BlackSuit Ransomware Extortion Sites Seized in Operation Checkmate
Summary:
Last week, the U.S Department of Justice announced the seizure of data extortion sites belonging to BlackSuit, a notorious ransomware gang that has breached the networks of dozens of organizations worldwide. BlackSuit emerged in mid 2023 and has targeted more than 185 organizations residing in various sectors, including manufacturing, education, research, healthcare, and construction. The latest operation, codenamed “Checkmate,” was a joint international initiative involving dozens of law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, Europol, U.K. National Crime Agency, and many more. Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender was also instrumental, with its cybercrime unit providing guidance to law enforcement agencies throughout the operation.
BlackSuit .onion domains have now been officially replaced with seizure banners stating “this site has been seized by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations as part of a coordinated international law enforcement investigation.” These domains include data leak blogs and negotiation sites used by BlackSuit to extort victims into paying ransoms.
Security Officer Comments:
The latest development highlights continued efforts made by law enforcement agencies to take down infrastructure belonging to ransomware groups. In the past, we have seen coordinated operations against notable groups like BlackCat, LockBit, Hive and many more. While the latest takedown of BlackSuit’s infrastructure may be effective in halting operations in the short term, this won’t stop members of the gang and its affiliates from continuing their malicious activities.
Just last Thursday, Cisco Talos reported on the emergence of a new ransomware gang, dubbed Chaos. In its blog post, Cisco Talos noted that Chaos ransomware group is either a rebranding of the BlackSuit ransomware or operated by some of its former members. Overall, Ransomware actors are very versatile in nature and quick to adapt. Despite BlackSuit’s domains being seized, these actors can simply rebrand and set up new domains, as suggested by Cisco Talos, enabling them to continue their operations as normal.
Suggested Corrections:
Backup your data, system images, and configurations, regularly test them, and keep the backups offline: Ensure that backups are regularly tested and that they are not connected to the business network, as many ransomware variants try to find and encrypt or delete accessible backups. Maintaining current backups offline is critical because if your network data is encrypted with ransomware, your organization can restore systems.
Update and patch systems promptly: This includes maintaining the security of operating systems, applications, and firmware in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to drive your patch management program.
Test your incident response plan: There's nothing that shows the gaps in plans more than testing them. Run through some core questions and use those to build an incident response plan: Are you able to sustain business operations without access to certain systems? For how long? Would you turn off your manufacturing operations if business systems such as billing were offline?
Check your security team's work: Use a 3rd party pen tester to test the security of your systems and your ability to defend against a sophisticated attack. Many ransomware criminals are aggressive and sophisticated and will find the equivalent of unlocked doors.
Segment your networks: There's been a recent shift in ransomware attacks – from stealing data to disrupting operations. It's critically important that your corporate business functions and manufacturing/production operations are separated and that you carefully filter and limit internet access to operational networks, identify links between these networks, and develop workarounds or manual controls to ensure ICS networks can be isolated and continue operating if your corporate network is compromised. Regularly test contingency plans such as manual controls so that safety-critical functions can be maintained during a cyber incident.
Train employees: Email remains the most vulnerable attack vector for organizations. Users should be trained on how to avoid and spot phishing emails.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): External-facing assets that leverage single-factor authentication (SFA) are highly susceptible to brute-forcing attacks, password spraying, or unauthorized remote access using valid (stolen) credentials. Implementing MFA enhances security and adds an extra layer of protection.
Link(s):
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...ement-seizes-blacksuit-ransomware-leak-sites/
Last week, the U.S Department of Justice announced the seizure of data extortion sites belonging to BlackSuit, a notorious ransomware gang that has breached the networks of dozens of organizations worldwide. BlackSuit emerged in mid 2023 and has targeted more than 185 organizations residing in various sectors, including manufacturing, education, research, healthcare, and construction. The latest operation, codenamed “Checkmate,” was a joint international initiative involving dozens of law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, Europol, U.K. National Crime Agency, and many more. Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender was also instrumental, with its cybercrime unit providing guidance to law enforcement agencies throughout the operation.
BlackSuit .onion domains have now been officially replaced with seizure banners stating “this site has been seized by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations as part of a coordinated international law enforcement investigation.” These domains include data leak blogs and negotiation sites used by BlackSuit to extort victims into paying ransoms.
Security Officer Comments:
The latest development highlights continued efforts made by law enforcement agencies to take down infrastructure belonging to ransomware groups. In the past, we have seen coordinated operations against notable groups like BlackCat, LockBit, Hive and many more. While the latest takedown of BlackSuit’s infrastructure may be effective in halting operations in the short term, this won’t stop members of the gang and its affiliates from continuing their malicious activities.
Just last Thursday, Cisco Talos reported on the emergence of a new ransomware gang, dubbed Chaos. In its blog post, Cisco Talos noted that Chaos ransomware group is either a rebranding of the BlackSuit ransomware or operated by some of its former members. Overall, Ransomware actors are very versatile in nature and quick to adapt. Despite BlackSuit’s domains being seized, these actors can simply rebrand and set up new domains, as suggested by Cisco Talos, enabling them to continue their operations as normal.
Suggested Corrections:
Backup your data, system images, and configurations, regularly test them, and keep the backups offline: Ensure that backups are regularly tested and that they are not connected to the business network, as many ransomware variants try to find and encrypt or delete accessible backups. Maintaining current backups offline is critical because if your network data is encrypted with ransomware, your organization can restore systems.
Update and patch systems promptly: This includes maintaining the security of operating systems, applications, and firmware in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to drive your patch management program.
Test your incident response plan: There's nothing that shows the gaps in plans more than testing them. Run through some core questions and use those to build an incident response plan: Are you able to sustain business operations without access to certain systems? For how long? Would you turn off your manufacturing operations if business systems such as billing were offline?
Check your security team's work: Use a 3rd party pen tester to test the security of your systems and your ability to defend against a sophisticated attack. Many ransomware criminals are aggressive and sophisticated and will find the equivalent of unlocked doors.
Segment your networks: There's been a recent shift in ransomware attacks – from stealing data to disrupting operations. It's critically important that your corporate business functions and manufacturing/production operations are separated and that you carefully filter and limit internet access to operational networks, identify links between these networks, and develop workarounds or manual controls to ensure ICS networks can be isolated and continue operating if your corporate network is compromised. Regularly test contingency plans such as manual controls so that safety-critical functions can be maintained during a cyber incident.
Train employees: Email remains the most vulnerable attack vector for organizations. Users should be trained on how to avoid and spot phishing emails.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): External-facing assets that leverage single-factor authentication (SFA) are highly susceptible to brute-forcing attacks, password spraying, or unauthorized remote access using valid (stolen) credentials. Implementing MFA enhances security and adds an extra layer of protection.
Link(s):
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...ement-seizes-blacksuit-ransomware-leak-sites/