BleepingComputer reports that a new ransomware gang called Money Message has emerged, with the first victim identifying themselves on March 28.
The gang appears to target victims from around the world and demands that victims pay millions of dollars in ransom in exchange for their data not being leaked and being provided with a decryptor. The threat actor has so far claimed to have hit two victims on its extortion website, including an Asian airline that earns nearly $1 billion in annual revenue.
Investigations revealed that Money Message uses an encryptor written in C++ and includes an embedded JSON configuration file that determines the type of encryption to be used on a device, as well as which items to block from encryption, which extensions to append, which services and processes are terminated and whether or not logging is enabled.
A security researcher on Twitter observed that the encryptor uses ChaCha20/ECDH encryption. The encryptor does not appear to be sophisticated, and yet it is confirmed to have been used successfully in numerous data theft and encryption campaigns by the gang.
Windows and Linux systems are being targeted by a new information-stealing malware peddled by the Cyclops ransomware operation, The Hacker News reports.
Officials at the City of Augusta, Georgia, have been noted by Mayor Garnett Johnson to have not communicated with the BlackByte ransomware operation that took credit for a cyberattack against the city that commenced on May 21, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Attacks exploiting a zero-day in the MOVEit Transfer file transfer app to compromise various servers and facilitate data exfiltration efforts have been admitted by the Clop ransomware operation, also known as Lace Tempest, TA505, and FIN11, after the intrusions have been attributed to the group by Microsoft, reports BleepingComputer.