Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

Analysis of Seized LockBit Data Suggests Victims Who Pay Enjoy More Media CoverageBad news for any organization that's ever paid a ransom in a bid to avoid their breach coming to light, or for a promise from attackers to delete stolen data, with a study of seized LockBit data finding that victims who paid a ransom were more likely to see the attack get detailed in the media.

'Lite Panel' Offering Easy Access to Anyone for Just $777 Confirmed by ResearcherRansomware groups continue to find innovative new ways to shake down organizations large and small in their pursuit of ransom payoffs. For the LockBit group, one tweak was to debut a "lite" version of its ransomware portal that appears to have amassed dozens of very inexperienced business partners.

Collapse of LockBit and BlackCat/ALPHV Tied to Ongoing Decline in Big-Game HuntingRansomware may still be raking in massive cryptocurrency profits for practitioners, but 2024 turned out to be less of a banner year than predicted, with blockchain researchers reporting that the sum total of known ransom payments to ransomware groups in 2024 plummeted by 35%.

A Russian cybercriminal wanted in the U.S. in connection with LockBit and Hive ransomware operations has been arrested by law enforcement authorities in the country

And also: What looks like proof that stolen data was never deleted even after ransom was paid Building on the success of what's known around here as LockBit Leak Week in February, the authorities say they've arrested a further four individuals with ties to the now-scuppered LockBit ransomware empire.…

Canadian Retail Pharmacy Chain Says It's Reviewing Exposed Data on Gang's Leak SiteLockBit has begun to leak on its dark web site files of data the Russian-speaking cybercriminal gang claims to have stolen in an April attack on London Drugs. The group had threatened to publish the exfiltrated data if the Canadian retail pharmacy chain does not pay a $25 million ransom demand.

Threatens to Leak Stolen Data; Attack Temporarily Shut Down Retail Pharmacy StoresLockBit cybercriminals demanded a $25 million ransom from Canadian pharmacy retail chain London Drugs following an attack detected in late April that forced the company to temporarily close its 79 stores across western Canada for more than a week.

Pharmacy says it's 'unwilling and unable to pay ransom' Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs has confirmed that ransomware thugs stole some of its corporate files containing employee information and says it is "unwilling and unable to pay ransom to these cybercriminals."…

The Hôpital de Cannes - Simone Veil (CHC-SV) in France announced it received a ransom demand from the Lockbit 3.0 ransomware gang, saying they refuse to pay the ransom. [...]

INC Ransom emerges as a growing threat as some ex-LockBit/ALPHV affiliates get new gigs Leicester City Council is finally admitting its "cyber incident" was carried out by a ransomware gang and that data was stolen, hours after the criminals forced its hand.…

ALSO: CISA warns Ivanti vuln mitigations might not work, SAML hijack doesn't need ADFS, and crit vulns Infosec in brief The infamous LockBit ransomware gang has been busy in the ten days since an international law enforcement operation took down many of its systems. But despite its posturing, the gang might have suffered more than it's letting on.…

The ransomware group LockBit told officials with Fulton County, Ga. they could expect to see their internal documents published online this morning unless the county paid a ransom demand. Instead, LockBit removed Fulton County's listing from its victim shaming website this morning, claiming county officials had paid. But county officials said they did not pay, nor did anyone make payment on their behalf. Security experts say LockBit was likely bluffing and probably lost most of the data when the gang's servers were seized this month by U.S. and U.K. law enforcement.

The LockBit ransomware gang is once again conducting attacks, using updated encryptors with ransom notes linking to new servers after last week's law enforcement disruption. [...]

Countdown expires March 2 unless government officials pay the ransom LockBit claims it's back in action just days after an international law enforcement effort seized the ransomware gang's servers and websites, and retrieved more than 1,000 decryption keys to assist victims.…

The FBI's takedown of the LockBit ransomware group last week came as LockBit was preparing to release sensitive data stolen from government computer systems in Fulton County, Ga. But LockBit is now regrouping, and the gang says it will publish the stolen Fulton County data on March 2 unless paid a ransom. LockBit claims the cache includes documents tied to the county's ongoing criminal prosecution of former President Trump, but court watchers say teaser documents published by the crime gang suggest a total leak of the Fulton County data could put lives at risk and jeopardize a number of other criminal trials.

Investigating LockBit’s finances has blown previous estimates of the operation’s wealth out of the water Authorities digging into LockBit's finances believe the group may have generated more than $1 billion in ransom fees over its four-year lifespan.…

Authorities Uncover 30,000 LockBit Bitcoin AddressesCryptocurrency trading platform Binance restricted access to 85 accounts as part of an action against the LockBit ransomware affiliates, and authorities estimated that members of the now-defunct ransomware-as-a-service operation had pocketed "hundreds of millions" in ransom.

The LockBit ransomware gang received more than $125 million in ransom payments over the past 18 months, according to the analysis of hundreds of cryptocurrency wallets associated with the operation. [...]

The now-disrupted LockBit gang outpaced its competitors in volume in 2023, as ransom amounts spiked 20% year-over-year.

The U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) on Tuesday confirmed that it obtained LockBit's source code as well as intelligence pertaining to its activities and their affiliates as part of a dedicated task force called Operation Cronos