SynAck ransomware gang releases master decryption keys for old victims

The SynAck ransomware gang released the master decryption keys for their operations and rebranded as a new group dubbed El_Cometa group.

Good news for the victims of the SynAck ransomware gang, the group released the master decryption keys to allow victims to decrypt their files for free. The gang has now rebranded as the new El_Cometa group.

The news was first reported by TheRecord website, the master decryption keys work for victims that were infected between July 2017 and early 2021.

“The leaked keys were provided to The Record earlier today by an individual who identified themselves as a member of the former SynAck group.” reads the post published by The Record website.

“The keys have been verified as authentic by Michael Gillespie, a malware analyst at security firm Emsisoft and the creator of the ID-Ransomware service.”

The SynAck gang also released a manual on how to use the master keys.

The SynAck group has been active since 2017 and at the end of July 2021, the group launched El_Cometa ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS).

SynAck is the second ransomware gang that recently released its decryption keys after the Avaddon operation.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, SynAck)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.