The United States has clearly had enough of the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware gang. I say that because the U.S. State Department offering rewards of up to $15 million for information that could lead to the identification or location of ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware gang leaders:
The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10,000,000 for information leading to the identification or location of any individual(s) who hold a key leadership position in the Transnational Organized Crime group behind the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware variant. In addition, a reward offer of up to $5,000,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction in any country of any individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware activities.
On December 19, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI announcement of cooperation with an international group of law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Denmark, to conduct a disruption campaign against the notorious ransomware gang ALPHV/Blackcat. FBI identified ALPHV/Blackcat actors as having compromised over 1,000 victim entities in the United States and elsewhere, including prominent government entities (e.g., municipal governments, defense contractors, and critical infrastructure organizations). To date, the FBI has worked with dozens of victims in the United States and internationally to disseminate a decryption tool to restore victim systems and prevent ransom demand payments of approximately $99 million.
Shawn Loveland, COO, Resecurity had this to say:
According to Resecurity reporting, BlackCat (ALPHV) has increased its ransom demands to up to $2.5M per victim from the large enterprise segment. This is why the group is well-funded and has a significant number of access brokers and affiliates working for them. In fact, many of their attacks have not been publicly disclosed, which suggests that this figure could be much higher in practice. By offering a $15M reward, the law enforcement community aims to disrupt their activity by collecting intelligence from actors familiar with them, potentially causing “competition” between bad actors and their associates. This is especially relevant in light of recent conflicts, such as Lockbit experiencing a ban from certain Dark Web communities. It is possible that the group could be “burned” due to internal conflicts and other actors leaking data about them.
This is an interesting tactic to try and take this group down. Let’s see how successful this tactic is, or isn’t.
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This entry was posted on February 15, 2024 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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The US Is Offering Up Big Money To Capture ALPHV/Blackcat
The United States has clearly had enough of the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware gang. I say that because the U.S. State Department offering rewards of up to $15 million for information that could lead to the identification or location of ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware gang leaders:
The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10,000,000 for information leading to the identification or location of any individual(s) who hold a key leadership position in the Transnational Organized Crime group behind the ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware variant. In addition, a reward offer of up to $5,000,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction in any country of any individual conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in ALPHV/Blackcat ransomware activities.
On December 19, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI announcement of cooperation with an international group of law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Denmark, to conduct a disruption campaign against the notorious ransomware gang ALPHV/Blackcat. FBI identified ALPHV/Blackcat actors as having compromised over 1,000 victim entities in the United States and elsewhere, including prominent government entities (e.g., municipal governments, defense contractors, and critical infrastructure organizations). To date, the FBI has worked with dozens of victims in the United States and internationally to disseminate a decryption tool to restore victim systems and prevent ransom demand payments of approximately $99 million.
Shawn Loveland, COO, Resecurity had this to say:
According to Resecurity reporting, BlackCat (ALPHV) has increased its ransom demands to up to $2.5M per victim from the large enterprise segment. This is why the group is well-funded and has a significant number of access brokers and affiliates working for them. In fact, many of their attacks have not been publicly disclosed, which suggests that this figure could be much higher in practice. By offering a $15M reward, the law enforcement community aims to disrupt their activity by collecting intelligence from actors familiar with them, potentially causing “competition” between bad actors and their associates. This is especially relevant in light of recent conflicts, such as Lockbit experiencing a ban from certain Dark Web communities. It is possible that the group could be “burned” due to internal conflicts and other actors leaking data about them.
This is an interesting tactic to try and take this group down. Let’s see how successful this tactic is, or isn’t.
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This entry was posted on February 15, 2024 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.