What’s the Cicada ransomware?
Cicada (also called Cicada3301) is subtle ransomware written in Rust that has claimed greater than 20 victims since its discovery in June 2024.
Why is the ransomware referred to 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 trend associated to the enigmatic puzzles that appeared a decade earlier than it – apart from by means of the title.
Truthful sufficient. What kind of firms are being hit by Cicada?
Based on a weblog publish by safety researchers at Morphisec, at the very 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 essential information and that information on the corporate’s community have been encrypted.
An extra message says that the gang is ready to offer “proof that the info has been stolen” and can delete all of the stolen data and “provide help to rebuild your infrastructure and stop related assaults sooner or later” if a cryptocurrency fee is made.
And I suppose they may publish the info for those who do not pay up?
Sure, the Cicada gang says that if a ransom shouldn’t be paid in time, then the stolen information can be printed on its weblog. However in addition they say that the info can 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 hanging similarities between Cicada and the ALPHV BlackCat ALPHV ransomware – which can also be written in Rust.
Whereas there isn’t any definitive proof, the similarities between Cicada and BlackCat, together with the usage of Rusy, evasion methods, and timing, counsel a potential connection.
You’ve got talked about Rust just a few instances. What’s that?
Rust is a programming language that has develop into common with ransomware builders lately. 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 difficult 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.
Nonetheless, that victory was short-lived. ALPHV BlackCat re-emerged, threatened retaliation in opposition to nations that assisted with the takedown, and explicitly warned that it will assault hospitals in future.
They do not sound like a pleasant bunch.
That is placing it mildly.
What can I do to scale back the danger of Cicada and different ransomware threats attacking my organisation?
- Maintain your safety software program up to date.
- Educate your workers about phishing emails and different social engineering methods.
- Implement sturdy backup and restoration procedures.
- Monitor your atmosphere for suspicious exercise.
- Think about using menace looking providers to proactively establish and mitigate threats.
Different greatest practices embody creating robust, distinctive passwords, and preserving software program present. It’s also suggested to report ransomware assaults to CISA, a neighborhood FBI discipline workplace or a Secret Service discipline workplace.
Editor’s Observe: The opinions expressed on this visitor creator article are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially mirror these of Tripwire.
