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:
- Clop ransomware flaw allowed Linux victims to recover files for months
February 7, 2023
The Clop ransomware gang is now also using a malware variant that explicitly targets Linux servers, but a flaw in the encryption scheme has allowed victims to quietly recover their files for free for months. This new Linux version of Clop was spotted in December 2022 by Antonis Terefos, a researcher at SentinelLabs, after the threat ...
- Italy warns hackers targeting known server vulnerability
February 6, 2023
Thousands of computer servers have been targeted by a global ransomware hacking attack targeting VMware ESXi servers, Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) said on Sunday, warning organisations to take action to protect their systems. The hacking attack sought to exploit a software vulnerability, ACN director general Roberto Baldoni told Reuters, adding it was on a massive ...
- Tallahassee Memorial hospital victim of suspected ransomware attack
February 3, 2023
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare is postponing all non-emergency patient procedures as officials manage an Information Technology security issue that occurred late Thursday night, according to a memo from the hospital. The IT security breach is a suspected ransomware attack, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Read more… Source: Florida Politics
- ION Markets suffers cyber attack on derivatives platform
February 1, 2023
ION Markets was hit with a cyber attack last night that impacted some of its derivatives services and resulted in concerns around trade processing for its clients. The news first came to light with a Twitter post from user PriapusIQ at 10.24pm last night claiming “trade processing carnage” following a cyber attack Read more… Source: The Trade Related story: ...
- U.S. Department of Justice Disrupts Hive Ransomware Variant
January 26, 2023
The Justice Department announced today its months-long disruption campaign against the Hive ransomware group that has targeted more than 1,500 victims in over 80 countries around the world, including hospitals, school districts, financial firms, and critical infrastructure. Since late July 2022, the FBI has penetrated Hive’s computer networks, captured its decryption keys, and offered them to ...
- New Mimic Ransomware Abuses Everything APIs for its Encryption Process
January 26, 2023
Trend Micro researchers discovered a new ransomware that abuses the APIs of a legitimate tool called Everything, a Windows filename search engine developed by Voidtools that offers quick searching and real-time updates for minimal resource usage. This ransomware (which Trend Micro researchers named Mimic based on a string we found in its binaries), was first ...