

Most of the production and supply chain in the agriculture sector is operated through machines and any impact on their digital functions can lead to chaos in economical, social, and political aspects.

So, the FBI is warning the Cybersecurity forces managing the agriculture industry to stay vigilant about the risks linked to ransomware attacks.

As planting and harvesting season is rampant across the states that generate green produce, cyber crooks might target cooperatives as they will be ready to pay a ransom in large amounts to keep their play active in agriculture productions.

In the year 2021, ransomware targeted cooperatives that manage the agricultural produce from farms to- table, affecting production to a negligible extent.

But this year, sophistication-driven hacking gangs such as BlackCat Ransomware group are on the prowl of weak targets and are seeming to make big money from the farming sector.

So, all the farms that produce greens and those in the meat industry are being urged to bolster their defensive line against the cyber threats currently lurking in the cyber landscape.

BlackCat ransomware aka ALPHV is a threat group that first steals data from the database and then encrypts it. It’s seen mostly targeting cloud databases and demands Bitcoins or Monero as ransom.

 

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