Dark Angels ransomware receives record-breaking $75 million ransom

By Lawrence Abrams, Bleeping Computer

A Fortune 50 company paid a record-breaking $75 million ransom payment to the Dark Angels ransomware gang, according to a report by Zscaler ThreatLabz.

"In early 2024, ThreatLabz uncovered a victim who paid Dark Angels $75 million, higher than any publicly known amount— an achievement that's bound to attract the interest of other attackers looking to replicate such success by adopting their key tactics (which we describe below)," reads the 2024 Zscaler Ransomware Report.

This record-breaking payment was further confirmed by crypto intelligence company Chainalysis, who tweeted about it on X.

The largest known ransom payment was previously $40 million, which insurance giant CNA paid after suffering an Evil Corp ransomware attack.

While Zscaler did not share what company paid the $75 million ransom, they mentioned the company was in the Fortune 50 and the attack occurred in early 2024.

One Fortune 50 company that suffered a cyberattack in February 2024 is pharmaceutical giant Cencora, ranked #10 on the list. No ransomware gang ever claimed responsibility for the attack, potentially indicating that a ransom was paid.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why remote desktop tools are facing an onslaught of cyber threats

Image
By Solomon Klappholz, IT Pro Hackers are increasingly targeting remote desktop tools in their attacks, new research reveals, prompting warnings for enterprises globally In the era of hybrid work, remote desktop tools have become vital business enablers, but due to their pervasiveness on corporate networks they have become a popular entry point for cyber criminals. If successfully exploited, remote access tools can provide hackers with a direct pathway into a system or network, and once access is gained attackers can move laterally within the network, escalating privileges and maintaining persistence. In an investigation into which remote desktop tools are targeted the most, Jonathan Tanner, senior security researcher at Barracuda Networks, explained that remote desktop software poses a particular challenge to IT teams to secure. “Among the security challenges facing IT teams implementing remote desktop software is that there are many different tools available, each using different and
Read more

Ransomware gang starts leaking alleged stolen Change Healthcare data

Image
By Lawrence Abrams,  Bleeping Computer The RansomHub extortion gang has begun leaking what they claim is corporate and patient data stolen from United Health subsidiary Change Healthcare in what has been a long and convoluted extortion process for the company. In February, Change Healthcare suffered a cyberattack that caused massive disruption to the US healthcare system , preventing pharmacies and doctors from billing or sending claims to insurance companies. The attack was ultimately linked to the BlackCat / ALPHV ransomware operation, who later said they stole 6 TB of data during the attack . After facing increased pressure from law enforcement, the BlackCat gang shut down their operation . This occurred amid claims they were pulling an exit scam by stealing a $22 million Change Healthcare ransom payment from the affiliate who conducted the attack. While Change Healthcare has declined to comment on whether it has paid a ransom, the affiliate known as "Notchy" said they
Read more

Notepad++ wants your help in "parasite website" shutdown

Image
By Ax Sharma,  Bleeping Computer The Notepad++ project is seeking the public's help in taking down a copycat website that closely impersonates Notepad++ but is not affiliated with the project. Although, at the time of writing, the lookalike website takes visitors to the official Notepad++ downloads page, there is some concern that it could pose security threats—for example, if it starts pushing malicious releases or spam someday either deliberately or as a result of a hijack. The lookalike website appears prominently in search results
Read more