Malware

LockBit ransomware operation behind the Royal Mail cyberattack

The cyberattack on Royal Mail, Britain’s postal service, is a ransomware attack that was linked to the LockBit ransomware operation.

Royal Mail, the British multinational postal service and courier company, this week announced that a “cyber incident” has a severe impact on its operation. The incident only impacted Royal Mail’s international export services, the company said it is temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations.

The company did not provide details about the attack, it confirmed that is working around the clock to restore operations.

“[we] are working around the clock to resolve this disruption and we will update you as soon as we have more information.” reads a statement shared by the company. “Some customers may experience delay or disruption to items already shipped for export,”

The company recommends customers hold any export items while it recovers the operations.

The company said it “immediately launched an investigation into the incident” and had brought in external experts to assist.

“We are aware of an incident affecting Royal Mail Group Ltd and are working with the company, alongside the National Crime Agency, to fully understand the impact.” said a spokesperson for the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.

The British government’s National Cyber Security Center is investigating the incident along with the National Crime Agency.

While Royal Mail, The Telegraph reported that the systems of the company have been infected with an encryptor used by LockBit operation.

According to The Telegraph, the ransomware encrypted devices used for international shipping and sent the ransom notes to printers used for customs operations.

“The attack, which has paralysed the postal service’s ability to send letters and parcels abroad, was carried out by a gang called Lockbit.” reads the post published by The Telegraph.

“Sources familiar with the Royal Mail investigation said Lockbit’s ransomware, known as Lockbit Black, had infected machines used by the postal operator to print customs labels for parcels being sent to overseas destinations. The ransom note, seen by The Telegraph, says: ‘Lockbit Black Ransomware. Your data are stolen and encrypted.’

Source The Telegraph – Ransom Note printed by attackers behind the Royal Mail

The ransomware group, as usual, threatened to publish alleged stolen data on its dark web leak site. 

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Royal Mail)

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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”.

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