Latest cybersecurity reporting from selected sources.

A cybercrime group known as The Gentlemen has emerged as the second most active ransomware gang by victim count, rapidly attracting a talented pool of hackers through an aggressive recruitment strategy that promises affiliates 90 percent of any ransom paid by victims. This post examines clues pointing to a real life identity for the administrator of The Gentlemen ransomware group.

The financially motivated group is combining vishing, IT impersonation, and in-person office intrusions to steal data and extort victims.

Threat actors from the Silent Ransom Group, aka Luna Moth, are escalating attacks by impersonating IT staff in phone calls and even showing up in person to gain direct access to victim systems

Silent Ransom Group isn’t prolific, but it's demonstrated a knack for attacking the legal services sector with an extraordinary dual use of social engineering and in-person visits to victims’ workstations. The post FBI warns US-based law firms to be on the lookout for cybercrime group that steals data in person appeared first on CyberScoop.

A 5-year study on the Ransomware Economy found that 30,515 exposed databases were hit by ransom attacks, causing massive damage despite victims never paying. Database extortion doesn’t look like the ransomware stories that usually grab headlines. There’s no slick branding, no leak-site countdown, no gang posting memes on Telegram. In most cases, there’s just a […]

Hackers Constantly Break 'Confirmation of Data Destruction' PromisesWhen a business that stores children's personal data gets hit by data-leaking extortionists, what should it do? For Instructure, which develops online learning platform Canvas, the answer was to pay a ransom, and tell victims, straight-faced, to have "digital confirmation of data destruction."

Some attackers, which researchers link to The Com, have swatted company executives to increase leverage and pressure victims to pay their ransom demands. The post BlackFile actively extorting data-theft victims in retail and hospitality sector appeared first on CyberScoop.

Angelo Martino helped accomplices extort a combined $75.3 million in ransom payments from five victim companies. The post Former DigitalMint ransomware negotiator pleads guilty to extortion scheme appeared first on CyberScoop.

Revenue From Supply-Chain Attacks by Clop Group Sharply Fell, Report InvestigatorsOnce lucrative steal-and-leak campaigns pioneered by Russian ransomware group Clop look set to go the way of the dinosaurs. While an estimated 25% of victims paid a ransom in the inaugural campaign five years ago, the number of victims that paid fell to zero by 2023, report ransomware responders.

A prolific data ransom gang that calls itself Scattered Lapsus ShinyHunters (SLSH) has a distinctive playbook when it seeks to extort payment from victim firms: Harassing, threatening and even swatting executives and their families, all while notifying journalists and regulators… Read More »

Crackdown Targets Multiple Members of Cybercrime Group, Including 'Hash Crackers'Police raided two suspected members of the notorious Black Basta ransomware group - tied to over 600 victims worldwide and many millions in ransom payments - in Ukraine and issued an international arrest warrant for the Russian national suspected of being the operation's founder and ringleader.

Americans Extorted at Least 5 Firms, Earning $1 Million From a Medical Device MakerTwo American cybersecurity professionals who moonlighted as BlackCat ransomware gang affiliates pleaded guilty to using the crypto-locking malware to extort at least five victims in the United States, including a medical device maker that paid a cryptocurrency ransom worth over $1 million.

UN Says Southeast Asian Scam Centers Generate $41 Billion in Illicit Annual ProfitsSoutheast Asian scam centers tied to $41 billion in illicit annual profits gleaned from romance and investment scams, ongoing gambling, and holding some of the hundreds of thousands of victims trafficked to work at the centers to ransom, continue to fuel geopolitical conflict across the region.

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.

Innovation Continues, Although Sloppy Coding Can Still Leave Data UnrecoverableRansomware groups continue to display more innovation, persistence and planning in their quest to amass ransom-paying victims and maximize profits. This has included repeat supply-chain attacks, harvesting credentials to use in later campaigns, as well as launching their own affiliate programs.

DOJ: Suspects Hit 5 Firms, Including 3 in Healthcare, Netted $1.3M in Ransom MoneyThree former employees of two cybersecurity firms stand accused of using BlackCat ransomware in a conspiracy to extort five U.S. companies, including three in the healthcare sector. One of the victim companies paid nearly $1.3 million to the attackers, U.S. federal prosecutors said.

Criminals Behind Salesloft Breach Continue to Target Salesforce-Using CustomersCustomer relationship management software giant Salesforce has directly notified customers that it won't be complying with ransom demands issued by the data-stealing crime group ShinyHunters, which continues to pressure Salesforce-using customers who fell victim to the Salesloft breach.

U.S. prosecutors last week levied criminal hacking charges against 19-year-old U.K. national Thalha Jubair for allegedly being a core member of Scattered Spider, a prolific cybercrime group blamed for extorting at least $115 million in ransom payments from victims. The charges came as Jubair and an alleged co-conspirator appeared in a London court to face accusations of hacking into and extorting several large U.K. retailers, the London transit system, and healthcare providers in the United States.

UK and US Charge Suspects With Hitting Transport for London, Healthcare, OthersTwo English teenagers have been charged with disrupting London's transport network as part of a Scattered Spider cyberattack. One of the suspects has also been accused by the U.S. of helping to attack 120 other victims, generating $115 million in ransom payments.

Ransomware Gang Nova Poised to Leak Patient Data, Lab Stays Mum on NegotiationsWith ransomware gang Nova threatening to leak patient data on the darkweb, a Dutch laboratory that performs cervical cancer tests for a government screening program is mum about the ransom negotiations, but it says the cyberattack in July has affected 941,000 patients.