What’s the Cicada ransomware?
Cicada (also called 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 very smart people.
After all, there is no such thing as a motive to consider 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 corporations are being hit by Cicada?
Based on a weblog publish by safety researchers at Morphisec, at the least 21 corporations, predominantly in North America and the UK, have been hit by Cicada since June 18, 2024.
A lot 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 trade 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 additional message says that the gang is ready to supply “proof that the info has been stolen” and can delete all of the stolen data and “assist you rebuild your infrastructure and stop comparable assaults sooner or later” if a cryptocurrency fee is made.
And I suppose they may publish the info 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 shall be printed on its weblog. However in addition they say that the info shall 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 isn’t any definitive proof, the similarities between Cicada and BlackCat, together with using Rusy, evasion strategies, and timing, recommend a attainable connection.
You have talked about Rust a number of occasions. What’s that?
Rust is a programming language that has develop into well-liked with ransomware builders in recent times. Particularly, ransomware teams like BlackCat and Hive have used Rust to create strains of their malware – partly as a result of it makes reverse-engineering extra difficult and as a result of difficulties some malware detection techniques 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?
Nicely 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 towards 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 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.
- Take into account using menace looking providers to proactively determine and mitigate threats.
Different greatest practices embrace creating robust, distinctive passwords, and conserving software program present. It is usually 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 writer article are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially mirror these of Tripwire.