Crypto Ransomware Gang’s Attack Failed Against 30 US Firms

Ransomware is a really annoying reality of the digital world, especially in the cryptocurrency industry. Attackers hijack a user’s system and make it useless until payment is made in crypto. Many people have lost thousands of dollars due to attacks like these. Even large companies have fallen prey to this phenomenon. That is why cybersecurity firms have bolstered their efforts to track and prevent ransomware attacks.

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Just recently, a popular crypto-ransomware group’s attempt to attack 30 US firms was foiled. A well-known cybersecurity firm called Symantec was able to block the attacks before they even happened. This was made possible due to an early alert system. The name of the malicious program is WastedLocker. The people behind it, literally named the Evil Group, often ask for payment in bitcoin to undo their software.

Vicious Attackers

The Evil Group is a notorious group of hackers that have been known to target high-profile companies. Even in the current attack attempt, some of the top Fortune 500 companies were in their list of targets. One of the reasons for this could be the anticipation of a higher payday. As a matter of fact, they have asked their victims to pay millions of dollars in the past. They usually demand bitcoin.

Their modus operandi is to attack the IT infrastructure of a company to get entry. In fact, in the current attack, they were able to breach the security of the companies’ networks. However, just when they were laying the groundwork for the actual attack, their attempt was foiled.

The group has regularly in the news at one point in time. However, they have recently been off the radar. Now, it seems like they have returned. However, companies dealing with similar cyber threats seem to be prepared this time. For instance, in the current scenario, advanced machine learning was used to spot patterns of their attack activities. The actual team that managed to do this was Symantec’s Targeted Attack Cloud Analytics team.

Victim Analysis

The choice of victims could tell a lot about the intention of the hacker group. It might answer why they choose the targets they do. At the moment, Symantec hasn’t revealed the names of the actual 30 US companies that were targeted. However, it was revealed that the manufacturing sector was the most affected. Maybe because manufacturers would be keener to pay up as it affects their business directly.

This matches with official reports and studies also. The cybersecurity company said that if the crypto attackers were successful, it would have led to millions in damages. Not only that, but it would also have led to downtime and a huge impact on the supply chains. This is in addition to any payments the companies would have made to the attackers.

This showcases how important research in this field is. Prevention is the best cure. And artificial intelligence can play a huge role in keeping individual users and companies safe. As the crypto industry grows, these attacks will only get more common.