The ‘Groove’ Ransomware Gang Was a Hoax

guest · Nov 3, 2021

The ‘Groove’ Ransomware Gang Was a Hoax
November 2, 2021
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/11/the-groove-ransomware-gang-was-a-hoax/

A number of publications in September warned about the emergence of “Groove,” a new ransomware group that called on competing extortion gangs to unite in attacking U.S. government interests online. It now appears that Groove was all a big hoax designed to toy with security firms and journalists.

Groove was first announced Aug. 22 on RAMP, a new and fairly exclusive Russian-language darknet cybercrime forum.

“GROOVE is first and foremost an aggressive financially motivated criminal organization dealing in industrial espionage for about two years,” wrote RAMP’s administrator “Orange” in a post asking forum members to compete in a contest for designing a website for the new group. “Let’s make it clear that we don’t do anything without a reason, so at the end of the day, it’s us who will benefit most from this contest.”
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According to a report published by McAfee, Orange launched RAMP to appeal to ransomware-related threat actors who were were ousted from major cybercrime forums for being too toxic, or to cybercriminals who complained of being short-changed or stiffed altogether by different ransomware affiliate programs.

Throughout its short existence, Groove listed only a handful of victims on its darknet victim shaming blog, leading some to conclude the group wasn’t much of a threat.

“I wouldn’t take this call too seriously,” tweeted The Record’s Catalin Cimpanu in response to tweets about Groove’s rallying cry to attack U.S. government interests. “Groove are low-tier actors with few skills.”
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Cyber intelligence firm Intel471 said while it’s possible that a single actor concocted Groove as a way to troll security researchers and the media, they believe it’s more likely that the actor’s attempt to create their own ransomware group didn’t work out as they had planned.

“It’s also important to remember that the true identity and nature of any Ransomware-as-a-Service gang is not always clear and the membership makeup or affiliates of these gangs can be fluid,” Intel 471 wrote.
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The ‘Groove’ Ransomware Gang Was a Hoax

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