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 threat actors behind the RansomHub ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) scheme have been observed leveraging now-patched security flaws in Microsoft Active Directory and the Netlogon protocol to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to a victim network's domain controller as part of their post-compromise strategy

New Law Calls for Better Reporting, Securing Devices and Critical InfrastructureThe Australian government's proposed cybersecurity legislation passed both houses of the Parliament on Monday, formalizing the government's strategy to boost ransomware payment reporting, mandate basic cybersecurity standards for connected devices and enhance critical infrastructure security.

Social Engineering Moves Mirror Nation-State Groups' Tactics, Researchers SayThe Black Basta ransomware group has been refining its social engineering tactics to amass more victims despite escalating law enforcement disruptions, together with a shift to more "strategic, long-term planning" that security experts said suggests Russian state ties.

Microsoft warns that ransomware threat actor Storm-0501 has recently switched tactics and now targets hybrid cloud environments, expanding its strategy to compromise all victim assets. [...]

Ransomware groups have always created problems for their victims that only they could solve. Black Basta is taking that core idea in a creative, new direction.

Group Fakes Stolen Data, Has Ties to Ragnar Locker, Says Researcher Jon DiMaggioWhile ransomware groups rightly have a reputation for being morally and ethically bankrupt, many do play things straight with their victims. But RansomedVC is a notable exception. In some ways, it is "more dangerous" because of its expert ability to lie, according to researcher Jon DiMaggio.

The threat actors associated with the Medusa ransomware have ramped up their activities following the debut of a dedicated data leak site on the dark web in February 2023 to publish sensitive data of victims who are unwilling to agree to their demands

'Oxygen of Publicity' Helps Intimidate Victims and Recruit Affiliates, Experts WarnSeeking to maximize profits no matter the cost, ransomware groups have been bolstering their technical prowess and psychological shakedowns with a fresh strategy: attempting to control the narrative. Experts are warning security researchers and journalists to beware being co-opted.

Mandiant warns casino raiders are doubling down on 'monetization strategies' Scattered Spider, the crew behind at least one of the recent Las Vegas casino IT security breaches, has already hit some 100 organizations during its so-far brief tenure in the cybercrime scene, according to Mandiant.…

The ALPHV ransomware gang, also referred to as BlackCat, is trying to put more pressure on their victims to pay a ransom by providing an API for their leak site to increase visibility for their attacks. [...]

Ransomware groups are constantly devising new methods for infecting victims and convincing them to pay up, but a couple of strategies tested recently seem especially devious. The first centers on targeting healthcare organizations that offer consultations over the Internet and sending them booby-trapped medical records for the "patient." The other involves carefully editing email inboxes of public company executives to make it appear that some were involved in insider trading.

Two ransomware gangs and a data extortion group have adopted a new strategy to force victim companies to pay threat actors to not leak stolen data. [...]