Conti Ransom Gang Starts Selling Access to Victims
Summary: Over a 48-hour period in late October 2021, the Conti ransomware affiliate program updated its victim shaming blog to advertise that it is selling access to organizations it has hacked, inserting messages seeking a buyer for victim networks and data. The shift came as U.S. and European policymakers moved against top ransomware gangs, and after a Conti representative posted an October 22 screed on a Russian-language hacking forum denouncing the reported U.S. hacking operation against REvil.
What's compelling: Conti's move turns a breach into a commodity that can be sold to another criminal buyer, so an organization that refuses to pay may still face its network and data being handed to a third party. Emsisoft CTO Fabian Wosar noted the approach is 'somewhat stupid' because it alerts victim companies that a breach is underway.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Data Breaches
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