extortion

Pierluigi Paganini August 18, 2024
Large-scale extortion campaign targets publicly accessible environment variable files (.env)

A large-scale extortion campaign compromised multiple organizations by exploiting publicly accessible environment variable files (.env). Palo Alto Unit 42 researchers uncovered a large-scale extortion campaign that successfully compromised and extorted multiple victim organizations by leveraging exposed environment variable files (.env files). The exposed files contained sensitive variables such as credentials belonging to various applications. This extortion […]

Pierluigi Paganini May 10, 2023
Smashing Pumpkins frontman paid ransom to a hacker who threatened to leak the band’s songs

The frontman of the American alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, has revealed he paid hackers who stole the band’s songs The frontman of the alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, revealed he paid a ransom after a hacker stole the band’s songs and threatened to leak them. The hacker stole some of the most important songs from […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 27, 2023
Dutch Police arrests 3 men involved in a massive extortion scheme. One of them is an ethical hacker

The Dutch police arrested three individuals as a result of an investigation into computer trespass, data theft, extortion, extortion, and money laundering. The Dutch police announced the arrest of three men as the result of an extensive investigation into computer trespass, data theft, extortion, extortion, and money laundering The suspects were arrested by the Amsterdam […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 04, 2022
US DHS Cyber Safety Board will review Lapsus$ gang’s operations

US DHS Cyber Safety Review Board will review attacks linked to the Lapsus$ extortion gang that hit multiple high-profile companies. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Safety Review Board announced that it will review cyberattacks linked to the extortion gang Lapsus$, the gang breached multiple high-profile companies in recent years. “Today, the U.S. Department […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 18, 2022
Hive Ransomware extorted over $100M in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies

Hive ransomware operators have extorted over $100 million in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies worldwide as of November 2022. The threat actors behind the Hive ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) have extorted $100 million in ransom payments from over 1,300 companies worldwide as of November 2022, reported the U.S. cybersecurity and intelligence authorities. “As of November 2022, […]

Pierluigi Paganini May 01, 2021
Babuk crew announced it will stop ransomware attacks

Babuk ransomware operators shut down their affiliate program and announced to stop using ransomware, the group plans to move on data theft. Recently the Babuk ransomware operators made the headlines for the ransomware attack against the DC Police Department. Experts believe that the decision of the group to leave the ransomware practice could be the […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 07, 2021
REvil Ransomware gang uses DDoS attacks and voice calls to make pressure on the victims

The REvil ransomware operators are using DDoS attacks and voice calls to journalists and victim’s business partners to force victims to pay the ransom. The REvil/Sodinokibi ransomware operators announced that they are using DDoS attacks and voice calls to victim’s business partners and journalists to force the victims into pay the ransom. The announcement shows […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 11, 2020
Ragnar Locker ransomware gang advertises Campari hack on Facebook

​Ragnar Locker Ransomware operators have started to run Facebook advertisements to force their victims into paying the ransom. In November 2019, ransomware operators have started adopting a new double-extortion strategy first used by the Maze gang that sees threat actors also stealing unencrypted files before encrypting infected systems. Then the attackers threaten to release the stolen […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 26, 2020
Finnish psychotherapy center Vastaamo suffered a shocking security breach

Private Finnish psychotherapy center Vastaamo suffered a security breach, hackers are now demanding ransom to avoid the leak of sensitive data they have stolen. Finland’s interior minister summoned an emergency meeting Sunday after the private Finnish psychotherapy center Vastaamo suffered a security breach that caused the exposure of patient records. To worse the situation the […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 15, 2020
Crooks hit Puerto Rico Firefighting Department Servers

Puerto Rico’s firefighting department discloses a security breach, hackers breached its database and demanded $600,000. Puerto Rico’s firefighting department discloses a security breach, hackers breached its database and demanded a $600,000 ransom. According to the department’s director, Alberto Cruz, the ability of the department to respond to emergencies was not impacted by the attack. The […]