What’s the Cicada ransomware?
Cicada (also referred to as Cicada3301) is refined 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 extremely smart people.
In fact, there is no such thing as a purpose to consider that the ransomware is in any vogue associated to the enigmatic puzzles that appeared a decade earlier than it – aside from via the identify.
Truthful sufficient. What kind of firms are being hit by Cicada?
In keeping with a weblog put up by safety researchers at Morphisec, at the least 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 necessary 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 forestall comparable assaults sooner or later” if a cryptocurrency cost is made.
And I suppose they are going to publish the information when you do not pay up?
Sure, the Cicada gang says that if a ransom shouldn’t be paid in time, then the stolen information will probably be revealed on its weblog. However additionally they say that the information will probably be despatched “to all regulatory authorities in your nation, in addition to to your prospects, companions, and rivals.”
That is a nasty risk. 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 be written in Rust.
Whereas there is not any definitive proof, the similarities between Cicada and BlackCat, together with the usage of Rusy, evasion strategies, and timing, recommend a doable connection.
You’ve got talked about Rust just a few occasions. What’s that?
Rust is a programming language that has turn into common with ransomware builders in recent times. Specifically, 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 as a result of difficulties some malware detection programs have in reliably detecting Rust-based ransomware by way of 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.
Nonetheless, that victory was short-lived. ALPHV BlackCat re-emerged, threatened retaliation towards 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?
- Preserve your safety software program up to date.
- Educate your staff about phishing emails and different social engineering strategies.
- Implement sturdy backup and restoration procedures.
- Monitor your atmosphere for suspicious exercise.
- Take into account using risk looking companies to proactively establish and mitigate threats.
Different finest practices embody creating sturdy, distinctive passwords, and protecting software program present. It’s also suggested to report ransomware assaults to CISA, a neighborhood FBI subject workplace or a Secret Service subject workplace.
Editor’s Notice: The opinions expressed on this visitor writer article are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially mirror these of Tripwire.
