Ransom Gangs Increasingly Outsource Their Work

guest · Oct 10, 2020

Amid an Embarrassment of Riches, Ransom Gangs Increasingly Outsource Their Work
Ransomware Outsourcing Is Taking Unprecedented Proportions
October 8, 2020
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/10...nsom-gangs-increasingly-outsource-their-work/

There’s an old adage in information security: “Every company gets penetration tested, whether or not they pay someone for the pleasure.” Many organizations that do hire professionals to test their network security posture unfortunately tend to focus on fixing vulnerabilities hackers could use to break in.
But judging from the proliferation of help-wanted ads for offensive pentesters in the cybercrime underground, today’s attackers have exactly zero trouble gaining that initial intrusion: The real challenge seems to be hiring enough people to help everyone profit from the access already gained.

One of the most common ways such access is monetized these days is through ransomware, which holds a victim’s data and/or computers hostage unless and until an extortion payment is made. But in most cases, there is a yawning gap of days, weeks or months between the initial intrusion and the deployment of ransomware within a victim organization.
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THE DOCTOR IS IN
Enter subcontractors like “Dr. Samuil,” a cybercriminal who has maintained a presence on more than a dozen top Russian-language cybercrime forums over the past 15 years. In a series of recent advertisements, Dr. Samuil says he’s eagerly hiring experienced people who are familiar with tools used by legitimate pentesters for exploiting access once inside of a target company — specifically, post-exploit frameworks like the closely-guarded Cobalt Strike.

“You will be regularly provided select accesses which were audited (these are about 10-15 accesses out of 100) and are worth a try,” Dr. Samuil wrote in one such help-wanted ad. “This helps everyone involved to save time. We also have private software that bypasses protection and provides for smooth performance.”
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WHO IS DR. SAMUIL?
In conducting research for this story, KrebsOnSecurity learned that Dr. Samuil is the handle used by the proprietor of multi-vpn[.]biz, a long-running virtual private networking (VPN) service marketed to cybercriminals who are looking to anonymize and encrypt their online traffic by bouncing it through multiple servers around the globe.
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guest · Oct 12, 2020

Ransomware operators now outsource network access exploits to speed up attacks
The trend is on the rise as ransomware continues to be lucrative -- especially in the enterprise space
October 12, 2020
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ranso...s-from-the-underground-to-speed-up-infection/

Ransomware operators are now turning to network access sellers in their droves to cut out a difficult step in the infection process.

On Monday, Accenture's Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) team released new research on emerging cybersecurity trends, including an investigation into the nature of relationships between ransomware operators and exploit sellers.
According to Accenture senior security analysts Thomas Willkan and Paul Mansfield, buying network access points and already compromised ways to infiltrate a target system are rising in popularity, including the purchase of stolen credentials and vulnerabilities.
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Paying a ransom these days can reach six-figure sums, or more, depending on the target and their estimated worth. Now, ransomware groups are seeking to cut out the initial access stage of an attack, speeding up the process -- and potentially the opportunity for illicit revenue.

This symbiotic relationship [sellers and cyberattackers] facilitates continuous targeting of government and corporate entities and streamlines the network compromise process, allowing cyber criminals to act quicker and more efficiently."
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