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Analysts name the most dangerous group of ransomware hackers
Cybersecurity company SecurityHQ has named the most dangerous group of ransomware hackers that poses a serious threat to the security of users in many countries. According to analysts, LockBit attacks are usually aimed at government agencies and enterprises in the healthcare, finance, industrial goods, and services sectors.
Most often, the victims of the group’s attacks are the United States, China, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The hackers have created their own ransomware, LockBit, which was first discovered in September 2019. It was previously known as ABCD because of the «.abcd» extension given to encrypted files. LockBit now uses the malware of the same name and operates on a «ransomware as a service» (RaaS) model — the group’s partners make a deposit to use the tool and then share the proceeds with LockBit operators.
The initial methods of LockBit attacks include social engineering: phishing, compromising business emails, using publicly available applications, and stolen credentials.
An interesting feature of the LockBit app is that it is programmed in such a way that it cannot be used to attack Russia or the CIS countries. This suggests some thoughts about the origin of the group’s members.
Graph of successful attacks in 2022
Total number of attacks in 2022