Since March 2023, Akira ransomware has impacted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure entities in North America, Europe, and Australia. In April 2023, following an initial focus on Windows systems, Akira threat actors deployed a Linux variant targeting VMware ESXi virtual machines.
As of January 1, 2024, the ransomware group has impacted over 250 organizations and claimed approximately $42 million USD in ransomware proceeds. Early versions of the Akira ransomware variant were written in C++ and encrypted files with a .akira extension; however, beginning in August 2023, some Akira attacks began deploying Megazord, using Rust-based code which encrypts files with a .powerranges extension.
Read more…
Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Division
Related:
- Cyberattack Downs Pensacola’s City Systems
December 10, 2019
The city of Pensacola, Fla., said it has been hit by a cyberattack that shut down the city’s computer networks and affected its systems. The attack occurs just days after a shooting occurred Friday at U.S. military base Naval Air Station Pensacola, leaving three dead. Pensacola’s mayor, Grover Robinson, told news outlets that he didn’t know if the cyberattack was ...
- Snatch Team Steals Data and Hammers Orgs with Ransomware
December 10, 2019
A fresh ransomware variant known as “Snatch” has been spotted in campaigns, forcing Windows machines to reboot into Safe Mode before beginning the encryption process. It’s one of multiple components of a malware constellation being used in carefully orchestrated attacks that also feature rampant data collection. According to researchers with SophosLabs, Snatch runs itself in an ...
- Ransomware attack hits major US data center provider
December 5, 2019
CyrusOne, one of the biggest data center providers in the US, has suffered a ransomware attack, ZDNet has learned. In an email after this article’s publication, a CyrusOne spokesperson confirmed the incident and said they are currently working with law enforcement and forensics firms to investigate the attack, and help customers restore systems impacted systems. “Six of ...
- New ransomware attacks target your NAS devices, backup storage
December 5, 2019
The number of ransomware strains targeting NAS and backup storage devices is growing, with users “unprepared” for the threat, researchers say. Ransomware comes in many forms and guises. The malware variant is popular with cybercriminals and is used in attacks against the enterprise, critical services — including hospitals and utilities — and individuals. Once deployed on a system, the malware ...
- Ransomware: Big paydays and little chance of getting caught means boom time for crooks
November 29, 2019
Ransomware will continue to plague organisations in 2020 because there’s little risk of the cyber criminals behind the network-encrypting malware attacks getting caught; so for them there’s only a small amount of risk, but a potentially large reward. During the last year, there’s been many examples of ransomware attacks where victims have given into the extortion demands of ...
- Ransomware hits Louisiana state government systems
November 19, 2019
A ransomware infection today took down IT systems and websites managed by the Louisiana state government, Governor John Bel Edwards revealed in a series of tweets. “Today, we activated the state’s cybersecurity team in response to an attempted ransomware attack that is affecting some state servers. The Office of Technology Services identified a cybersecurity threat that ...