Some of the biggest US hedge funds and law firms have been targeted by a highly sophisticated data breach and extortion campaign, conducted by a group of criminals previously known as BlackFile, experts have warned.
BlackFile (or Redact, as the group is now calling itself) has a relatively simple modus operandi, also used by ShinyHunters – they call their targets on the phone (usually employees with access to SaaS systems), identify as IT staff, and direct victims to convincing, lookalike login pages designed to steal their credentials and authentication tokens.
Once they gain access to victims’ accounts, the attackers access enterprise SaaS environments (for example, Microsoft 365 and Okta) and use automated tools to exfiltrate sensitive data. In the last step, they notify the victims and threaten to leak the data on the dark web unless a ransom is paid.
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Source: Tech Radar News
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