Cicada Ransomware – What You Want To Know – Cyber Tech

What’s the Cicada ransomware?

Cicada (also referred to as Cicada3301) is subtle ransomware written in Rust that has claimed greater than 20 victims since its discovery in June 2024.

Why is the ransomware known as Cicada?

The criminals behind Cicada seem to have named it after the mysterious Cicada 3301 puzzles posted on the web between 2012 and 2014, seemingly to recruit very smart people. 

In fact, there isn’t any purpose to imagine that the ransomware is in any vogue associated to the enigmatic puzzles that appeared a decade earlier than it – apart from via the identify.

Honest sufficient. What kind of firms are being hit by Cicada?

In line with a weblog put up by safety researchers at Morphisec, no less than 21 firms, predominantly in North America and the UK, have been hit by Cicada since June 18, 2024. 

Many of the organisations affected have been small and mid-sized companies (18), with the remaining three described as enterprises. Victims have been famous in a wide range of business sectors, together with manufacturing/industrial, healthcare, retail, and hospitality. 

Organizations hit by the Cicada ransomware are greeted by a message telling them that attackers have downloaded their vital information and that recordsdata on the corporate’s community have been encrypted. 

An extra message says that the gang is ready to offer “proof that the information has been stolen” and can delete all of the stolen info and “allow you to rebuild your infrastructure and stop comparable assaults sooner or later” if a cryptocurrency cost is made.

And I assume they are going to publish the information for those who do not pay up?

Sure, the Cicada gang says that if a ransom is just not paid in time, then the stolen information will probably be printed on its weblog. However in addition they say that the information will probably be despatched “to all regulatory authorities in your nation, in addition to to your clients, companions, and rivals.”

That is a nasty menace. Do we all know who’s behind Cicada?

Though we have no idea the identities of these accountable, safety researchers say that there are placing similarities between Cicada and the ALPHV BlackCat ALPHV ransomware – which can also be written in Rust. 

Whereas there is not any definitive proof, the similarities between Cicada and BlackCat, together with using Rusy, evasion strategies, and timing, counsel a potential connection.

You’ve got talked about Rust a couple of instances. What’s that?

Rust is a programming language that has change into common with ransomware builders in recent times. Particularly, ransomware teams like BlackCat and Hive have used Rust to create strains of their malware – partially as a result of it makes reverse-engineering extra tough and because of the difficulties some malware detection programs have in reliably detecting Rust-based ransomware through static evaluation.

I believed the authorities had taken motion to disrupt the ALPHV BlackCat ransomware?

Properly remembered. In December 2013, the US Division of Justice introduced it had disrupted the ransomware gang’s operations and seized decryption keys to assist victims unlock their information with out paying a ransom. 

Nevertheless, that victory was short-lived. ALPHV BlackCat re-emerged, threatened retaliation in opposition to international locations that assisted with the takedown, and explicitly warned that it might assault hospitals in future.

They do not sound like a pleasant bunch.

That is placing it mildly.

What can I do to cut back the danger of Cicada and different ransomware threats attacking my organisation?

• Hold your safety software program up to date.
• Educate your workers about phishing emails and different social engineering strategies.
• Implement strong backup and restoration procedures.
• Monitor your surroundings for suspicious exercise.
• Think about using menace searching providers to proactively determine and mitigate threats.

Different greatest practices embody creating sturdy, distinctive passwords, and maintaining software program present. It is usually suggested to report ransomware assaults to CISA, an area FBI subject workplace or a Secret Service subject workplace.

Editor’s Be aware: The opinions expressed on this visitor writer article are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially replicate these of Tripwire.