LockBit created a countdown timer before the data was leaked, as the group usually does to give victims some time to respond, but for Mandiant, the posts timer was set to expire on the same day the company was named. We saw a noticeable rise in activity compared to Q1 2022, which had been a slow quarter for ransomware with a 25.3% decrease in activity. Staying Ahead of the Distortion of a Cyber Attack? Thats where youll also find other stories of mine. The bugs wont be fixed. Vice Society, which exploits known vulnerabilities on unpatched systemsincluding the PrintNightmare flawclaimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Palermo, Italy. Intelligence, Weekly Intelligence To help IT pros better understand and guard against attacks involving AD, the Semperis Research Team offers this monthly roundup of recent cyberattacks that used AD to introduce or propagate malware. Targeting increased over Q2 2022 in the majority of the nations. A Russian-based botnet of 325,000 compromised devices behind the hacking of millions of computers has been taken down by law enforcement authorities in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. Registered office: 7 Westferry Circus, Columbus Building Level 6, London, E14 4HD. For those already infected, Ransomware Rollback can help recover encrypted files within 72 hours of the attack. When the groups revenue dried up its leaders allegedly hatched a plot to retire the brand by dispersing its members into other ransomware gangs like BlackBasta, BlackByte, KaraKurt, Hive and ALPHV, and then faking its own death. customer, Securing your Brand Online - spoof mobile applications, social media profiles, Welcome to our June 2022 review of data breaches and cyber attacks. These are the models RV-100W, 130, 130W and 215W. In this case the experiment appears to have been unsuccessful. By doing so, it becomes more difficult for law enforcement to shut down operations as one. The number of attacks in the USA continued to dwarf other countries, with more known victims than Canada and all the European countries in our list combined. Reports, ShadowTalk For those who havent got the message, you should be running version 1.0 SP2 Update 1 or higher of SINEC. In addition to updating Exchange servers and monitoring external network access, Microsoft recommends that organizations review their identity security posture. View Results >, Posted: July 1, 2022 by Threat Intelligence Team Happy Blogs return was surprising, given that its affiliates had been arrested in late 2021. But with the consent of some owners of compromised devices, government-controlled honeypots were installed on networks. Follow Cyber Security Today on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker. While the Conti ransomware gang ceased operations, that does not mean that Conti members are no longer conducting malicious activities. Cyber Security Today, July 25, 2022 Public hearings on the Rogers outage start today, a data breach at Entrust and patches issued for Cyber Security Today, Week in Review for Friday, July 22, 2022, Microsoft announces big feature update for Teams at Inspire 2022, Advice to CISOs: Dont shoulder everything, Government of Canada invests $3 million to help SMEs adopt low-carbon processes and products, 50 per cent of SMEs surveyed say the global payment network helped them endure the pandemic, Mastercards 2022 Borderless Payments Report reveals, Hashtag Trending July 29 Metaverse profit; videogames harmless in moderation; Microsoft earnings report. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Like all the ransomware in our review, LockBit is offered in the form of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS). The new programs and features released by LockBit could also inspire other groups to follow in their footsteps, depending on the success of their new offerings. A surprising revelation this quarter was that the cybercriminal group EvilCorp had allegedly begun to use LockBit ransomware in its attacks. There were also some groups who experienced less activity due to closures, such as Conti (37.4% decrease) and Hive Leaks (29.7%), who are believed to be linked to Conti. This was a formidable record to beat, as Conti had reached close to 900 victims during its lifetime. The experiments that dont work are forgotten and those that do are quickly copied by other gangs. Despite Conti departing this quarter, we saw the creation of many new groups that are likely to rival for that now-open second place spot that Conti had held for nearly a year. As expected, the last public vestige of the Conti ransomware gang, its leak site, disappeared in June, after a few weeks of inactivity. However, if it does intend to use bug bounties it improve its software and sharpen its approach then it could deprive law enforcement and security researchers of valuable tools and information. In this blog, well examine some of the most significant ransomware stories from this quarter, assess new trends affecting the ransomware threat landscape, and speculate on how these changes will likely affect the third quarter of 2022. Out of an abundance of self interest, ransomware has always conspicuously avoided attacking targets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, for example. You can find the full list below, broken down into categories. New business customers save 15% on powerful, easy-to-use EDR See Offer >, Check out our MITRE ATT&CK Top performance! Protect your devices, your data, and your privacyat home or on the go. The ransom note for LockBits new variant claims that LockBit 3.0 is the worlds fastest and most stable ransomware, and the group created new dark web sites for LockBit 3.0, which allows for the use of the Zcash cryptocurrency for payments. The reason for Conti closing operations is unknown, but it is likely related to a leakage of internal chats that occurred in Q1 2022, where 60,000 internal messages from Conti were leaked. Thats it for now Remember links to details about podcast stories are in the text version at ITWorldCanada.com. The researchers are only now publicly revealing details after Siemens released the patch last October. One event that is likely to have a big impact in Q3 2022 is the release of LockBits new ransomware variant (LockBit 3.0). It may be a coincidence, but we note that last month the combined activity of BlackBasta, BlackByte, and KaraKurt reached Conti-like levels. At last, one of the key stories of Q2 2022 was the release of LockBit 3.0, an improved version of one of the most successful ransomware operations active to date. Sign up for our newsletter and Protection, Social Media Finally, industrial network administrators using Siemens SINEC network management system who havent upgraded the suite to the latest version better do so fast. When comparing Q2 ransomware activity to the same period as last year, we can also observe a noticeable rise in attacks in 2022. In May 2022, the gang announced that they were going to be shutting down operations, and the group stopped posting new victims to its data-leak site. Monitoring, Vulnerability Attracting the attention of the three-letter agencies in Russia and the USA is simply bad for business. LockBit continued to be the most active group by an overwhelming margin. LockBit remained the most active threat in June, and the costliest strain of ransomware ever documented went dark while others surged. Malwarebytes can protect systems against all ransomware variants in several ways. It can use this cache to help revert changes caused by a threat. Contis closure is also another important event that occurred in Q2 2022. When the timer on LockBits site reached zero, the group released the alleged data, but it wasnt Mandiants data, rather, they were text files with a statement from LockBit. Brand Protection, Typosquatting The gang would certainly have known this would happen, but presumably it only had to last long enough to gather the attention it needed in order to impact negotiations. This statement denied Mandiants claims of EvilCorp working with LockBit. Monday June 20th. Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence was able to independently confirm that Conti sent an internal announcement about its retirement to affiliates at the end of May, and that its internal chat servers stopped working around the same time. Welcome to Cyber Security Today. LockBit had more than three times the number of victims as any other group. ITWorldcanada.com is the leading Canadian online resource for IT professionals working in medium to large enterprises. how to protect your computer from threats. IT World Canada creates daily news content, produces a daily newsletter and features IT professionals who blog on topics of industry interest. Risk, Cyber The group named Mandiant on its data-leak site and claimed that it had stolen 356,841 files from the cyber company. That platform is used to identify strains of ransomware found in systems. Decrypter work, stolen data is deleted. This coverage includes not only data-leak sites from ransomware groups, but also extortion groups like Karakurt and LeakTheAnalyst. Victims can also choose to pay to destroy all data stolen or pay to extend the timer for 24 hours. However, incidents involving extortion groups are excluded from the numbers reported in this blog. In comparison to Q1 2022, the number of victims in the nation grew by 35.6%. Novartis says no sensitive data was compromised in cyber attack, Shields Health Care Group notifies patients after hack, Personal and sensitive files from Tehama County Social Services leaked on dark web, MCG Health notifies patients and health plan members of data breach, Choice Health Insurance notifying people after vendor error resulted in a data breach, Guadalupe County investigating potential network breach, Central Florida Inpatient Medicine notifies patients after employee email account compromised, Baptist Medical Center and Resolute Health Hospital notifying patients after malware attack snagged patient data, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center announces security breach, Allaire Health Services announces security incident, Fintech company Lower LLC issues notice of security breach, 90 Degree Benefits Wisconsin confirms recent data breach leaked consumers personal data, Compromised email account leads to security incident at Private Client Services, Flagstar Bank discloses security incident, Brazilian retailer Fast Shop confirms cyber attack, ADM Associates announces security incident, Guardian Fueling Technologies has been hacked, Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc. hit by cyber criminals, Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. announces breach following compromised emails, DiversiTech Corporation reports data privacy event impacting names and social security numbers, Robert Half International reports data breach affecting consumers social security numbers, Avamere Health Services announces data breach impacting skilled nursing and senior living employees, DDOS attack hits Lithuania after sanctions feud with Russia, Mason Tenders district council confirms data breach, NEworks unavailable due to cyber attack on Geographic Solutions, Yodel becomes the latest victim of a cyber incident, Costa Ricas public health agency hit by Hive ransomware, Italian city of Palermo shuts down all systems in suspected ransomware attack, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine alerts patients to ransomware attack while continuing to provide care, Shoprite Group issues warning on suspected data compromise, Yuma Regional Medical Center notifying patients of ransomware attack, Montrose Environmental Group says ransomware attack took place over weekend, ALPHV threat actors claim to have attacked Plainedge Public Schools, Tenafly Public Schools cancelled finals after ransomware attack, Ransomware attack reported at Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Shutterfly provides notice of ransomware attack to employees, Perkins & Co. announces security breach related to incident at Cloud-hosting company Netgain, Phelps Health notifies patients of MCG Health breach, Hospital San Jos, Las Palmas De Gran Canaria hit by ransomware, Grand Valley State University hit by ransomware but remains publicly silent, Vice Society claims responsibility for attack on one of Milans most important hospital systems, Brooks County pays off hacker with tax dollars after ransomware attack, Artear, the Argentinian multimedia giant, struck by ransomware, Pennsylvania HIM services provider Diskriter hit with ransomware, Fitzgibbon Hospital hit by ransomware, sensitive data leaked, Cyber attack forces Iran steel company to halt production, Ransomware attack caused ongoing Napa Valley College internet and phone system outage, SuperAlloy Industrial Companyignores Hive ransomware demands, Health PEI employees are being notified of a privacy breach after an employees laptop was stolen, Pegasus Airlines leaks 6.5TB of personal information of flight crew, Icare sends private details of workers to wrong employers, Indias farmers exposed by new Aadhaar data leak, Confidential record leak leaves CalBar, lawyers, clients exposed, Patient radiology files accidentally exposed online by Yale New Haven Hospital, Personal details of Memorial University of Newfoundland students leaked in email goof, USB devices with personal data of all Amagasaki residents lost, Massive trove of gun owners private information leaked by California Attorney General, Misconfigured Kubernetes clusters were found exposed on the Internet, Dripping Springs Independent School District notifies DA of breach, Funds stolen from Floyd County Schools in cyber attack, EMC National Life Company says it was breached, Numrich Gun Parts Corporation suffers cyber attack, Malaysian POS provider StoreHub exposed customer info in data leak, Taco Bell employee in South Carolina accused of credit card, identity fraud, FBI investigating $100 million theft from blockchain company Harmony, Hackers claim to hit Israeli tourism sites, Theft of computers at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Qubec, Indian police linked to hacking campaign to frame activists, TridentCare confirms data breach after criminal breaks into office and steals hard drives, WeLeakInfo.to and related domain names seized, Aurora pays $6 million bug bounty to ethical hacker. The site was aimed at the staff and customers of a hotelier, and allowed them to search 112GB of personally identifiable information (PII) belonging to 1,500 employees and guests, to see if their personal details were among them. The Malwarebytes Anti-Malware technology detects malicious files, browser modifications, and system modifications on Windows PCs using a combination of signature-based and signatureless technologies. Users in cybercriminal forums were initially skeptical of LockBits new bug bounty program. You can get a comprehensive look at the data that we used to build this blog with a free7-day trial of SearchLighthere. Property Protection, Third Party Services, Online This information represents victims who were successfully attacked but opted not to pay a ransom. Digital Shadows observed threads on a Russian-speaking cybercriminal forum discussing LockBits new program and users stated that the offering from USD 1,000 was inadequate when compared to rewards offered by other marketplaces. Attacks are carried out by affiliates (pen testers) who pay the LockBit organization 20 percent of the ransoms they receive in return for using its software and services. This new version of LockBit came with many new improved capabilities and features. In Q2, we also saw many groups shut down their data-leak websites. Copyright 2022 Digital Shadows Ltd, All rights reserved. Summary, ShadowTalk The most active area of innovation in the last few years appears to be how gangs operate as a business, and in how they put pressure on victims to pay a ransom. Luke Irwin is a writer for IT Governance. By putting the site on the regular worldwide web the gang made the information much more accessible to non-technical users, but without the protection of Tor it only lasted a few days before being taken down. Monitoring, Data Breach In this final section, we will examine the events that are most likely to change the ransomware threat landscape in the upcoming quarter, as well as include projections for the next two quarters. *** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Semperis authored by Semperis Research Team. For further infoour previous blog articleTracking Ransomware Within SearchLightshows you how SearchLight tracks emerging variants, enables you to export and block associated malicious indicators in various formats, instantly analyze popular targets, and map to your security controls with ease. In particular, Lockbit created its own Bug-bounty program, where they are offering rewards for any exploits, personally identifiable information (PII), ideas, or information on high-value targets. In Q2 2022, there were 705 organizations named to ransomware data-leakage websites. Summary, Research It isnt known how the latest campaign is spreading by email, text messages or other tactics. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. on HIPAA FAIL: ~33% of Hospital Websites Send PII to Facebook. The US is likely to remain the most targeted nation in future quarters, given that it is considered the most profitable region for ransomware groups. Unusually, LockBit hit the headlines in June with some obvious publicity seeking. Daily Times. A new ransomware campaign going after vulnerable QNAP network-attached storage devices has been spotted. Meanwhile, be sure to subscribe to ourWeekly Round-upto receive the latest cyber security news and advice delivered straight to your inbox. Most software, even malware, trends towards feature completenessa point where adding new features adds little, if anything, to its usefulness. Monitoring, Vulnerability New samples of the groups ransomware suggest that REvil may have attempted to make a return. Aspen Security Forum 2022 Anja Manuels Opens The 22 Aspen Security Forum, The Past, Present, and Future of (Zero) Trust, Raccoon Stealer v2: The Latest Generation of the Raccoon Family, 911 Proxy Service Implodes After Disclosing Breach, Top Tips for Protecting Active Directory | Semperis, 7 Active Directory Misconfigurations to Find and FixNow | Semperis, So Youve Been Breached What Now? The victim has since appeared on the main ALPHV dark web leak site, which normally indicates they have resisted the pressure to pay a ransom. He has a masters degree in Critical Theory and Cultural Studies, specialising in aesthetics and technology, and is a one-time winner of a kilogram of jelly beans. In this latest quarter, some of the biggest ransomware groups ceased operations, dangerous new gangs emerged, and operations continued to develop and evolve their tactics. Very unusually, the leak site was not on the dark web. Shadows We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. and domains, Reducing your Attack Surface - vulnerabilities, open ports, and weak The ransomware group stated that the tools used by their affiliates could have been used by anyone, as the tools could be found in criminal forums, GitHub, and other public sources. The post Identity Attack Watch: June 2022 appeared first on Semperis. If this trend continues, then we could see record numbers at the end of the year. There are no workarounds. It is this combination of attractiveness to affiliates and an ability to avoid costly mistakes that seems to be behind its success this year. Without fanfare, LockBit has become the dominant force in ransomware this year. New groups that emerged and created data-leak sites included Black Basta, Mindware, Cheers, RansomHouse, Industrial Spy, Yanluowang, Onyx, NOKOYAWA, and DarkAngels. Theyll review the breach, mitigate the damage and ensure that you are up and running again as soon as possible. Some noticeable increases came from Alphv (117.9% increase), Vice Society (100%), and LockBit (13.8%). $(".currentYear").text(year); Conti has been one of the most active ransomware groups since the creation of data-leakage websites and double extortion in early 2020. The group allegedly continued to launch attacks and taunt the Costa Rican government on Conti.News, but these attacks were reportedly simply serving as a faade of running operations while Conti members moved on to other groups. For Free, Customer Malwarebytes Threat Intelligence builds a monthly picture of ransomware activity by monitoring the information published by ransomware gangs on their Dark Web leak sites. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Center, Intelligence They were infected with RSOCKS. "Thanks to the Malwarebytes MSP program, we have this high-quality product in our stack. Im Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com. This was likely Contis last reign at the top, as the group has now closed operations. Affiliates are asked if you do not find one of your favorite features, please inform us, and told that it is very important for us to know about all our strengths and weaknesses. It says we have never cheated anyone and always fulfill our agreements. Threat Intel, Dark Web Your intro to everything relating to cyberthreats, and how to stop them. The Home of the Security Bloggers Network, Home Security Bloggers Network Identity Attack Watch: June 2022. 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By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. The United States remained the most often targeted nation, accounting for 38.9% of all victims. var d = new Date(); It included first and last names, dates of birth, social insurance. All Rights Reserved. Eventually, the group completely shut down all of its servers, including servers used to negotiate ransom payments with victims. Intelligence, Report We also observed many new tools being used to gain initial access and conduct attacks. Breach Detection, Technical The leak site disappeared on June 22, 2022, and remains down. Such innovation is nothing newransomware gangs experiment with new ideas all the time. Ltd. Digital Shadows Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under No: 7637356. Want to stay informed on the latest news in cybersecurity? Whether the group seriously intends to pay out these sums remains to be seen. This discovery was particularly threatening for LockBit, as any links to EvilCorp could result in U.S. victims refusing to make ransom payments, cutting profits in the groups biggest target region. Conti still came in second, but unlike previous quarters, the second spot was tightly contested. And while some ransomware gangs seem to want to tell the world what they think, and how great they are, LockBit seems to care more about what its users think. Produced by ITWC publishers of ChannelDailyNews.com, ITbusiness.ca and DirectionInformatique.com, Digital Transformation Conference and Awards, Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. Podcast, Digital Shadows to be Acquired by ReliaQuest, slow quarter for ransomware with a 25.3% decrease in activity, leakage of internal chats that occurred in Q1 2022, EvilCorp had allegedly begun to use LockBit ransomware, Try This was a 21.1 percent increase compared to last quarter, where we observed 582 victims. You can additionally get acustomized demoof SearchLight to gain visibility of your organizations threats and potential exposures, including access to a finished threat intelligence library with MITRE associations and mitigations from Photon Research. The bugs wont be fixed. However you may visit. Detection, Technical We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. But QNAP has been warning those overseeing or using its devices to make sure administrative accounts have strong passwords, to enable IP Access Protection, to avoid using default port numbers 443 and 8080, and to disable Universal Plug and Play port forwarding. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Click full-screen to enable volume control. This month, the Semperis Research Team highlights increased activity by Conti, BlackCat attackers targeting Exchange servers, and more. The rollback feature is dependent on activity monitoring available in Malwarebytes Endpoint Detection and Response. Protection, Social Read the original post at: https://www.semperis.com/blog/identity-attack-watch-june-2022/. While Contithe costliest strain of ransomware ever documented, according to the FBIhas spent 2022 making noisy pronouncements and digging itself out of a hole of its own making with a hair-brained scheme to fake its own death, LockBit has been all business. If your identity was stolen after January 1st, 2017, you can claim up to $1,000. Protection, Third Party Threat Intel, Dark Web In Q2 2022, we observed a noticeable rise in ransomware activity, and many new data-leak sites were created. Critical sectors appeared to have faced the largest number of attacks in this quarter. Digital Hackers will quickly find and exploit unpatched devices to slip into networks and steal data. The new tactic seems to be designed to create further pressure on the hotelier to pay the ransom. However, despite some of these events, it is likely that the number of ransomware attacks will continue increasing until Q4 2022, as new groups are created and begin gaining popularity. A warning for end-of-life Cisco routers, another wave of ransomware attacks on QNAP devices and more. The month was also notable for the disappearance of Conti, and the large number of attacks by groups alleged to have links with the disbanded group. Q1 has historically been a quarter with low ransomware activity; therefore, it is not surprising that the number of ransomware attacks increased in Q2 2022.