The Bank of Brasilia, a government-controlled bank in Brazil, was targeted by a ransomware attack. The threat actors behind the attack demanded 50 BTC as a reward for not leaking the data belonging to users.
Brazil BRB bank to pay 50 BTC after a ransomware attack
A report by Tecmundo, a local media publication, said that one of the hackers, dubbed “Crydal, got in touch with them, informing them that the bank was required to pay 5.2 million Brazilian reals by 15:00 on October 06.
The ransomware attack against the bank is being investigated by the Special Police Department for the Supervision of Cybercrime. An anonymous source interviewed by Tecmundo said that the hackers exploited the “LockBit” ransomware.
At the beginning of last year, LockBit targeted around 350 organizations globally. LockBit is one of the largest ransomware groups dedicated to stealing information and extorting large companies. The ransomware group has been operating covertly since 2019.
Since the Conti group was taken down, the group has been responsible for 40% of all the ransomware attacks. The group recently updated the LockBit ransomware to version 3.0. The group also offers a bounty program of up to $1 million to those that report vulnerabilities, improvement ideas, and other weaknesses.
The ransomware group has conducted several attacks in Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, and Panama. One of its recent attacks was on OSDE, a healthcare services network, from which they extracted around 140 gigabytes of information on patients, doctors, and affiliates. The group demanded a payment of $300,000 worth of crypto.
Criminals use cryptocurrencies in Brazil
Brazil accounts for most cryptocurrency scams in Latin America. The Brazilian justice system has had to work with the FBI and the CIA to support its special forces and improve its tracking capabilities.
Data from the SonicWall analysis platform says Brazil has become a preferred destination for cybercriminals since 2021. During the year, hackers in the country stole over $33 million worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, making Brazil one of the top 4 countries most affected by ransomware attacks.
A survey by Kaspersky also revealed that 56% of the companies in Brazil were affected by ransomware attacks. 80% of these companies assured they would not be willing to pay the demanded ransom.
On the other hand, 78% of the attacked organizations showed that if they were attacked again, they would pay a ransom to recover their data. This is the same trend seen in ransomware victims globally.
It is not advisable that companies pay hackers to retrieve data as it would be seen as financing a criminal organization. The disclosure of personal information held by banks could also cause economic damage to millions of users.
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