Cicada Ransomware – What You Want To Know

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 very smart people. 

In fact, there isn’t a motive to imagine that the ransomware is in any trend associated to the enigmatic puzzles that appeared a decade earlier than it – apart from by the title.

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

In response to a weblog submit 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. 

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 quite a lot 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 essential knowledge and that information on the corporate’s community have been encrypted. 

An additional 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 “assist you rebuild your infrastructure and forestall related assaults sooner or later” if a cryptocurrency fee is made.

And I assume 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 knowledge will likely be revealed on its weblog. However in addition they say that the info will likely be despatched “to all regulatory authorities in your nation, in addition to to your prospects, companions, and opponents.”

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 putting similarities between Cicada and the ALPHV BlackCat ALPHV ransomware – which can also be written in Rust. 

Whereas there is no definitive proof, the similarities between Cicada and BlackCat, together with the usage of Rusy, evasion methods, and timing, counsel a attainable connection.

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

Rust is a programming language that has turn out to be widespread 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 techniques 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 knowledge with out paying a ransom. 

Nonetheless, 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 scale back the chance 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 methods.
• Implement strong backup and restoration procedures.
• Monitor your setting for suspicious exercise.
• Take into account using menace looking providers to proactively determine and mitigate threats.

Different finest practices embrace 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 Notice: The opinions expressed on this visitor writer article are solely these of the contributor and don’t essentially mirror these of Tripwire.