A gang of Russian-speaking hackers has claimed responsibility for a major ransomware assault that affected 200 U.S. businesses and hundreds more across the globe during the holiday weekend.
Group Demands $70 Million in Bitcoin
In a recently published article in Forbes, in the latest ransomware attack that strikes the United States this year, a Russian-speaking gang is seeking $70 million in bitcoin to recover the businesses' data.
The ransom was posted on a site often used by REvil, a prominent Russian-speaking ransomware gang that recently extorted $11 million from JBS, the world's largest meat processor, after destroying one-fifth of U.S. beef output.
Moreover, the Russian-speaking group claimed responsibility for a ransomware assault, in which hackers encrypt a user's data and demand money in exchange for the key to unlock it, that took place on Friday and impacted more than 1 million computer systems, as per BBC News.
The Scale of the Ransomware Attack
In a recently published article in The Journal, researchers think the ransomware on Kaseya, a Miami-based company that offers IT services to over 40,000 organizations across the globe, may have impacted over 1,000 firms.
Meanwhile, the FBI has already warned on Tuesday that the "ransomware" attack, a kind of digital hostage-taking in which hackers encrypt victims' data and then demand money in exchange for access, is so big that it may be unable to react to each victim individually.
Ciaran Martin, a cybersecurity professor at the University of Oxford, said that it is probably the biggest ransomware attack in history. He also stressed that this is because there is still a lot of uncertainty over the impact of the recent attack.
Kaseya Claims the Ransomware Attack Affects Only Small Number of Customers
Kaseya said on Sunday that the harm was limited to a "very small number" of clients that used its trademark VSA software, which allows businesses to manage their computer and printer networks from a single location.
However, Huntress Labs, a cybersecurity company, claimed on a Reddit forum that it was working with partners who had been targeted in the assault and that the software had been modified to encrypt over 1,000 businesses.
Kaseya further said that after discovering the ransomware attack on Friday it promptly shut down its servers and advised its VSA clients to do the same to avoid being hacked. The firm has developed a program that allows consumers to determine if their own computer systems have been hacked.
Biden Orders Investigation
In a recently published article in The Guardian, Pres. Joe Biden said on Saturday that he has ordered the U.S. intelligence agencies to look into a sophisticated ransomware attack that struck hundreds of American companies as the Fourth of July holiday weekend started, raising suspicions of participation by a Russian gang.
Biden was questioned about the hack while shopping for pies at a cherry farm in Michigan. The President said that it is not yet clear who is responsible for the ransomware attack. He did say, though, that the first thought was that it was not the Russian government, but that they were not sure yet.
